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Mastercard helps expand financial inclusion in Pakistan by optimizing National ID cards with e-payment functionality
Mastercard, a leading technology company in the global payments industry, announced a strategic collaboration with Pakistan’s NADRA Technologies to optimize National ID cards with electronic payments functionality. The move will allow Pakistani citizens to carry out financial transactions and receive government disbursements by utilizing the unique 13-digit identification number of their identity card.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- North Africa & Near East
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New CGAP Survey Finds Technology Alone Cannot Deliver Successful Interoperability in Digital Financial Services
No matter how well designed the technology, interoperability in digital financial services will not reach its full potential unless the right business structure and incentives are in place, CGAP found in its new report, Digital Finance Interoperability and Financial Inclusion: A 20-Country Scan.
- Categories
- Technology
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IFC, The MasterCard Foundation, and FINCA Support Expansion of Financial Inclusion in Democratic Republic of Congo
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, together with The MasterCard Foundation, on January 17 announced a cooperation agreement valued at $1 million with microfinance institution FINCA in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Under the agreement, FINCA will expand access to credit and digital financial services for low-income people and small-scale entrepreneurs.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Is Microcredit a Vaccine or an Antibiotic?
In his third post in a series, Timothy Ogden asks if microcredit is a vaccine or an antibiotic. In other words, does it work best when delivered at the right dose and at the right moment, or when it's made available to an entire population? Thinking through that frame, he believes, can help social investors clarify their theory of change and guide what areas of microcredit innovation to invest in.
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- Uncategorized
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Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion, Institute of International Finance and MetLife Foundation Launch Project to Help Banking Industry Overcome Barriers to Financial Inclusion
The Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion (CFI), the Institute of International Finance (IIF) and MetLife Foundation, together with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) as a technical partner, announced today a two-year initiative to help advance the financial services industry’s ability to reach unserved and underserved populations. The project, titled Mainstreaming Financial Inclusion: Best Practices, will facilitate learning and action on how financial institutions can respond to the specific challenges of reaching lower income market segments. Through research, knowledge exchange, best practices, real world examples and expert insights, the project will identify and transmit practical guidance that financial institutions can use to expand quality services to the poor.
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- Uncategorized
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Mastercard Delivering Financial Inclusion: One Small Kenyan Farm At A Time
The problem with building financial inclusion — particularly in a developing world context — is that it is a tough goal to pursue directly. While there isn’t much in the way of disagreement that more should be done to connect the approximately 2.5 billion adults who are totally (or nearly totally) detached from formal financial services, actually implementing a plan that actually makes a difference is often a very separate matter.
- Categories
- Agriculture
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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The Curious Case of 4.5 Million Jan Dhan Accounts That Were Closed During India’s Demonetisation Chaos
The Narendra Modi government’s flagship financial inclusion scheme—the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)—has always been about big numbers.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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GetBucks Goes for the Bucks in Botswana
The Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) has approved the Programme Memorandum for the Note and it is anticipated that the Note will be listed on the BSE on Monday, 30 January 2017. Proceeds from the first tranche of the Note of up to BWP 200 million will be used by the Issuer to reduce the cost of funding.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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