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Weathering a Perfect Storm – Part 1: The Challenges Facing Fintechs in Emerging Markets During COVID-19
Fintechs have proven their potential to deliver financial services to low- and middle-income customers in emerging markets. But even the most innovative approaches can fail in an economy devastated by COVID-19. In this article – the first in a two-part series – analysts at MSC explore the challenges and opportunities the pandemic brings to the fintech sector.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance, Technology
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Digital Financial Services Could Fast-Track UN SDGs
Change is afoot in Africa as governments work tirelessly to identify their most vulnerable citizens for emergency disbursements. Banks, mobile money operators and Fintech firms are providing innovative solutions to meet their client needs and this may be a significant opportunity for lasting positive change.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- digital finance, fintech, SDGs
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Women-Focused Fintech Startups Can Now Apply for World’s Women Banking Challenge
World’s Women Banking (WWB), US-based gender inclusiveness investment firm in partnership with Singapore Fintech Festival, recently opened applications for fintech startups focused on women in emerging markets.
- Categories
- Finance
- Tags
- fintech, gender lens, startups
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Southeast Asia’s Fintech Startups Face Shakeout From Coronavirus
The coronavirus is unlikely to halt the rapid advance of fintech firms in the emerging landscapes of Southeast Asia. Along the way, however, it is amplifying the gains of some startups while inflicting pain on many others.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
- Region
- South Asia
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Press Release: GoBear Grabs $17M in Funding to Accelerate Its Financial Services Across Asia
GoBear, a Singapore based fintech startup, has raised US$17 million in a funding round led by returning investors Walvis Participaties, a Dutch VC firm, and Aegon N.V., a Netherlands-based asset management company, according to a press statement.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
- Tags
- digital finance, fintech, startups
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Press Release: Impact of COVID-19 on the Online Payment Methods Market in the Middle East & Africa
According to the report, cash on delivery was the leading payment method preferred by online shoppers in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Kenya, and other countries in this region, as of 2019. The COVID-19 outbreak in early 2020, however, is changing this perspective.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance, Technology
- Region
- North Africa & Near East
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Cash, Long a Refuge in Uncertain Times, Now Under Suspicion
This time cash itself, passed from hand to hand across neighborhoods, cities and societies just like the coronavirus, is a source of suspicion rather than reassurance.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
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When Digital Payment Goes Viral: Lessons from COVID-19’s Impact on Mobile Money in Rwanda
Cash can help spread COVID-19, so some African countries have ramped up efforts to expand digital payments to fight the virus. According to Isabelle Carboni and Hennie Bester at Cenfri, this imperative to digitize is one of the key opportunities to emerge from the pandemic. They explore the early experiences of Rwanda, in assessing the impact these efforts can have.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance