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Ecobank launches mVisa across 33 African Countries
Ecobank has partnered with Visa to launch Ecobank Scan+Pay with mVisa solutions to their consumers. The strategic tie-up signals interoperability on a cross border level - and potentially huge gains - as it affords consumers with the ability to use their mobile phone to directly access the funds in their bank accounts to pay person-to-merchant (P2M) or person-to-person (P2P).
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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‘Cross-sell Done Well’: How One Finance App Found a Balance Between Digital and Human Touch
Field officers at the Sajida Foundation, a microfinance provider in Bangladesh, knew their clients had rich financial lives, and that some held sizable savings balances to enable their goals. They also knew these clients could earn more by converting their savings to a term deposit account. Yet it was difficult for them to offer complex financial advice, or to answer questions around tiered interest rates and differentiated products. The Foundation worked with BFA to develop an Android-based app to address these issues – Ashirul Amin discusses the lessons learned.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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Press release: CGAP Launches Customer-Centric Guide
While the number of people with formal financial accounts is growing worldwide, many poor people seldom use them, suggesting they find the accounts have little value. According to the World Bank’s Global Findex report, in developing countries about 20 percent of adults left their accounts unused for at least a year.
- Categories
- Finance
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European Microfinance Week 2017: Revealing New Frontiers in Inclusive Finance – Nov. 29-Dec. 1
European Microfinance Week (EMW), Nov. 29-Dec. 1, 2017, and hosted by e-MFP, is one of the top events in the microfinance calendar and a unique meeting point for all professionals working in the inclusive finance sector worldwide. With an unparalleled program and prestigious speakers, the event is widely recognised for its high-quality sessions and excellent networking opportunities. Last year's event attracted close to 500 participants from 58 countries.
- Categories
- Finance, Social Enterprise
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New Case Study Details How to Deploy Successful Agency Banking in Africa
Agency banking utilizes a network of local merchants and shopkeepers, in areas where FINCA usually doesn’t have a presence, to provide basic banking services. The agents are equipped with POS (Point of Sale) machines, a portable device that securely connects to FINCA bank accounts through biometric fingerprints.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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On ‘World Food Day’: Using Fintech to Support Smallholder Farmers and Feed the World
More smallholder farmers are using digital tools to access funds to improve their farms. But with a whopping US $200 billion gap in financing, many cannot access the financing they need to invest in things like seeds, fertilizers and irrigation technologies to increase production and improve their livelihoods. Mikael L. Clason Höök and Malia Bachesta of the RAF Learning Lab highlight several innovative fintech companies that are addressing barriers faced by smallholder farmers.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Finance, Technology
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GSMA launches industry guidelines on international remittances through mobile money
Because of its reach and growing use among underserved people, mobile money is uniquely positioned to transform formal remittance markets and to advance financial inclusion.
- Categories
- Finance
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A New Era of Farming: Unlocking Innovations for Smallholders Via Non-Traditional Finance
Non-Traditional Finance (NTF) may be critical to unlocking innovation processes among smallholder farmers, and could represent an untapped opportunity to enable them to break the cycle of poverty. But there's a lack of guidance on promising practices for the systemic application of NTF to support scaling of smallholder farmer innovations. That's why MEDA launched a call for proposals for NTF ideas, for which the deadline is Oct. 6.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Finance
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