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Foreign banks are pouring into Cambodia’s microfinance sector
When Samic Microfinance sold its entire operation to South Korea-based NongHyup Bank late last month, Samic’s CEO King Kap Kalyan said the decision was due to rising competition within the country’s financial industry.
- Region
- Asia Pacific
- Tags
- microfinance
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Moving Past Microfinance: How India’s Small Finance Banks Aim to Take Financial Inclusion to the Next Level
The proliferation of microfinance in India has been a double-edged sword: On the one hand, MFIs have reached customers that most mainstream banks have overlooked. On the other, a lack of clear regulation and oversight has had devastating consequences for some borrowers. But regulators have responded with a new category of financial institution, the “small finance bank.” Andreas Nilsson and Nina Freudenberg of Sonanz explore the evolution of these institutions and whether a wider range of products could also mean deeper social impact.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
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African microlender OKash integrates facial recognition to prevent fraud
A recent report by Financial Sector Deepening suggests that 73 percent of Kenyans have a mobile money account, and the country has one of the world’s fastest-growing digital economies, according to TUKO, but mobile money fraud has become a widespread problem.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Press release: African Development Bank, Nordic Development Fund and Partners launch Off-Grid Energy Access Fund with US$58 million
The Off-Grid Energy Access Fund (OGEF) had its first close on Thursday, 2 August 2018 with committed capital of US$ 58 million from the African Development Bank, the Nordic Development Fund, the Global Environment Facility, Calvert Impact Capital and All On.
- Source
- Press release
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Trust, Not Peer Pressure: Adapting the Global Microfinance Model for the U.S.
After years of working with global MFIs at Whole Foods’ Whole Planet Foundation, Steve Wanta saw that the group lending model that helped microentrepreneurs abroad could also work for Hispanic female entrepreneurs in Texas. But he also realized that the traditional microfinance model could function better with a few twists. In this Q&A with NextBillion, Wanta discusses the lessons he's learned leading the nonprofit JUST, which is adapting the microfinance model for the U.S. market.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
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Chinese e-commerce giant to begin services in Pakistan this year
At the moment, Ant Financial is undergoing an approval process from the State Bank of Pakistan and the Competition Commission of Pakistan.
- Categories
- Finance, Telecommunications
- Region
- South Asia
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Banking on the Unbanked: Assessing True ‘Creditworthiness’
The combination of advanced fintech with off-grid solar solutions has been a winning combo for Colibrí, a social enterprise devoted to promoting energy access in rural Nicaragua. Its Fácil-Pago technology, powered by Angaza Design, has succeeded partly thanks to the business' approach to an often-difficult financial task: responsibly assessing the credit-worthiness of unbanked customers. Morgan Babbs, Colibrí founder and CEO, explains why the approach to calculating credit-worthiness has resulted in exceeding low default rates among other advantages.
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Press release: Visa and Branch form micro-credit partnership
The loans will provide merchants with funds to grow their business through supplemental stock, infrastructure investment, and other key operational needs. Loans will be disbursed directly to the merchants’ phones.
- Categories
- Finance
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