Farmers in India are among communities around the world hit hard by unscrupulous microlending.
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Market-led microcredit innovations dominated by profit maximisation can harm the very vulnerable.
Financial systems have evolved to allow contactless payments but people who cannot use digital services are being left behind.
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Not only are physical banks out of reach, people also face barriers to using digital financial services.
A Ugandan woman sending money by phone. Godong/Universal Images Group via.
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E-payments make it easy for banks to keep trail of transactions because they are recorded in real time.
Uganda is heavily reliant on foreign financial aid.
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It’s individuals, communities, and institutions who build the necessary confidence to pursue complex and challenging solutions to their problems.
A woman places her mobile phone over credit card reader at grocery store checkout counter.
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The FinTech ecosystem in Ghana provided the basis for understanding how various actors work together to shape financial inclusion.
A woman running her stall on Vilakazi Street, Orlando West. Soweto, Johannesburg.
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South Africa has a huge gender gap in terms of policies and interventions that would help women entrepreneurs.
Children in a classroom in Gondar in the Amhara Region. Ethiopia has signed a deal to register 5 million school children using blockchain.
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It’s time to shift focus away from bitcoin and to pay more attention to other blockchain projects promising to make real contributions to the world.
Banks must innovate to include financially vulnerable people.
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Banks can deploy artificial intelligence to create an understanding of current and prospective consumers and develop products that meet their needs.
Ghana is in the throes of a mobile money boom.
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An attempt to prevent fraud in Ghana’s burgeoning mobile money sector could be a setback for access to financial services.
Financial inclusion in Nigeria must target smallholder farmers.
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Sustainable financial inclusion in Nigeria requires interventions that strengthen financial capability, participation and well-being of small-scale farmers.
A closed mobile money kiosk in Harare. Up to 50,000 small agents are affected countrywide.
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Stringent restrictions could stifle innovation among mobile money operators and hinder access to financial services.
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More financial services should target low-income households in South Africa.
Women smallholder farmers contribute significantly to the Nigerian economy.
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Nigeria needs to adopt gender specific strategies to financially include women smallholders in agriculture.
Taking a loan has never been easier thanks to the proliferation of mobile lending platforms.
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Mobile loan platforms have given Kenyans access to easy loans, but they come at a high price.
High street pawnbrokers are closing, which means less options for financial help.
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The closure of high street pawnbrokers like Albermarle and Bond might leave many without financial help.
About nine out of ten Somalis above the age of 16 own a phone.
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Mobile money transfers have become the norm in Somalia. Transactions total as much as $2.7bn a month.
Young people in Africa are getting addicted to online betting through their mobile phones.
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Mobile money transfers have been a great asset. But the rise of online betting could threaten its contribution.
Make sure you’re a good citizen.
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Plans for China to rate its citizens for their trustworthiness have been depicted as uniquely Chinese. Don’t be so sure.
A Grameen Bank meeting in Bangladesh.
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Grameen Bank has potential to increase financial inclusion in Australia but regulation is holding it back.
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Banking in a highly financialised society like Britain could be seen as akin to a fundamental human right.