Financial inclusion is a key component in reducing poverty in emerging markets. To successfully provide financial services to all, it important to reflect on the performance of financial products and services, their impact to date, and to identify trends that will affect the future of the sector. Eight trends that will impact financial inclusion in 2015 by John Ownes on AFI The use of digital financial services has been, and will continue to be, one … read more
Financial Inclusion: Room for Improvement
Are we moving as far and fast as we think? FI2020’s E-Zine says no by Susy Cheston on CFI Blog
The second edition of the Financial Inclusion 2020 Round-up 2014 e-magazine looks at progress toward financial inclusion in the year following the FI2020 Global Forum. Last year, a roadmap to Financial Inclusion was presented at the forum, consisting of five focus areas: Technology, Financial Capability, Addressing Customer Needs, Client Protection, and Credit Reporting. Since then, … read more
Innovation and Financial Inclusion
Over the years, with the introduction of innovations like microcredit and mobile money, Financial Inclusion for the world’s poor has made significant strides. To continue this forward movement, players must look at different approaches to the problem and create innovative solutions while continuing to evaluate and support solutions already in place.
The Next Stage of Financial Inclusion by Dean Karlan on SSIR
In a perfect world, we would never have to think about finance. It … read more
Developments in Financial Inclusion
You can’t invest in emerging markets without addressing financial inclusion. Between ICT innovations allowing for digital payments from pay as you go energy, financial inclusion is an effort we all must address in order to successfully create an impact.
The Next Frontier of Financial Services James Militzer on Next Billion
Financial inclusion efforts usually center around savings and credit, but Jeremy Leach, director of Bankable Frontier Associates, believes that insurance and microinsurance is the next … read more
Mobile Money Updates
The mobile money industry continues to grow in the developing world, offering financial inclusion to the masses that were previously without access to financial services. Below are a few recent articles highlighting exciting developments in the industry.
Mobile Money Continues to Penetrate Africa by Emmanuel Iruobe on Ventures Africa
According to an industry report by the Global System for Mobile Association (GSMA), the mobile money industry is continuing to expand across more regions in Africa. … read more
Remittances and Mobile Money
Remittances and mobile money have played a big role in promoting financial inclusion in emerging markets. Currently it’s a market dominated by big players like Western Union, but more and more often we’re seeing localized startups like Remit in Uganda looking to make financial services even easier and more inclusive.
“Safaricom Deal to Allow Diaspora to Send Money to M-Pesa Accounts” by Chris Udemans on HumanIPO
The growth of mobile technology has had … read more
Weekly Review July 21-27
This week, social enterprise folks convened in Mexico for “G2012 Mexico Financial Inclusion Challenge: Innovative Solutions for Unlocking Financial Access” and held breakout discussions on Twitter. Following the trend, here are articles from the past week addressing financial inclusion.… read more
Introducing the Impact Factoring Fund
Over the past few years, ID has worked to catalyze risk capital for underserved markets. To date, we have done this with direct investments from our BSP Fund, business co-creation through our BETA program, and deal syndication with fellow investors. Now, we are ready to announce our latest effort to support high-growth enterprises working in underserved markets.
The Impact Factoring Fund solves one of the most critical inhibitors to high-growth impact entrepreneurship. It levels … read more
How Mobile Technology Improves Informal Savings Groups
To date, we’ve introduced both the benefits and the inefficiencies of informal savings groups. Today, we’ll share how mobile technology can improve informal savings groups. Injecting the benefits of mobile money, increased communication, and innovative apps into the savings group model can displace the inefficiencies that exist in trust, convenience, and security. Importantly, mobile technology does not compromise the intrinsic benefits of the savings groups. … read more
The Inefficiencies of Savings Groups
Last week, we introduced informal savings groups and their benefits. In this post, we’ll discuss how mobile phone technology can optimize the intrinsic benefits of a savings group through mobile money, innovative cash management applications, and increased communication.… read more
Weekly Review April 30-May 4
Every week, we read dozens of articles on our favorite industry trends and relate to our investment thesis. We pick the most popular trend from the week and share the top articles along with our thoughts.
In a follow up to our recent post on financial inclusion, this week we turned to our favorite industry blogs and mainstream media to see what they’re saying this week on the topic. We’ve included posts and articles from … read more
The Benefits of Informal Savings Groups
Over 70% of people in emerging markets do not have a formal bank account (Goss, Mas, Radcliffe, & Stark, 2011). Despite exclusion from what we consider formal banking, many people in emerging markets have figured out their own ways to save money. An increasing number of people are participating in informal savings groups.
Our goal in this series is to explore the effectiveness of savings groups. In this post, we’ll explain how they work and … read more