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Omidyar Network Report Reveals Disruption in Emerging Market Credit Score Business
Omidyar Network today released "Big Data, Small Credit: The Digital Revolution and Its Impact on Emerging Market Consumers", a research report that analyzes a new category of technology enterprises that are disrupting the traditional way of assessing consumer credit risk in emerging markets. Using non-financial data—such as social media activity and mobile phone usage patterns—complex algorithms and big data analytics are delivering a quicker, cheaper, and more effective credit assessment of consumers who lack credit histories and were invisible to lenders before.
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- Technology
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India and Bangladesh Play Unlikely Starring Role at Money 20/20
Financial inclusion featured high on the agenda of the opening sessions at Money 20/20 in Las Vegas. Initiatives from Asia were highlighted as showing best practice in solving identity issues.
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- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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Manila Hosts Summit on Asia Pacific Financial Inclusion
The Philippines is hosting the inaugural Asia-Pacific Financial Inclusion Summit from Oct. 27-29 to augment financial inclusion in the Asia Pacific region. It is being held at the Makati Shangri-La in Manila.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Viewpoint: Upcoming IPOs Will Be an Acid Test for Indian MFIs
Between 2007 and now, globally, two microfinance institutions (MFIs) got themselves listed on the stock exchanges. In the next six months, this number will be doubled; it could even be trebled. And, all entities opting for public listing are from India.
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- Region
- South Asia
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Viewpoint: RushCard Disruption Reveals Why Prepaid Debit Cards Should Not Exist At All
It’s a sad truth of American life that the poorer you are the more you pay for banking. And as thousands of Americans have discovered this month, it can also be very perilous to live outside the mainstream banking system. But there may be a solution on the horizon – one unused since the 1960s.
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- Technology
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Why ‘FinTech’ could be crucial to the growth of African economies
Stand-out success stories, such as M-Pesa have changed the way that consumers, banks and investors see the growth of banking and finance on the continent. Now an increasing number of homegrown companies are trying to build on the opportunities that this mobile revolution has created.
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- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Indian Microfinance Institutions Have Just Busted a Myth
By definition, microfinance is the business of giving tiny loans to people who do not have access to formal banking services. The Investopedia website defines microfinance as a type of banking service that is provided to unemployed or low-income individuals or groups who would otherwise have no other means of gaining financial services. “...the goal of microfinance is to give-low income people an opportunity to become self-sufficient by providing a means of saving money, borrowing money and insurance,” it says. In India, microfinance institutions (MFIs) cannot collect deposits, but sell insurance products, besides offering small loans that are typically paid back in weekly or monthly instalments.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Report: Account Screening Consumer Reporting Agencies Impede Banking Access for Millions
While a lack of financial education is often cited as the key reason tens of millions of people across the country don't have bank or credit union accounts, in fact, millions are shut out from the mainstream banking system because of a small group of little-known companies who manage databases used by financial institutions to determine whether or not to allow a consumer to open an account. A new report released today by the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund (CFE Fund) and the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) entitled "Account Screening Consumer Reporting Agencies: A Banking Access Perspective"outlines the tremendous and deeply flawed role that "account screening consumer reporting agencies" (CRAs) play in determining whether consumers can obtain an account. The report raises concerns about these companies, financial institutions' use of their reports, and offers solutions both for industry leaders and regulators.
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