-
Micro lenders eye growth paths in Myanmar
World Vision is attempting to become the first NGO to obtain a commercial license for its Microfinance Institution (MFI) arm in Myanmar, as the industry increasingly professionalizes, more commercial players enter and rules governing the sector are established.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Tags
- microfinance
-
Not Your Mother’s Microfinance
Forward-thinking small business owners across the developing world are turning to the online space as an alternative source of small business loans.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
-
The Road from Innovation to Scale: Experiments to Improve Product Design
As part of NextBillion Financial Innovation’s launch, we invited a number of leaders to contribute their views on where innovation is heading, and what obstacles remain. Today Dean Karlan, president and founder of IPA, describes how to design innovative financial products that are both scalable and effective in addressing the real needs of the world’s poor.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
-
Sustainability Certification Dramatically Improves Smallholder Farms’ Access to Credit, New Study Finds
Smallholder farmers suffer from a lack of credit access, but sustainability certification can help change that, according to a new study published by the Rainforest Alliance and funded by the Citi Foundation.
- Categories
- Agriculture
-
SKS Microfinance Limited to go for image makeover
HYDERABAD: Battered by the AP MFI crisis, SKS Microfinance Limited, India's sole listed microfinance company said it had roped in one of the leading global marketing strategists Jack Trout to revamp its image.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
-
Grameen Bank to be Controlled Directly
The government is finally bringing the Grameen Bank under direct control of the central bank, to give the authorities more powers over the microcredit organisation. The decision is in line with the proposals of the government-sponsored Grameen Bank Commission, which recommended bringing the bank under the regulatory control of either the Bangladesh Bank or the Microcredit Regulatory Authority to better monitor its activities.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Tags
- microfinance
-
Microloans Typically Used to Alleviate Poverty Abroad Surging in Silicon Valley
When Silicon Valley small businesses needed an influx of cash, and fast, they didn't find help at a bank. They turned instead to a type of financing more commonly associated with buying a sewing machine for a Guatemalan tailor or a tractor for an African farmer. Microlending, a decades old form of financing for the world's poorest, is now booming in Silicon Valley.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Tags
- microfinance
-
Poverty-Focused Innovation: Alex Counts, CEO of Grameen Foundation, on how to foster financial innovation by creating agency for the poor
As part of NextBillion Financial Innovation’s launch, we invited a number of top innovators and leaders to contribute their views on financial innovation – what’s driving it, where momentum is heading, and what obstacles remain. Today, Alex Counts, CEO of Grameen Foundation, deconstructs the foundation’s approach to financial innovation – and how it maintains the focus on the poor for which the Grameen name is famous.
- Categories
- Uncategorized