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AI Can Do a Lot for Financial Services Penetration in the Hinterlands in India
The departure from a ‘brick-and-mortar’ structure to branchless banking (agent & mobile) can be attributed to ICT adoption by users. This has led to a structural and technical reform in the financial services landscape in the last decade.
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- Finance, Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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Peter Thiel-Backed VC firm Invests in Mexican Neobank Albo as Demand Rises for Services for Unbanked
Albo offers online banking services to the country’s large unbanked population, and permits customers to open an account online within minutes and get a prepaid Mastercard tied to a phone app.
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- Finance
- Region
- Latin America
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A Country May Issue a Digital Currency in 5 Years
A new report says national digital currencies could mean greater financial inclusion, less financial crime and more efficient cross-border transmissions.
- Categories
- Finance
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Press Release: Bamboo Capital Partners Backs Amartha, a P2P Lending Platform for Micro-Entrepreneurs in Indonesia
Founded in 2010 by Indonesian entrepreneur Andi Taufan Garuda Putra, Amartha started as a microfinance institution before pivoting into Fintech P2P lending in 2016. Amartha’s mission is to connect aspiring unbanked micro-entrepreneurs in rural areas experiencing difficulties finding working capital with online lenders interested in making profitable, impactful investments.
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- Entrepreneurship
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Everything You Need to Know About African Fintech Right Now
Africa is home to the world’s youngest labor force, and a rapidly growing rate of mobile phone use. Providing essential financial services to this market has major potential—and global investors, from Silicon Valley venture capital firms to international finance institutions, are taking notice and backing African fintech companies.
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- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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A Devil’s Bargain to Bank the Unbanked: Why Financial Inclusion Advocates Shouldn’t Trust Facebook’s Libra
As you've likely heard, Facebook has entered the inclusive finance arena, pitching Libra, a global cryptocurrency – ostensibly to promote financial inclusion. But as Digital Equity co-founder Valerie Khan argues, there are plenty of reasons to doubt Facebook's intentions and Libra's “social good” marketing campaign. In fact, she says, "Facebook is not being transparent about its real interest in Libra" – and both financial inclusion advocates and emerging countries should beware.
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- Finance, Technology
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Zimbabwe’s EcoCash Woes Show Dangers of Early Reliance on Mobile Money
The growth of EcoCash was driven by its ability to extend financial inclusion by drawing in previously unbanked customers. But recurrent power blackouts and food shortages in the context of a currency crisis are now showing the fragility of that model.
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- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Viewpoint: Libra’s Top-Down Model Doesn’t Match Its Financial Inclusion Mission
Though the use of Libra to pay for a Spotify subscription, an outfit on Farfetch, or a holiday on Booking.com is certainly an on-ramp for mainstream adoption, the appeal and necessity of such services to the underbanked, as part of the currency’s underlying mission, is mismatched.
- Categories
- Finance
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