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Is Financial Inclusion Stalling? The 2017 Findex Results Raise Several Red Flags
The Global Financial Inclusion Database (Findex) - one of the most authoritative yardsticks on the state of financial inclusion - finds that 69 percent of the world’s adults now have bank or mobile money accounts. But while that's an exciting headline, it's also misleading, as millions of those newly opened accounts are lying dormant. And that's just one reason why industry stakeholders have found the latest Findex data underwhelming. Elisabeth Rhyne and Sonja Kelly at the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion unpack some of the troubling stats – and highlight a few bright spots.
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- Inclusive Fintech
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Does Greater Inclusion Lead to Financial Health? New Research Raises Pointed Questions for the Industry
Does financial inclusion really lead to financial health? The industry has largely been operating under the assumption that the answer is "yes" - but a new Gallup survey of more than 15,000 people in 10 very different countries reveals a more complex picture. Sonja Kelly and Evelyn Stark explore the results of this "unprecedented look at personal finance and how people perceive their situation," in a discussion that raises vital questions about the future direction of financial inclusion.
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- Inclusive Fintech
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Report: Record Number Of Indians With Bank Accounts. So Why Is Financial Inclusion Low?
Mumbai: Up to 80% of Indians now have a bank account, the same proportion that has a mobile phone, but financial inclusion levels are still among the world’s worst, lower than sub-Saharan Africa on some counts, according to a new report.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Inclusive Fintech
- Region
- South Asia
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India’s Impact Investment leaders launch Social Finance India in New Delhi
Social Finance Global Network (SFGN) and The Global Steering Group for Impact Investment (GSG) today announced the launch of Social Finance India (SF-IND) and first three of its Directors- Rajiv Lall, Ashish Dhawan, and, Vikram Gandhi. Rajiv Lall will Chair the initiative. SF- IND will be a new Section 8 non-profit intermediary which will galvanize the Indian impact investment space. Social Finance India’s first two products- India Impact Fund of Funds (IIFF) and India Education Outcomes Fund (IEOF) will launch in 2018. SF-IND also launched its website, www.socialfinance.org.in
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- Investing
- Region
- South Asia
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Ghana unveils mobile money interoperability platform
Mobile money interoperability went live in Ghana following a number of delays, a step hailed by the country’s Vice President for propelling the country into one of the global leaders for the technology.
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- Inclusive Fintech, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Pairing access to finance and energy to solve global poverty
Pairing access to finance with access to energy can help more than a billion people raise their standard of living, banish poverty to the past and no longer be counted among the unbanked.
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- Energy, Inclusive Fintech
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Viewpoint: Postal Service banking system possible in U.S. – if past pitfalls avoided
As of 2015, about 7 percent of U.S. households were “unbanked,” meaning that no one in the household had a checking or savings account. An additional 20 percent of households were “underbanked,” meaning that they relied, at least in part, on payday lenders, check cashing services, pawn shop loans, or other non-traditional sources for financial services.
- Region
- North America
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Press release: IFC and Mastercard Expand Partnership to Drive Greater Financial Inclusion in Emerging Markets
Electronic payments help underserved people and small businesses more fully participate in the formal economy. Yet, financial institutions in emerging markets often have difficulty covering their transaction settlement obligations, making it harder to rapidly scale financial services where they are needed most.
- Categories
- Inclusive Fintech
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