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Leveraging India’s Digital Transformation: Three Lessons for MFIs
As India continues its digital transformation, Grameen Foundation India has helped several MFIs transition to a digital financial services platform, and along the way developed some key lessons MFIs should keep in mind: conduct a thorough analysis of your business requirements before you select a digital financial services provider; don't discount the value of effective change management; and pay close attention to client education.
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- Technology
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India’s microfinance industry showing signs of overheating, again
India’s microfinance industry is showing signs of overheating in a possible reminder of the crisis that hit micro lenders in Andhra Pradesh in 2010. According to Crif High Mark Credit Information Services, a credit bureau, around 1.26 million microfinance borrowers had received top-up loans over and above their existing loan amounts as of December end.
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- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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The unbanked: stop catering for the middle classes and open up to the world
Bladimir didn’t want a bank account. The 22-year-old son of corn and bean farmers in rural El Salvador had moved to the capital in search of greater economic opportunity, but a bank account was not part of that plan. He had grown up with stories of scams and disappointments, and had a deep distrust of bank accounts as a safe way to store his money.
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- Uncategorized
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Here are the 10 startups chosen for India’s first ‘Startupbootcamp FinTech’
FinTech is at the forefront of the transformation in the financial industry and is changing the way value and ownership is exchanged, the risk is managed and transactions are performed. While this transformation is taking place across the globe, India's growing economy and large and under-tapped consumer base provide a significant opportunity for innovation in the sector.
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- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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5 Reasons Why India’s Aadhaar Journey Since 2014 Is Incredible
Numbers speak. In the case of Aadhaar — India’s biometric-based unique identification scheme for all citizens — the numbers are massive. What started merely as a unique identification programme six and a half years ago graduated to becoming a tool for public service delivery reforms in the second phase and for de-duplication, e-KYC and direct benefit transfer in the third phase. In its latest avatar, Aadhaar is poised to truly change the way Indians have done financial transactions until now.
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- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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Indonesia: Bank Central Asia Launches VC Unit, to Invest $15m in Fintech
Indonesia’s largest private bank Bank Central Asia (BCA) has launched a venture capital business unit called Central Capital Ventura (CCV), joining the race to use financial technology (fintech) startups to reach the otherwise “unbanked” markets.
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- Investing
- Region
- South Asia
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IPOs in Microfinance – The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: Highlights from Our Twitter Debate
Microfinance's first initial public offerings played an important role in both the sector's emergence and in its fall from grace. But in light of two recent successful IPOs in India, many are wondering if public investment is coming back into vogue in the industry. We gathered a panel of experts, including both optimists and skeptics, to debate the pros and cons of public investment in microfinance in a Twitter chat on Jan. 30; you can read the chat here.
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- Investing
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Financial Inclusion for Rural Youth Starts with Adults
The three-year Rural Youth Economic Empowerment Project in Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Yemen tested five different approaches to achieving financial inclusion among rural youth. It found that the most sustainable and scalable approaches leveraged infrastructure that had been used to serve adults, then adapted to serve both adults and youth at the same time.
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- financial inclusion, youth