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Naspers pours $5M into Coins, a fintech startup for Southeast Asia’s unbanked population
Coins is focused on offering financial services for the unbanked in the Philippines and Thailand. It uses the blockchain as its underlying technology to facilitate transfers and remittances. It announced the new funding — which comes via the Naspers Ventures division — as an extension to the $5 million Series A round that it closed last October.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
- Tags
- digital payments, fintech
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Bank cards show resilience in Kenya despite mobile money dominance
Mobile money has for the last years stifled the growth of plastic money, with many pointing to the death of the cards but new data from Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) showed Wednesday that the latter is in Kenya to stay, the onslaught notwithstanding.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Five countries to watch for e-payments
A study shows that 34% of Europeans and 38% of Americans would be willing to go cash-free if they could, Reuters reported. In Asia, China is an early adopter of digital payments, with 95% of Chinese using smartphones and mobile wallets to pay for goods and services.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Digital payments is India’s new currency
Digital transactions have trebled and quadrupled in volume and value across various modes from wallets to cards and interbank transfers from a year earlier. Card transactions at point of sale (PoS) terminals at merchant locations have surged, reflecting a positive for the economy as more people start using their de bit cards for payments rather than for withdrawing cash at ATMs.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- digital payments, fintech
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UN Study: Digitization of Kenyan Farmer Payments Helps Tackle Poverty
One Acre Fund, supported by Citi, enabled farmers to easily make loan repayments via mobile money instead of cash, reducing the uncertainty, inefficiency, insecurity and high costs previously caused by cash transactions.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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How Digitizing Agricultural Input Payments in Rural Kenya is Tackling Poverty: The Case of One Acre Fund
Since 2014, OAF has enabled farmers in Kenya to make loan repayments digitally using the mobile money service M-Pesa instead of in cash, increasing economic opportunity and financial inclusion in some of the world’s poorest farming communities.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Can digital credit work for development?
The rise of digital banking means that people around the world can now borrow, save or pay with their mobile phones. Digital credit providers are using alternative sources of data to determine creditworthiness and provide loans to populations that have never had access to them before.
But while these products offer a convenient way for consumers to access cash for personal or business expenses, they also present risks. If borrowers do not understand the loan terms, or take out more than they are able to repay, the result can be bankruptcy.- Categories
- Technology
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Building an App in Africa: Lessons From an Aspiring Tech Disruptor
The motorcycle taxi, or boda boda, industry is the second-highest employer in Uganda, but is marked by rising crime and road accidents. SafeBoda, founded in 2015, wants to change this through an app that connects its community of trained, professional drivers with passengers who are looking for a safer ride. The company's co-founder discusses what they've learned so far about building an app in Africa.
- Categories
- Technology, Telecommunications, Transportation
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