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A Spotlight on Effective and Inclusive Savings
Saving for an unpredictable future is one of the few genuinely universal life tenets. But for much of the past 40 years, the microfinance sector has focused overwhelmingly on credit. As Sam Mendelson and Daniel Rozas at e-MFP explain, that's one reason the 2020 European Microfinance Award is focused on “Encouraging Effective & Inclusive Savings.” They discuss the benefits of savings in introducing the €100,000 award – which is open for applications until April 15.
- Categories
- Finance
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View: Why ESG matters in financial services
The whole of 2019 saw a fierce and intense debate globally around the adoption of environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles as a way of doing business. The year gave the world in general and India, in particular, some compelling reasons to improve their ESG standards. For example, July 2019 was declared to be the hottest month on record for the planet, and a report in April indicated that air pollution alone kills 1.2 million people in India throughout the year.
- Categories
- Environment, Health Care, Investing
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- ESG, financial health
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Kenya’s Safaricom Tests New Mobile Savings Service
Policymakers say the East African nation suffers from a low national savings rate and analysts said Safaricom could be looking to target that untapped market with the new product, dubbed “Mali” (Kiswahili for wealth).
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- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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U.S. Financial Health Pulse Finds Only 29% of People Living in the U.S. Financially Healthy
The Financial Health Network, the nation’s authority on financial health, in partnership with Flourish, MetLife Foundation, and AARP, today released the U.S. Financial Health Pulse 2019 Trends Report. Now in its second year, this year-over-year analysis of peoples’ financial health found that despite a strong economy, only 29% of people in the U.S. are financially healthy. As signs of a looming economic downturn increase, this indicates that the majority of Americans are still unprepared for short or long-term financial shocks.
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- Finance
- Region
- North America
- Tags
- financial health
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How Do Consumers React to Psychometric-Based Credit Scoring?
Nearly 50 million Americans and literally billions more around the world have limited access to affordable credit – primarily due to a lack of credit histories. What's worse, many of these underbanked individuals are actually in decent financial standing – they simply do not have sufficiently mature credit scores. Psychometric (ie: personality-based) credit scores can address this issue – but how do customers feel about it? Saul Fine at Innovative Assessments shares results from recent surveys that aim to answer that question.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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As Debt Grows, More Indian Women Farmers Taking Their Lives
A vicious debt cycle is forcing women in Maharashtra state's Amravati to take their lives as agrarian crisis persists.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Finance
- Region
- South Asia
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Debt Relief a Double-Edged Sword for South Africans Living on Loans
The situation of people like Rivele shows both the potential benefits - and unintended consequences - of a new law signed by President Cyril Ramaphosa in August, aimed at protecting vulnerable borrowers.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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JPMorgan Commits $25M For Altruistic FinTech Services
“This new philanthropic investment follows a $30 million collaboration between the Financial Health Network and JPMorgan Chase over the past five years to identify and develop tools that help people in the U.S. improve their financial health,” JPMorgan Chase said.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- North America