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Social Business Roundup: A $1 Smartphone, the Upshot of Disparity and the Quizzing of Presidents
If you manufacture a phone that comes with apps advertising to low-income consumers, can you sell it for as little as $1? The folks at SocialEco think so. Other items NextBillion's editors came across for this week's Roundup included a concentration on wealth concentration, an unhappy birthday for M-Pesa, plus a presidential Q that will hopefully result in an A.
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- Health Care, Technology
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Brazil’s Creditas Gets $19 Million Amid Boom in Local Fintech Financing
Creditas Soluções Financeiras Ltda, a Brazilian financial technology firm focused on secured consumer loans, has obtained $19 million from investors in a financing round that will allow it to provide borrowers with funds for one-fourth of what they pay to domestic lenders.
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- Technology
- Region
- Latin America
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Bharat Financial begins Aadhaar-based cashless loan disbursal in India
In a first of its kind move in the micro-finance and financial-inclusion space, Bharat Financial Inclusion on Wednesday launched Aadhaar-based instant and cashless loan disbursal. It took less than seven minutes for 30-year-old Guddi Devi to apply and receive ₹29,565 loan for a new grocery shop she intends to set up.
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- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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M-Pesa: Kenya’s mobile money success story turns 10
Smartphone payments are gaining ground in the US, but mobile money is old news in Kenya. The majority of the East African country's population is subscribed to a mobile payment service, and the most popular choice is M-Pesa, which celebrates its 10th anniversary in March 2017. M-Pesa -- "pesa" means "money" in Swahili -- has made a dramatic impact over this time.
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- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Are venture funds missing out on a huge India opportunity?
Are venture funds missing the wood for the trees in India? Even while there is talk of a suspected slowdown in startup funding, the amount of money sloshing around is large. But how much of an impact is it having, and why is the average Indian not being affected by it? For that, you have to pause and take another look. What do you see?
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Securitization portfolio of Indian microfinance industry plummets in Q3 due to note ban
The cash-intensive microfinance industry’s securitisation portfolio plummeted in the quarter ended December because of demonetisation, according to a report released on Thursday by Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN).
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- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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Meet The App That’s Empowering The Women Of Myanmar To The Bank
Financial inclusion is a topic of growing importance in countries such as Myanmar, where advances in tech are rapidly changing the dynamics in how people access financial products. As I wrote in 2016, fintech companies are capitalizing on Myanmar’s rapid development and increasing smartphone and internet penetration by offering digital financial products.
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- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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India wants to make credit and debit cards obsolete for payments
Ever since India invalidated much of its cash, it has been encouraging its citizens to switch to mobile wallets and other epayment solutions. Today, it took another step in pushing its citizens to embark on the cashless payment solutions — but early boomers aren't going to like it. The Indian government has launched BharatQR Code to enable people to pay for things they purchase without swiping their plastic cards. Instead, merchants can ask shoppers to scan a QR code and make payments directly from their bank account.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia