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Fitch: Mexican Pawnshops, an Evolving Industry
August, 31 2015
Mexico - Gold prices and exchange rate volatility, amid increasing regulation and competition from microfinance companies, are pushing the consolidation of the pawnshop sector in Mexico, according to a new Fitch Ratings dashboard report
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Cambodian Banks: Still Powering Ahead
August, 28 2015
Cambodia - Acleda Bank, often described as Cambodia’s most successful business, leads the sector’s 35-odd commercial banks on both deposits and loans, ahead of powerful foreign banks such as ANZ and local-foreign joint ventures.
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Deutsche Bank Adds Funding to EFSE Micro Finance Fund
August, 27 2015
Germany - The bank, which also acted as underwriter for the transactions, managed to raise a total of EUR 90 million from private institutional investors for the fund in the form of two and three-year tranches.
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10 Challenges That Could Make or Break India’s Payments Banks
August, 26 2015
India - In the year since it was launched, India’s national financial inclusion drive has generated plenty of headlines – and even scored a Guinness World Record. But last week’s announcement from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) could prove to be one if its most consequential moves
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Nigeria: Fortis MFB Gets National License From CBN
August, 26 2015
Nigeria - Fortis Microfinance Bank Plc, the largest microfinance bank in Abuja and the North Central Region of Nigeria, has been granted a national microfinance banking license by the Central Bank of Nigeria
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Rwanda's Gender Gap: Banks Must Stop Failing Female Entrepreneurs
August, 25 2015
Rwanda - Supporting Rwandan women to access formal financial services and establish and grow businesses will ultimately benefit the entire nation, since research shows that women plough the majority of their income back into their families and communities.
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India: FIS Opens Financial Inclusion Lab in India to Drive Banking Access
August, 24 2015
India - FIS™ (NYSE: FIS), a global leader in banking and payments technology as well as consulting and outsourcing solutions, announced the launch of India’s first financial inclusion lab in Bengaluru. The lab is aimed at developing innovative ways to extend banking access to India’s millions of underbanked citizens.
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World’s Poor Start to Bank on a Better Future
August, 23 2015
Global - Campaigners for years have been battling to get the world’s poor better access to banking, arguing that something as simple as setting up a bank account and, better yet, providing credit can be the most effective tools to help people rise out of poverty.
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C. Connolly, Contributor, Mondato LLC: Will West Africa Be the New East Africa in Mobile Money?
August, 21 2015
West Africa - From the shining mobile money success story of Ivory Coast to the e-wallet desert of Togo, the members of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (better known by its French acronym, UEMOA) serve as a useful reminder that a relatively enabling regulatory environment is a necessary but not adequate condition for the growth of mobile financial and other mobile services in developing markets
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India: Banking Revolution on Cards - RBI Clears 11 Payments Banks
August, 20 2015
India - Banking, as we have known it, appears headed for an upheaval. The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday 'in principle' cleared 11 entities - including department of posts, top conglomerates such as Reliance Industries and Aditya Birla Group, telecom giants like Airtel and Vodafone, and a number of tech and finance companies - to set up 'payments banks'
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B. Magnoni, President, EA Consultants: Are the Poor, Especially Women, Being Squeezed Out of the MFIs Set Up to Serve Them?
August, 19 2015
Global - If the sector globally were one financial institution, it would rank at around 23rd in the United States in terms of assets, about where a mid-sized regional bank might lie.The main difference is that to serve their clients, microfinance institutions (MFIs) offer loans via more than 220,000 loan officers, who operate out of 47,000 outlets worldwide
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Philippines: Ways to Sustain Financial Inclusion Gains Proposed
August, 19 2015
Philippines - While the Philippines has made strides in its financial inclusion efforts, an economist said the government’s role should remain limited to regulatory supervision while allowing the private sector to develop more accessible products and services
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Investment Professionals Take Note of ESG Issues
August, 18 2015
Global - Almost three-quarters of investment professionals worldwide take environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) issues into consideration in the investment process, reveals a survey by the CFA Institute, a global association of investment professionals
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The Key to Fighting Poverty in Africa
August, 18 2015
Africa - Small and mid-sized agribusinesses are a vital link in Africa’s local and regional agriculture markets. For smallholder producers, the vast majority of Africa’s farmers, such businesses buy harvests, transfer knowledge and procure inputs in bulk to help drive down farmers’ costs
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India: Bandhan Bank Fixes Interest Rates
August, 17 2015
India - Bandhan Bank has fixed the rates of interest for savings and term deposits which would be offered to account holders after it starts banking operations, a top official has said.
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Ecuador Is The World's First Country With A Public Digital Cash System
August, 10 2015
Ecuador - The runaway success of mobile money products like M-Pesa, which first took off in Kenya, has inspired dozens of copycats around the world. Many countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America now have services allowing people to store and transfer money using their cellphones
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Zimbabwe: European Investors Target AfrAsia Bank
August, 10 2015
Zimbabwe - European investors are set to acquire a majority stake in MicroKing a subsidiary of AfrAsia Banking Zimbabwe Limited (ABZL). The consortium of European investors, Microcred and AfricInvest, will invest $25 million in the microfinance unit, Reserve Bank governor John Mangudya said
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India: MFI Industry on an Interest Rate Cut Spree
August, 08 2015
India - Lessons learned by the microfinance industry from the events about five years ago, leading to near collapse of the industry, are now being manifested by a flurry of volunteer interest rates cut
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Sri Lanka: Insurance for Micro Borrowers
August, 08 2015
Sri Lanka - A low-cost insurance scheme that will protect micro borrowers has been launched by Commercial Bank of Ceylon in association with two insurance companies, Ceylinco Insurance and BIMA
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Only 15% Pakistanis Avail Digital Financial Services
August, 07 2015
Pakistan - Only 15% Pakistanis avail Digital Financial Services (DFS) and there has been no significant increase in the user base or registrations between 2013 and 2014, said a Financial Inclusion Insights (FII) survey report, jointly conducted and launched by Karandaaz Pakistan and Inter Media
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The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
August, 06 2015
Global - Consensus reached on ambitious new Sustainable Development Agenda to end poverty by 2030 and universally promote shared economic prosperity, social development and environmental protection
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Mexico’s Anti-Poverty Programmes Are Losing the Battle
August, 05 2015
Mexico - According to the latest survey by the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (CONEVAL), published Jul. 23, 55.3 million people live in poverty in Mexico – three million more than in 2012 – equivalent to 46.2 percent of the population of 121 million
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Cambodia: Islamic Finance on the Table
August, 05 2015
Cambodia - The use of Islamic microfinance as an alternative to conventional forms of micro-lending was on top of the agenda at the World Islamic Economic Forum roundtable in Phnom Penh yesterday, with industry experts split on its possible inclusion in Cambodia’s basket of microfinance product offerings
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India: Mudra Sanctions Loans of Rs240 Crore to MFIs
August, 03 2015
India - Government’s refinancing scheme Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency (Mudra) Ltd, which was launched in April under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana with the aim of addressing funding problems of at least 57 million small business across the country, has disbursed Rs.97.5 crore to microfinance institutions (MFIs)
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