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Digital Isn’t Always the Answer: Building Choice into Financial Inclusion Solutions for Smallholder Farmers
Smallholder farmers often live in remote villages, located hours away from towns and cities where they might be able to access consistent mobile networks, bank accounts or other formal financial access points. So while many farmers are curious about the idea of receiving the payment for their cash crops in digital formats, the options for them to use that digital currency are limited. Instead of pushing technology for technology’s sake, financial inclusion projects ought to seek diverse solutions that are appropriate and accessible for customers based on their needs.
- Categories
- Agriculture
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In Impact Investing’s Rush to the Mainstream, Who Are We Leaving Behind?
After a long march toward mainstream acceptance, many in impact investing are claiming victory. But a new report by Oxfam and Sumerian Partners argues that the sector should focus on the needs of the businesses working to reduce poverty rather than on the investors who stand to benefit from their work. In other words, it's time to stop pretending that investors seeking a pure market return can tackle the most complex global challenges in high-risk markets.
- Categories
- Investing
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Why the Crusade Against Cash Isn’t Clearly ‘Pro-Poor’ – UPDATED
Many assume that getting rid of cash in the name of financial inclusion would unequivocally be a good thing for the poor. Phil Mader says it's too early to say – and that cash might have insufficiently recognized advantages, including being free to use, anonymous and under public stewardship. And besides, he argues, if the mission is poverty alleviation, it’s not money’s physical form, but how it's distributed, that matters.
- Categories
- Technology
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Yes, Microcredit Requires Subsidies … and That’s Great News
Recent research should finally put to rest the assertions that affordable microcredit aimed at poor households does not require subsidy: Serving poor customers well is always going to be expensive. On the plus side, the subsidies are quite small and, according to Timothy Ogden, those who perceive this as anything other than great news bought into the inflated expectations around microcredit.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
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Supplemental Safety Net: An Innovative Model Paves the Way for Inclusive Insurance in China
Hundreds of millions of people in China still remain outside the formal financial system, and insurance is one of their biggest unmet needs. Yet the country's insurance industry tends to focus on more affluent customers, and its public safety net isn't adequate for lower-income people's needs. YiBao, an insurance research, development and marketing consultancy, takes an innovative (and award-winning) approach to making the commercial insurance market work for the country’s low- and moderate-income households.
- Categories
- Health Care
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Low Level of Financial Inclusion Threatens the Indonesian Economy
The low level of financial inclusion in Indonesia is not good for the economy. The central bank of Indonesia (Bank Indonesia) said it could encourage further growth of the shadow economy. This could then jeopardize Indonesia's financial system stability. Being unrecorded, the shadow economy could trigger sudden shocks within the economy.
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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IFC, MasterCard study to boost financial inclusion
The study, part of Sh3.85 billion ($37.4 million) Partnership for Financial Inclusion initiative by the IFC and the MasterCard Foundation, focused on Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal and Zambia.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Are ‘Convenience Fees’ Halting the Adoption of Digital Finance?
Policymakers, financial firms and tech companies are pushing India full-steam toward a "less-cash" society. But digital finance could be hamstrung by a low-tech anachronism: transaction fees. IFMR LEAD recently teamed up with J.P. Morgan on a pilot program involving lower-income urban and rural households in Pune, Maharashtra. The research explored just how willing customers are to pay for digital transactions, such as withdrawals and money transfers, when presented with a menu of fee options.
- Categories
- Finance
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