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Indonesia eyes fintech regulation to avoid ‘loan shark-like’ practices
The emergence of these peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms, offering loans ranging from as little as a few hundred dollars to several thousands, has so far been welcomed by Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s biggest economy where tens of millions of people have little or no access to bank credit.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Press release: MIT and Mastercard Foundation Launch 2018 Zambezi Prize for Innovation in Financial Inclusion
The Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), in collaboration with the Mastercard Foundation, today announced the launch of the 2018 edition of the Zambezi Prize for Innovation in Financial Inclusion. The prestigious competition, awarding a total of $200,000 in prizes, was established to discover Africa’s most promising and innovative early-stage start-ups that promote and advance financial inclusion on the continent.
- Source
- Press release
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Amazon considers launching branded checking accounts for unbanked
Amazon is reportedly in talks with JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Capital One Financial Corp., to offer checking account services to younger customers and the unbanked.
- Categories
- Finance
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India’s Little Shops Are a Massive Banking Network in the Making
Indians who still rely on cash are a ready-made financial-services market and a lucrative sideline for the corner store.
- Region
- South Asia
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Rwanda’s central bank urges MFIs to automate to reduce bad loans
The National Bank of Rwanda (BNR) has called on microfinance institutions (MFIs) across the country to embrace automation and reduce the rate of bad loans before the end of the year.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Four Steps to Avoid Dead-End Impact Investing Leads
Dead-end leads are frustrating for both entrepreneurs and investors. They involve wasted time and resources, disappointment, and the erosion of relationships – and sometimes the exchange of capital that's a poor fit for the entrepreneur’s business. To prevent these issues, the Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE) has created an online toolkit to help impact entrepreneurs identify their top investor targets. Kimberly Langsam and Cathy Clark at CASE summarize the simple four-step process – and CASE will host a free online demo with more information on March 13 and 19.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
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Madagascar: $45 Million to Promote Financial Inclusion of Individuals and Small Enterprises
Madagascar Financial Inclusion project will specifically target women and women-owned enterprises, to reduce disparities in access to finance for women. The direct beneficiaries of the project will include teachers, students and taxpayers that will have the option to receive and make government payments through an e-money transaction account.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Breaking the Catch-22 of Poverty: What’s Next for the Graduation Model?
People in extreme poverty are trapped in a catch-22: They're poor because they can't build a livelihood, and they can't build a livelihood because they're overwhelmed by the crises of poverty. The graduation approach can break this cycle – but though research has demonstrated its effectiveness, it's difficult to scale. Evelyn Stark of MetLife Foundation and Jaya Sarkar of Trickle Up discuss Trickle Up's efforts to adapt the model to achieve mass scale and sustainability.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
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