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Mixed Reactions in Ghana Over Interest Payments on Mobile Money
Customers of mobile money services have expressed mixed reactions to the payments of interests, a day after the process started.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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The Microfinance Business Model: Enduring Subsidy and Modest Profit
Microfinance institutions aim to serve customers ill-served by traditional commercial banks and thus the associated business model is challenging by definition. And yet the industry has achieved impressive scale reaching 211 million customers globally in 2013. Paradoxically, recent evidence suggests that the benefits of microcredit to borrowers may be modest. For example, six prominent randomized controlled trials found small impacts of access to microcredit on the incomes and consumption levels of marginal borrowers, though the studies found some “potentially important” (though modest) impacts on “occupational choice, business scale, consumption choice, female decision power, and improved risk management.” (Banerjee et al., 2015, p. 14).
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- Uncategorized
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India’s Microfinance Sector Sees 29% Rise in Loan Disbursements in First Quarter
Microfinance industry has witnessed 29 per cent growth in loan disbursements during the first quarter of 2016-17, a report says.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- lending, microfinance
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Beyond the Lending Club Scandal – Why Marketplace Lending is Still Needed in Emerging Markets
Renaud Laplanche, the CEO of industry pioneer Lending Club, resigned in May amidst rumours of fraud and malpractice. Since then, critics have been trying to write off marketplace lending as a flawed business model. But it's too early to discount the value of the entire industry – especially as it emerges in markets like India and China to address the critical needs of SMEs.
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- Uncategorized
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Weekly Roundup: How Brexit Could Impact Emerging Markets + Other Non-Brexit News
We could not call this a Weekly Roundup without addressing Britain’s decision to leave the European Union (spoiler alert: like most economists, we're struggling to see any upside.) But for those readers who've had their fill of Brexit news, we have plenty more developments to share, including Capria Accelerator's new $100 million fund, Waste Ventures' tie up with Coke, and the dark side to alternative credit scoring.
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- Health Care, Investing, Social Enterprise
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Viewpoint: CFPB Payday Rule Addresses the Problems, Not the Solution
If the final rule doesn't create a clear lane for good lenders to step in with a variety of new loan product designs, the CFPB risks leaving important consumer needs unfulfilled.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- North America
- Tags
- lending, regulations
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Savings & Loans firms battle identity crisis in Ghana
Savings and loans companies in the country have appealed to the Bank of Ghana to consider creating a new identity for the industry, as the image of their business has been severely battered as a consequence of the troubles in the microfinance sector.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- lending, microfinance
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Peer-to-peer lending segment needs regulation, says Reserve Bank of India deputy governor
Gandhi says RBI believes P2P lending is an important innovation in the financial services space as it furthers the agenda of financial inclusion.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- lending, microfinance, regulations