At yesterday’s meeting of the European Microfinance Platform’s (e-MFP’s) Digital Innovations for Financial Empowerment Action Group, a wide range of presenters described their challenges and successes in implementing financial technologies.
Search Results for: technology
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Financial Technology Start-up iNuka Pap of Kenya Selected For First Barclays Africa Accelerator Program
iNuka Pap Limited, a Kenyan start-up technology company that enables members of local Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) “to conveniently deposit, withdraw and access instant micro-loans as well as access other credit services”[3], is one of ten early-stage financial technology firms selected to participate in the first Barclays Africa Accelerator program.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Institute for Money, Technology & Financial Inclusion (IMTFI) Seventh Annual Conference; April 20-21, 2016; Irvine, California, USA
Event Name: Institute for Money, Technology & Financial Inclusion (IMTFI) Seventh Annual Conference 2016
Event Dates: April 20-21, 2016
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Omidyar Network Leads Investment in eCurrency Mint to Support Technology That Enables Central Banks in Issuing Digital Currency
Omidyar Network, a US-based investment firm, recently made an investment of undisclosed amount in eCurrency Mint (eCM), an Ireland-based company that has developed a technology that enables central banks to issue digital currency, called eCurrency.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Opportunity International Selling 6 Banks in Sub-Saharan Africa to Financial Technology Company MyBucks
Opportunity International, a microfinance NGO based in the US city of Chicago, has announced that it intends to sell six of its banks that are located in unspecified sub-Saharan Africa to MyBucks Group, a financial technology company in Luxembourg.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: South Africa’s Jumo Launches Microcredit Borrower Assessment Technology Based on Mobile Telephone Usage Data
Jumo, the microfinance unit and “mobile money marketplace”[2] of AFB, a financial services company based in Cape Town, South Africa, recently launched a new borrower assessment service in Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Private Equity Fund, Apis Partners, Raises $157m for Financial Technology Startups in Africa, South Asia
Apis Partners, a London-based private equity firm, has raised USD 157 million in investments for the Apis Growth Fund that it launched in 2014 to target technology firms working in payments, savings, investments, credit and insurance in Africa and South Asia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Qualcomm, Project Concern International (PCI) India, Microware Computing & Consulting Partner to Offer 3G-based Mobile Microfinance Technology for Microfinance Institution Planned Social Concern
Qualcomm, a US-based semiconductor and telecommunications company, recently announced a collaboration with Project Concern International (PCI) India, a New Delhi-based branch of the US-based non-governmental organization PCI; Planned Social Concern (PSC), a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Jaipur, India; and Microware Computing & Consulting, an Indian telecommunications and software company.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Mobile Finance Implementation; Alternative Delivery Channels and Technology; “Market Insights for Innovations and Design” (MI4ID) Behavioral Research
“Expanding Access to Finance Through Mobile Payments;” published by the Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA) International and The MasterCard Foundation; June 2015; 12 pages; available at http://www.finca.org/files/2015/06/FINCA-MasterCard-Case-study-2015.pdf
This case study offers suggestions for microfinance institutions (MFIs) implementing mobile technology.
SPECIAL REPORT: How Holistic Approaches Can Advance Rural Enterprise Through Microinsurance, Technology, Market Research
At the start of the second day of conference sessions at Semaine Africaine de la Microfinance (SAM), Renée Chao-Beroff of the Participatory Microfinance Group for Africa (PAMIGA), a France-based network of 14 African microfinance institutions, argued, “Microfinance has to be with something else to have effect. Standalone financial services are no longer working. We have to question our practices and go to a more holistic approach.” As an example, Mark Rueegg of Swiss microinsurer CelsiusPro explained how his firm distributes some of the satellite data it collects for actuarial purposes directly to farmers via mobile phones. “These data can give optimal planting dates instead of farmers going by what they were taught by their father, their neighbor…. This can allow them to increase their yield dramatically without extra costs, such as for additional fertilizer.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microsoft, MasterCard to Provide Payment, Technology Support for Micro-Business Owners in Mexico
Microsoft Corporation, a US-based technology firm, and MasterCard, a US-based financial services corporation with operations in 210 countries, have announced a partnership through which they will seek to enhance information technology, communication and payments for small-scale merchants in Mexico.
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.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: SatADSL to Provide Microfinance Institutions, Money Transfer Firms with Satellite Technology to Expand Branch Networks in East Africa
SatADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line), a Belgian telecommunications company that provides internet services in Sub-Saharan Africa, recently announced that it plans to provide microfinance institutions and money transfer firms with automated teller machines (ATMs) and money transfer capabilities using “ very small aperture terminal” (VSAT) equipment.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Indian Government Launches 15 “Technology Centres” to Support Micro-, Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs)
The Ministry of Micro-, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), the Indian government agency in charge of regulating and supporting MSMEs, reportedly has launched its “Technology Centre Systems Programme,” which involves establishing 15 technology centers and improving the three existing such centers across the country.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Technology Provider Orange Offering $80k Via 2014 African Social Venture Prizes, Partner Award
French telephone and internet service provider Orange is accepting applications for its 2014 African Social Venture Prizes and the Partner Award through September 19, 2014, via Orange’s “pan-African web portal,”[1], http://www.starafrica.com.
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: Financial Inclusion 2020 Announces Roadmap to Financial Inclusion, Highlights Importance of Technology
Financial Inclusion 2020 (FI2020), a campaign to extend financial inclusion to 2 billion people in developing countries by the year 2020, recently announced the findings of a survey of 300 financial sector practitioners on their perspectives about opportunities and challenges to FI2020’s goals.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Alleviating Poverty via Mobile Communications; Integrating Microfinance, Health Services in the Andes; Mobile Phone Technology for Women in Afghanistan
“Alleviating Poverty: Mobile Communications, Microfinance and Small Business Development Around the World;” by Darrell M. West; published by The Brookings Institution; May 2013; 12 pages; available at: http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2013/05/16%20poverty%20mobile%20microfinance%20business%20west/westalleviating%20povertymobile%20comms%20microfinance%20small%20business51613v12.pdf