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Microfinance major Ujjivan commences its small finance bank operations in India
India-listed microfinance major Ujjivan Financial Services Ltd has begun the process of restructuring its business to becoming a small finance bank, following the Reserve Bank of India’s approval of its bank licence in September 2015. The new banking entity Ujjivan Small Finance Bank (Ujjivan SFB) began operations with effect from February 1, 2017.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Leveraging India’s Digital Transformation: Three Lessons for MFIs
As India continues its digital transformation, Grameen Foundation India has helped several MFIs transition to a digital financial services platform, and along the way developed some key lessons MFIs should keep in mind: conduct a thorough analysis of your business requirements before you select a digital financial services provider; don't discount the value of effective change management; and pay close attention to client education.
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- Technology
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A New Breed of Startups is Offering Microloans in India
When Deepthi K, a software engineer, came to know of a wedding in her in-law's family 15 days ahead of her salary day, she was in a fix. Neither did she have the money needed for the wedding nor the time to apply for a bank loanand go through a long paperwork process. Pressed for time, she approached a city-based start-up instead and got the entire amount of Rs 3 lakh within two days.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- microfinance
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India’s microfinance industry showing signs of overheating, again
India’s microfinance industry is showing signs of overheating in a possible reminder of the crisis that hit micro lenders in Andhra Pradesh in 2010. According to Crif High Mark Credit Information Services, a credit bureau, around 1.26 million microfinance borrowers had received top-up loans over and above their existing loan amounts as of December end.
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- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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IPOs in Microfinance – The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: Highlights from Our Twitter Debate
Microfinance's first initial public offerings played an important role in both the sector's emergence and in its fall from grace. But in light of two recent successful IPOs in India, many are wondering if public investment is coming back into vogue in the industry. We gathered a panel of experts, including both optimists and skeptics, to debate the pros and cons of public investment in microfinance in a Twitter chat on Jan. 30; you can read the chat here.
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- Investing
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How small borrowers in six Indian villages went digital
In a first-of-its-kind initiative in micro-finance post-demonetisation, 60,000 small borrowers from six small villages in Odisha are leading the way towards cashless transactions. This was made possible thanks to a pilot done by Bharat Financial Inclusion (formerly SKS Microfinance) for cashless and paperless disbursals.
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- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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India’s MFI sector yet to get over demonetisation impact
The microfinance industry is still facing challenges two-and-a-half months into demonetisation, with repayment collection taking a hit in some rural pockets where cash supply is yet to become normal and in parts of Maharashtra and poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, raising the spectre of a deterioration in asset quality.
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- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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FINCA Kosovo Achieves Smart Certification for Client Protection
Today, FINCA Kosovo, the country's largest microfinance organization, announced it received the Client Protection Certification by Smart Campaign. This official recognition required an in-depth, external review of all of FINCA Kosovo's processes and policies. The positive results of this review reflect FINCA's deep commitment to high ethical standards in the treatment of its clients. FINCA Kosovo joins a group of over 60 certified financial institutions, including FINCA Kyrgyzstan, FINCA Azerbaijan and FINCA Bank Georgia.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Europe & Eurasia
- Tags
- microfinance
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