The Global Systems for Mobile Association (GSMA), a UK-based association of 1,000 mobile operators and associated companies, recently launched a “Code of Conduct for Mobile Money Providers” to provide guidance on best practices for its members.
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Technology Recognized as Tool to Improve Property Rights, Payment Platforms, Reduce Transaction Costs at International Monetary Fund (IMF) Seminar: “Future of Finance – Technology and Financial Inclusion”
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), a US-based arm of the United Nations, and the US-based World Bank Group, recently held a seminar on technology and financial inclusion as part of its seminar series entitled “The Future of Finance,” panelists discussed the role of technology as a tool to amend market failures in the provision of financial services for low-income people such as via the documentation of property rights and reductions in transaction costs.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: The Broadband Effect: Enhancing Market-based Solutions for the Base of the Pyramid, Strengthening Regulated SACCO Societies in Kenya, Microfinance Barometer
“The Broadband Effect: Enhancing Market-based Solutions for the Base of the Pyramid;” by Olivier Kayser, Lucie Klarsfeld and Simon Brossard; published by the Inter-American Development Bank; September 2014; available at http://www.iadb.org/en/publications/publication-detail,7101.html?id=75634
This report examines how private companies are using broadband, a high-capacity internet connection, to improve the efficiency and reach of their operations that are geared towards the “base of the pyramid (BOP) markets” [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Establishes 2 Credit Unions Targeting Fishing Industry in Senegal
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), a US-based environmental non-governmental organization (NGO), recently announced its establishment of two credit unions geared towards people involved in fishing in the Senegalese villages of Cayar and Popenguine.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction (EBRD) Announces Potential $25m Risk-sharing Endeavor with Société Générale Serbia for Rural Microenterprise Financing Via VisionFund’s AgroInvest
The European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a multilateral institution headquartered in London, England, recently announced that it is likely to participate in a risk-sharing endeavor totaling RSD 2.3 billion (USD 25 million) with Société Générale Serbia, a subsidiary of the France-based financial institution Société Générale.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) to Host 17th Annual Inter-American MicroEnterprise Forum (Foromic), November 4-6, 2014, Guayaquil, Ecuador
Event Name: 17th Inter-American MicroEnterprise Forum (Foromic)
Event Date: November 4-6, 2014
Event Location: Guayaquil Convention Center, Guayaquil, Ecuador
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India’s Rashtriya Gramin Vikas Nidhi North East (RGVN) Microfinance Raises $7m in Equity Funding from Norwegian Microfinance Initiative Fund III, Oikocredit of the Netherlands, Dia Vikas Capital of India
Rashtriya Gramin Vikas Nidhi North East (RGVN), a microfinance institution (MFI) based in the Indian state of Assam, reportedly has raised approximately INR 420 million (USD 6.98 million) in equity funding from new investors [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India-based Ujjivan Financial Services Disburses Loans Totaling $166m Via Direct Deposit to Bank Accounts
Ujjivan Financial Services, a Bangalore-based microfinance institution, has disbursed local currency loans totaling the equivalent of USD 166 million, approximately 50 percent of its total loan disbursements this year, directly to customer’s bank accounts.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Industrial Development Bank of India Federal Life Insurance Launches Seven Individual, Group Plans
Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) Federal Life Insurance, a joint venture of the government-backed IDBI, the commercial Federal Bank of India, and Belgian insurer Ageas, has launched four individual and three group insurance plans in India.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bank of Punjab, MasterCard Launch Electronic Government-To-Person Social Security Payment System in Pakistan
The Bank of Punjab, which is owned by the government of the Pakistani province of Punjab, and MasterCard Incorporated, a US-based payments and technology company with operations in 210 countries and territories, recently announced a “Social Security Program” to convert government assistance to individuals to electronic payments.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Uruguayan Financial Inclusion Law Mandates Government Payments be Made Electronically, Gives Tax Brake to Cash-less Transactions
The Uruguayan Parliament reportedly has announced the approval of a new financial inclusion law that mandates that workers and retired people must start receiving their paychecks and work benefits through bank accounts or electronic money services within four years.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) Allocates $5.3m to Test, Develop Social Impact Bond Market in Latin America, Caribbean
The Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), a member of the US-based Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, recently announced that it has allocated USD 5.3 million for the testing, development and implementation of social impact bond (SIB) programs in Latin America and the Caribbean.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC), IFC Capitalization Fund Invest $15m in Subordinated Debt in Nicaragua-based Banco de Finanzas (BDF)
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the US-based World Bank Group, recently announced a USD 15 million subordinated bond investment in Banco de Finanzas, a Nicaragua-based commercial bank that is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Panama-based bank holding company Grupo Banco de Finanzas.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) Loans $6m to Peruvian Credit Unions Cooperativa de Ahorro y Crédito Abaco, Fortalecer
The Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), a member of the US-based Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, has disbursed loans to Peruvian credit unions Cooperativa de Ahorro y Crédito Abaco and Fortalecer to expand financial services via intermediaries, including other credit unions, private firms and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that provide retail lending to rural clients.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: US-based TriLinc Global Impact Fund Invests in Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Brazil, Chile, Indonesia, Peru
TriLinc Global Impact Fund (TriLinc), a US-based private investor in companies that it deems to contribute positively to socioeconomic development in emerging economies, recently disbursed a total of USD 5.7 million in loans through a series of investments in unspecified small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Brazil, Chile, Indonesia and Peru.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: American Express to Support Financial Inclusion in USA Through Technology Startups, Research, Film
American Express, a US-based multinational financial services company, recently announced three initiatives that aim to encourage financial inclusion in the United States.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) Donates $150k to Caribbean Information & Credit Rating Services (CariCRIS) of Trinidad and Tobago to Support Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)
The Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), a member of the US-based Inter-American Development Bank, has approved a grant of USD 150,000 to the Caribbean Information & Credit Rating Services (CariCRIS) of Trinidad and Tobago to provide services including the creation of credit ratings for 60 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Caribbean.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Peru-based Financiera Edyficar’s Acquisition of 61% Stake in Mibanco Receives Regulatory Approval
Peru-based microlender Financiera Edyficar (Edyficar), an operating subsidiary of Peruvian holding company Creditcorp, has received regulatory approval from the Peruvian Superintendency of Banks, Insurance and Pension Funds, the financial sector regulator in the country, for its proposed USD 179 million acquisition of a 60.7-percent stake in Mibanco, a Peruvian microfinance institution (MFI) that is a subsidiary of nonprofit holding company Grupo Accion Comunitaria del Peru (ACP).