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NexThought Monday – Borrowing from Yourself: Innovations that help low-income debtors become savers
There should be huge returns to helping more Americans raise the range of their cash positions – their financial zone of operation, writes Timothy Flacke of Doorways to Dreams. In some cases, moving that range even $500 or $1,000 higher might mean less frequent use of costly short-term credit - which could help prevent short-term borrowing from becoming chronic debt, as is so often the case with payday loans. But how?
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OPINION: Is mobile money the key to Africa’s cashless society?
As the story of the mobile phone and its contribution in bridging the digital divide in Sub-Saharan Africa unfolds, the device’s revolutionary role in facilitating transactions and wealth distribution in the region is shaping up in an unprecedented way.
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- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Citi looks to tech and non-profits to drive financial inclusion; Gates talks bitcoin and biometrics
Citi is working with non-profit organisation Catalyst Miami on a tech-based financial inclusion programme that it believes could be replicated across the country.
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Gates Links Technology, Banking Services for Poor
Bill Gates is banking on digital technology to bring financial services to the world’s poor.
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Mobile wallet won’t take off in India unless direct withdrawal allowed: Experts
The first wave of telco-backed payments banks is slated to charge up India's mobile banking turf but explosive growth in mobile money transactions, mirroring the Africa experience, won't happen unless RBI allows direct cash withdrawals under mobile wallet services, leveraging the reach of telecom retail networks, mobile operators and sector analysts told ET.
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Unlocking the Unbanked: How cyber ID data can advance financial inclusion and ecommerce in emerging markets
Our financial systems rely on digital information footprints – credit data, banking histories, etc. – to determine whether a person is trustworthy. But many poor people live in a cash economy with no digital record of their financial history, preventing them from transacting with many companies. According to Stephen Ullford, cyber ID data offers one way to bridge this cash-digital divide and expand financial access to the unbanked.
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Are Toilets and Bank Accounts Connected? In India, Yes
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plan to develop India includes creating toilet access for all 1.2 billion people and opening a bank account for every adult who doesn’t already have one.
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- Health Care
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- South Asia
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Responsible Pricing, Profits and Self-Regulation in Microfinance: Views from the Smart Campaign
The Smart Campaign offers certification to microfinance institutions that uphold its client protection principles. In the process, it has sparked debate on topics like responsible pricing, appropriate profits and the value of self-regulation. In response to recent criticisms of its certification process, Campaign director Isabelle Barrès lays out its perspective on these three issues.
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