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Is Universal Financial Access Still Possible?
The most recent Global Findex survey shows 515 million adults have opened bank accounts since 2014. While that's good progress, Daniel Monehin, who heads Financial Inclusion for Mastercard, points out that owning an account is just the first step towards financial inclusion - the real value comes with being able to use it in a safe and convenient way. That's why universal financial access must go hand-in-hand with efforts to drive usage, writes Monehin, who urges the sector to focus on people, products and partnerships.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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Block-chain based microfinancing for Kenyan food stall owners
IBM Research and Twiga Food will be extending access to microloans to 220 food stall retailers across Kenya using a block-chain based financing system.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- blockchain, fintech, microfinance
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Mobile money-saving app Qapital raises $30 million to spend on growth
Qapital, one of a slew of mobile applications trying to make it easier for users to save money (and spend it more wisely), has raised $30 million in fresh financing as it expands beyond savings to offer investment advisory services.
- Categories
- Finance
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Tunisia operators make mobile money interoperable
Tunisia became the latest country to introduce interoperability between rival mobile money services, with the functionality set to be expanded to traditional financial institutions.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- North Africa & Near East
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Nigeria’s mobile money scheme crawls at 1% penetration
After about five years of operation in Nigeria, mobile money has only been able to attract just one per cent penetration.
- Categories
- Finance
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Global Findex: Technology Can Bridge Financial Inclusion Gap
A new World Bank report based on data collected in partnership with Gallup shows that 1.2 billion adults worldwide have opened a bank account since 2011, including 515 million in the past three years. Globally, 69% of adults -- 3.8 billion people -- now have an account at a bank or with a mobile money provider.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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China’s VC firm LUN Partners leads $4.5m Series B in fintech firm MFS Africa
The funding round makes MFS Africa, operator of the largest digital payments network in Africa, the first African fintech company to receive funding from a China-based VC, according to a statement released on Wednesday.
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Digitizing the Base of the Pyramid: The Impact of Bringing Digital Finance to Last-Mile Farmers
Only 5 percent of Rwanda’s dairy farmers have access to credit, due in part to their lack of proof of income and inability to build a financial history. That’s why N-Frnds, a cloud-based software platform, partnered with the Rwandan government to digitize the milk collection process. Alyssa Mesich of N-Frnds recounts how the partnership has impacted milk production and boosted financial inclusion – results that suggest the vast potential impact of digitizing value chain-based financial services for last-mile farmers globally.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Finance, Technology
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