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The Future of Fintech is Now: Takeaways from Harvard’s Rethinking Financial Inclusion 2018
Those looking to technology to boost financial inclusion should stay focused on problems rather than solutions. That may sound counterintuitive, but Michael Fryar at Harvard's Evidence for Policy Design cautions that it's tantalizingly easy to treat fresh tech like a shiny new hammer and every problem as a nail. Fryar discusses this and other key insights from the recent "Rethinking Financial Inclusion" program at Harvard Kennedy School.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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Watch the Recording of the Live-Streamed Debate: Is There Still Room in Microfinance for Smaller MFIs?
As the 2018 European Microfinance Week came to a close, the conference hosted a live debate on whether there's still room in microfinance for "the little guy" - ie: smaller MFIs. This was an Oxford-style debate, with two speakers arguing that there's no room for smaller players, and two arguing for the continued relevance of these institutions. Hear their arguments and find out who won (yes, there were judges) in the recorded video here.
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- Finance
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India prime minister says financial tech needs to be a ‘movement’ — not a ‘mechanism’
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday that development of financial technology, or fintech, should be a movement that can improve the lives of the world's most marginalized people.
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- Finance
- Region
- South Asia
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The Digital Transformation: Four Opportunities and Three Threats for Traditional Financial Institutions
Digital finance can reduce the annual cost of serving customers by up to 80 percent – one reason why financial services providers are embracing it. As MicroSave founder Graham Wright sees it, this race toward digitization is creating a watershed moment for financial and social inclusion. The sector’s decisions now will determine whether it will contribute to truly inclusive economies – or create a growing digital divide. Wright explores four ways this transformation could help financial services providers and their customers – along with three major pitfalls they must avoid.
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- Finance
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Virtusa launches API Exchange for financial inclusion
The platform will include an online global FinTech marketplace and sandbox platform. APIX will accelerate financial services innovation and inclusion by enabling collaboration between financial institutions and FinTech innovators.
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- Finance, Technology
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Press release: Citi and Banco Guayaquil Sign $20 Million Loan Agreement Benefiting Microfinance in Ecuador
With over 520,000 previously-unbanked clients that now have “Amiga Accounts” and a $70m loan book to finance microenterprises, Banco Guayaquil’s “Banco del Barrio” is one of the pioneering and most comprehensive inclusive finance programs in Latin America, significantly expanding access to financial services in Ecuador by leveraging a network of more than 4,400 non-bank customer touchpoints across the country.
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- Finance
- Region
- Latin America
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Immigrants Create Jobs – Small Loans Can Help: New Research on the Impact of Supporting Underserved Entrepreneurs
Did you know that immigrants and their children have helped found 60 percent of the most highly valued tech companies in the U.S. (currently worth $3.8 trillion)? That statistic highlights a fact that’s being lost in the immigration debate: Recent immigrants are natural entrepreneurs, who create jobs and economic growth for themselves, their families and their communities. Opportunity Fund’s vice president, Gwendy Brown, explores new research showing how small loans can help immigrants and other underserved entrepreneurs build their businesses and maximize their impact.
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Press release: Fintech activity in Latin America spreads to 18 countries
The report provides data which, while illustrating the challenges that the industry faces, also reflects an inevitable transformation of the financial sector and the role that entrepreneurs play in accelerating innovation and changing the way in which people have interacted until now with financial services.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Latin America
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