-
How Do You Know You’re Really Reaching the Poor?: Tips for microfinance providers considering digital services
Though many microfinance institutions operate in impoverished areas, they often have little or no objective poverty data on the clients they’ve reached. Pride Microfinance wanted to avoid this problem when it rolled out its digital financial services programs this year, so it worked with Grameen Foundation to measure its social impact. The lessons it learned can be valuable to other MFIs considering going digital.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
-
Nigeria’s GTBank Introduces New “Short Code” Channel for Mobile Money Transfers
Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (GTBank) said it is applying a breakthrough innovation to enable funds transfer on the mobile phone for the first time in Nigeria for the bank’s customers.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
-
Ripple scores $28 million funding round
Digital currency outfit Ripple Labs has closed a $28 million Series A funding round that includes IDG Capital Partners and the venture arms of CME Group and global data storage company Seagate Technology.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
-
Kenya’s million dollar bitcoin startup BitPesa expands to Tanzania
Kenyan bitcoin startup BitPesa is expanding to neighboring Tanzania about a year after it launched its mobile-friendly digital currency exchange.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
-
From Alibaba to Xiaomi, why Indian Prime Minister Modi must chase China’s booming tech companies
The direction that China’s internet and e-commerce companies are heading dovetails perfectly with the Digital India campaign, which aims to create “digital infrastructure, deliver services digitally and digital literacy.”
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- mobile finance
-
Twitter Top Ten
This week brought a number of developments in global health, social enterprise and financial inclusion - some promising, some disturbing, and one bittersweet. As usual, we’ve highlighted a sample of the reaction to these events on Twitter, along with some long-form pieces that vividly describe some of the big challenges and small triumphs in the sectors we cover.
- Categories
- Education, Health Care
-
A Revolution in the Making: CGAP’s Greg Chen discusses how smartphones could transform financial inclusion and microfinance
Smartphone sales are exploding in emerging economies, with Latin America and the Middle East/Africa recording growth rates of 59 percent and 83 percent, respectively, last year. CGAP’s Greg Chen discusses how this new access could transform low-income people’s interactions with their financial services providers in this video Q&A, the latest in our series on the Future of Microfinance.
- Categories
- Technology
-
The Human Touch Behind Digital Success: Microfinance institutions that go mobile need to support the people behind the technology
Technology is the enabler of digital services, but people are still the backbone. This is important for microfinance institutions to remember, since transitioning to mobile services requires considerable changes from staff. In the latest post in their series on how MFIs can go digital, Grameen Foundation explores best practices for making this transition.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
The Best of NextBillion in Your Inbox Each Week!
Subscribe to NB Notes for news, jobs & on-the-ground insights from the world of emerging markets business.
We respect your privacy. Your information is safe and will never be shared.
Don't miss out. Subscribe today.