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WhatsApp Set to Be Africa’s Biggest Payments and Ad Platform
June, 30 2018
Africa - While there’s no guarantee WhatsApp will be Africa’s biggest payments player in the long term, if it is able to navigate the regulatory environment in larger African economies like South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya it would have a significant headstart over local fintech startups still trying to convince both partners and customers to use their services
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Global Consensus Still Lacking on Cryptocurrency Regulation
June, 28 2018
Global - The pace of cryptocurrency regulation continues to heat up globally, but there's still little consensus on how to properly insure that investor protections make sense yet are effective, while at the same time allowing the asset class to thrive.
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Zimbabwe: Launch of Zim Women's Bank - a Milestone
June, 26 2018
Zimbabwe - With only 27 percent of women having access to formal banking products and accounting only for 10 percent of total bank loans, a dedicated microfinance bank for women can significantly contribute to the empowerment of women
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Nigeria: Enhancing Mobile Money Penetration
June, 21 2018
Nigeria - The recent GSMA report showed that although the adoption of mobile money globally is on the increase, the situation is not the same with Nigeria, writes Emma Okonj
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Financial Inclusion Makes Big Inroads into Myanmar
June, 21 2018
Myanmar - Myanmar has seen a significant increase in the numbers of adults with access to at least one formal financial services product, according to research presented on June 19 as part of the nationwide Making Access Possible (MAP) financial inclusion study
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What Investors Are Looking for in Africa’s Fintech Sector
June, 18 2018
Africa - Africa has long been considered a global leader in fintech innovation and adoption. The continent’s low penetration rates for traditional banking services coupled with high penetration of mobile phones makes it a rich breeding ground for fintech innovation, and in many respects the continent has been miles ahead of other developing – and most developed – markets
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D. Rozas, Co-Founder, MIMOSA Project, Senior Microfinance Expert, e-MFP: Using Findex Wisely - Understanding the Strengths and Weaknesses of the World’s Biggest Financial Inclusion Dataset
June, 18 2018
Global - But when using Findex, there are important things to keep in mind. First, while the overall figures and trends are important, the numbers for any one country should be treated with caution. This is not because we mistrust the Findex team or their work. It’s simply the result of what Findex is – a set of surveys based on randomly selected (hopefully representative) population samples of more than 150,000 adults in over 140 economies. And surveys can – and often do – go wrong, particularly when they deal with difficult or personal subjects (like finance) or are conducted in countries undergoing political and economic turmoil
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Global SMEs Set to Benefit from Blockchain-Based Financial Services Marketplace
June, 12 2018
Global - Last week Chinese financial services company Ant Financial raised a $14 billion funding round giving it a valuation of up to $150 billion, a staggering figure by any tech industry standard.
While the image of 150 so-called unicorns jumping and cavorting wildly in front of this writer’s eyes comes forth much too easily, this shows how quickly the global FinTech market is being transformed
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ONEm Develops the World’s First Blockchain Hybrid Wallet
June, 12 2018
Global - mCoin, the world’s first cryptocurrency which works with or without the internet, is pleased to announce the release of a secure hybrid SMS wallet. mCoin wallet is unlike others available on the market because it is compatible with more than five billion mobile phones
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India: Digital SME Lenders Bank on Co-Lending to Make their Presence Felt
June, 09 2018
India - If corporate lending was the flavour of the season at the turn of the decade, then retail lending has captured the attention of financiers over the last few years. Now, it is lending to the country’s small and medium enterprises, which is attracting increased focus from both traditional and new-age financial sector entities
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Investors Make an Impact in Central America
June, 08 2018
Central America - Small businesses in Central America are benefitting from the growing role of local impact funds, as healthy returns and the chance to make a difference attract investors
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‘Nigeria Achieved 5% Reduction in Financial Exclusion in 8yrs’
June, 07 2018
Nigeria - According to the apex bank, in 2010, it set a target to reduce the number of financially excluded Nigerians from 46 per cent in 2010 to 20 per cent in 2020, but only succeeded in reducing the number to 41 per cent as at the last count in 2018, which is a five per cent reduction in 8 years
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Start-Ups and Digital Innovation: Are Fintechs in Africa Over-Indebting their Customers?
June, 07 2018
Global - Demand for credit in Africa exceeds supply, despite the rise in mobile money. Yet start-ups, growing daily in number, are at risk of accelerating over-indebtedness, by supplying credit to clients without conducting appropriate repayment capacity analysis. Digital lenders need to understand the risks of over-indebtedness from a client perspective, and algorithms need to evolve to take this into account. Regulation also must guide good practice for fintech digital lenders
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China: Ant Financial Shifts Focus from Finance to Tech Services
June, 05 2018
China - Ant Financial Services Group,the dominant Chinese fintech company, is shifting its main focus to technology services and away from payments and consumer finance as Beijing’s crackdown on financial risk deepens, four sources with knowledge of the matter said
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Zimbabwe: RBZ Licenses Women's Bank
June, 04 2018
Zimbabwe - The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has licensed and authorized the Women's Microfinance Bank to conduct deposit-taking microfinance business
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Legal Avenue to Exploitative Microfinance in Sri Lanka
June, 04 2018
Sri Lanka - Microfinance provides a gateway for financial institutions to reach and exploit the earnings of poorer sections of society by charging high interest rates. The unregulated and exorbitant interest rates have attracted many finance companies to enter the microfinance marke
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Limits of the ‘Girls Effect’
June, 01 2018
Global - Focusing on adolescent girls to achieve major development goals is in vogue within development circles these days. Whether young girls can be the key to overcoming a range of development challenges across the so-called ‘developing world’ however remains a contentious issue
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