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Mastercard Report: Pay-on-Demand Will Drive Financial Inclusion in Africa
The Pay-on-Demand solution model will continue to drive digital and financial inclusion across African countries, according to a recent research report released by MasterCard.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- financial inclusion, MSMEs
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How Can Fintech Startups Address the Financial Inclusion Gap? Three Insights from the Data Standards for Inclusive Fintech
In 2018, over US $110 billion was invested in fintech startups – up 120% from 2017. But will this capital help deliver affordable and accessible solutions to low-income customers at scale? Chrissy Martin Meier at MIX explores why standardized data can highlight gaps in investment, surface promising companies, and more effectively measure inclusion – and how MIX's Data Standards for Inclusive Fintech advance those goals.
- Categories
- Finance
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Crypto Titans Announcing Libra Clone Targeting 5.6 Billion for Financial Inclusion
Move over Libra. Facebook’s controversial stablecoin initiative has a new challenger that wants to change the financial system and reimagine how people can gain access to services. Fifty top companies in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry have launched a new platform called Celo, an open blockchain that’s designed to drive significantly more financial inclusion by reaching people around the world – not through banks, branches and traditional institutions – but through 5.6 billion smartphones.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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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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Accion, Quona Launch Us$203 Million Fund to Promote Financial Inclusion
This is Quona’s second fund and it has been christened as the Accion Quona Inclusion Fund.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Latin America
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Mobile Banking App Empower Finance Just Closed a $20 Million Series A Round
Another afternoon, another round of funding for a mobile banking app. This time, it’s Empower Finance, a San Francisco-based company that’s headed up by former Sequoia Capital partner Warren Hogarth and which just closed on $20 million in Series A funding from Icon Ventures and Defy Ventures.
- Categories
- Finance
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Online Remittances: Closing The Gender Gap
According to the U.N., remittance sending behaviour of migrant women often involves a higher financial cost as they tend to send smaller amounts of their income more frequently and are subjected to paying more in transactions fees.
- Categories
- Finance
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Viewpoint: Nigeria Needs to Close the Financial Inclusion Gap for Women Smallholder Farmers
Women smallholder farmers in Nigeria are involved in all aspects of agriculture. Yet, because they are women, they are held back by unequal access to resources that would help them become more successful.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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