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Do Payday Loans Deserve Their Bad Reputation? Ask the People Who Know Best – the Borrowers
Payday loans have earned a bad reputation as high-interest money traps that leave low-income borrowers stuck in a cycle of debt. But despite all the criticism and bad press, these loans remain very popular among low-income borrowers, with an estimated 15,766 payday loan stores throughout the U.S. – slightly more than the country's 14,350 McDonalds. So are payday loans really that bad – and are borrowers actually being victimized? LendEDU conducted a survey of payday loan customers, and Mike Brown unpacks the results – many of which may surprise you.
- Categories
- Finance
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Immigrants Create Jobs – Small Loans Can Help: New Research on the Impact of Supporting Underserved Entrepreneurs
Did you know that immigrants and their children have helped found 60 percent of the most highly valued tech companies in the U.S. (currently worth $3.8 trillion)? That statistic highlights a fact that’s being lost in the immigration debate: Recent immigrants are natural entrepreneurs, who create jobs and economic growth for themselves, their families and their communities. Opportunity Fund’s vice president, Gwendy Brown, explores new research showing how small loans can help immigrants and other underserved entrepreneurs build their businesses and maximize their impact.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Finance, Investing
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Education Without Borders: Helping Promising International Students Gain Access to U.S. Universities
Access to American higher education should not be determined by where someone was born, but rather by their merit and potential, argues Joel Frisch of Prodigy Finance. However, financing still hinges on an applicant’s assets and home country – creating barriers for many students in emerging markets. With a model based on impact investing, Frisch describes how Prodigy is helping students get a U.S. education, while helping investors get both social and financial returns.
- Categories
- Education
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Offering a white-labeled lending service in emerging markets, Mines raises $13 million
Emerging markets credit startup Mines.io has closed a $13 million Series A round led by The Rise Fund, the global impact fund formed by private equity giant TPG, and 10 others, including Velocity Capital.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Development Bank of Nigeria to provide low interest loans to 10,000 MSMEs
A statement from the DBN said the loan is part of measures aimed at addressing the financing challenges facing MSMEs in Nigeria.
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Industry body seeks government intervention to tame errant microfinance practitioners in Sri Lanka
LMFPA aims to self-regulate its 76 members through the code of conduct, particularly avoiding over indebtedness, maintaining transparency, promoting good recovery practices and maintaining healthy competition. Nafeer noted that an independent board would investigate the complaints lodged against its members and will take punitive action against errant members by terminating their membership if they continue to breach the code of conduct and same will be advertised in print media to inform the public.
- Region
- South Asia
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Sri Lanka Finance Minister Announces Cap on Microfinance Interest Rates
A cap on interest rates charged by micro-finance companies has been a long-term demand of groups agitating against exploitative loan schemes targeting the country’s poorest people.
- Region
- South Asia
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Step by Step Credit: Empowering the Unbanked through Progressive Finance
Despite notable progress in the financial inclusion sector, widespread, permanent change remains elusive. The good news, says Aristotle Socrates at Juvo, is that not only is this change possible, but everything we need to make it happen already exists. In fact, it might be as easy as setting aside long-held assumptions about the role of wealth and income in establishing credit. He outlines how improved data infrastructure is connecting lenders to creditworthy customers, producing big gains for both providers and the financially excluded in the developing world.
- Categories
- Finance
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