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Different Worlds: Why digital payments should not be regulated as an offshoot of banking
Digital payments is emerging as its own field of expertise - and though the two sectors are often lumped together, it differs substantially from banking. For instance, banks prosper greatly from managing risk and little from network effects, while payments providers typically are just the opposite. This leads to fundamentally different outlooks between the practitioners in each field, and necessitates different regulatory approaches.
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- Uncategorized
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M-Pesa Opens Up to 3rd Party Developers in Kenya as Safaricom Launches API
When mobile payments and banking come to mind, one most likely thinks of headline-grabbing industry leaders such as Apple, Barclays and Visa. However, the reality is a bit different. The distinction of largest uptake of mobile payment adoption actually belongs to Kenya, and the M-Pesa payment solution.
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- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Mobile wallets like Paytm and Mobikwik are tying up with kirana stores in rural India
Mobile wallet and payment services such as Paytm and Mobikwik are tying up with kirana stores in semi-urban and rural areas as they seek to grow in regions underserved by banks.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Startups innovate to make payments faster in India – but e-wallets face Ashley-Madison-like threats
People are slowly moving towards using digital and electronic payment modes, but payment startups face challenges such as customer awareness, fears about security, and concerns about product or service delivery.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Buying with bitcoins in India
With the increasing ease of using them for purchases through mobile apps, bitcoins are quickly transitioning from being trading units to shopping currency.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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- digital payments
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10 Challenges That Could Make or Break India’s Payments Banks: Their revolutionary potential is no guarantee
Last week, the Reserve Bank of India announced that it will issue 11 Payments Bank (PB) licenses, permitting a variety of institutions to provide a limited slate of financial services to underserved populations. The RBI hopes PBs will “revolutionize banking” in India, but their impact is not guaranteed. Here are 10 challenges PBs will face – and how they can live up to the government’s ambitious goals.
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5 tech startup ideas that Kenya can export
Having pioneered mobile money solutions like MPesa and crowd-sourcing platform Ushahidi, Kenya’s innovative, resilient and global-looking tech community is working on the next big thing.
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- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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- digital payments
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Consumers lose out as Safaricom and Equity tariff wars intensify
A fresh storm is brewing between Kenya’s financial services giants, Safaricom and Equity Bank, over the rates being levied to consumers making transactions across the two service providers.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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