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Can this tiny startup be the definitive lender for the world’s emerging middle class?
A big challenge for people in an emerging middle class who are struggling to find avenues to credit is that they rarely have formal credit histories. They do, however, have social networks -- rich communities of family members and friends who can vouch for their character and credibility. And increasingly, as smartphones open up the Internet's opportunities to growing numbers of people, they have online social networks that mirror their communities.
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- Uncategorized
- Tags
- credit scoring, lending
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The World Bank Gets An Overhaul — And Not Everyone’s Happy
The World Bank, the largest international development institution, is undergoing a sweeping reorganization, the first of its kind for the bank in nearly a generation. The bank, based in Washington, has laid out a new set of goals, but they're accompanied by deep budget cuts and the elimination of a whole layer of senior management jobs.
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- Impact Assessment
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College Credit: How U.S. university students are helping the underbanked build credit in their campus communities
In the U.S., good credit is a basic requirement for entrepreneurs and average consumers alike, and a lack of good credit is a major problem – especially for those with lower incomes. But while service providers are often reluctant to lend to the underbanked, college students across the country are filling the gap with campus microfinance institutions.
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- Uncategorized
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Home Financiers Strike Deal for Bottom of the Pyramid in Kenya
“Over the years, the country has accumulated a housing deficit of over three million, which has led to demand for housing exceeding supply and proliferation of slums. Now we are telling people to stop renting houses and move to their own homes.”
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Insuring Impact: A Q&A with the co-founder of HUGInsure, the world’s first social impact insurance
Few new products or concepts can be described as "the first of their kind." But Dalberg and Hollard Insurance recently launched what they believe to be the world’s first social impact insurance entity, HUGinsure. It applies rating methodologies and risk management principles to social impact funding, helping facilitate loans to projects that impact the poor.
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- Impact Assessment
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Banking on Impact: Building the business case for social and environmental due diligence in lending
Conducting social and environmental due diligence can be a challenge, but Root Capital has found that its financial costs are surprisingly low, and its financial benefits surprisingly large. It has published scorecards and methodology that other financial institutions can use to partially avoid the fixed costs of developing their own due diligence tools.
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- Agriculture, Environment, Impact Assessment
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- impact investing, lending
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Tiny Loans Are Big Business Once Again in India
Lending to India’s poor is a good business once again.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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From Corner Store to Microfinance
With a master's degree in social work and a Ph.D. in marriage and family therapy, Antoinette Temporiti spent 30 years counseling individuals and families. She specialized in working with young adult victims of sexual abuse and loved her career. But a trip to Africa in 2004, when she was 54 years old, set her on a new path.
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- Uncategorized
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