The Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), a member of the US-based IDB (Inter-American Development Bank) Group, recently approved a USD 5 million equity investment and USD 750,000 in technical assistance for Nxtp Labs, an Argentina-based company that provides seed funding for entrepreneurs in Latin America seeking to establish technology-based businesses in exchange for an equity stake worth between two and ten percent.
Search Results for: technology
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Indian Microfinance Institutions Cashpor, Utkarsh Use Technology to Improve Efficency
Nonprofit Indian microfinance institution (MFI) Cashpor Micro Credit and Indian non-banking finance company (NBFC) Utkarsh Microfinance Private Limited each have implemented technology-based procedures to improve efficiency.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Mobile Banking Technology, ATMs “An Emerging Trend” Among Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Cambodia
As competition in the microfinance industry of Cambodia increases, microfinance institutions (MFIs) are investing in technological upgrades to keep up with the market.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Banking Production Centre’s SmartVista to Implement Banking Technology for Microfinance Institution Hattha Kaksekar of Cambodia
Hattha Kaksekar Limited (HKL), a Cambodian microfinance institution (MFI), has contracted Russia-based Banking Production Centre (BPC) Banking Technologies’ SmartVista, an electronic payments product provider, to implement electronic banking for the MFI.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: USAID, Citi to Bring Mobile Money Technology to Colombia, Haiti, Indonesia, Kenya, the Philippines
The US Agency for International Development (USAID) and Citi, a US-based bank, recently announced a partnership that will focus on increasing financial inclusion in developing countries through “mobile money” technology.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Financial Behavior in Latin America; Microfinance Reporting Technology; Evaluation of India’s Kshetriya Gramin Financial Services (KGFS)
“The Financial Behavior of Rural Residents: Findings from Five Latin American Countries;” by Jacqueline Urquizo; published by Accion; March 2012; 45 pages; available at: http://centerforfinancialinclusionblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/the-financial-behavior-of-rural-residents_march-2012.pdf
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Federación de Nacional de Cooperativas de Ahorro y Crédito (FENACOAC), World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) Support Microfinance in Guatemala, Mexico with $4m Rural Technology Cooperative Program
The World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU), a US-based trade association for credit unions in 51 countries, and Federación de Nacional de Cooperativas de Ahorro y Crédito (FENACOAC), an association of credit unions and cooperatives in Guatemala, is using technology to assist rural farmers in Guatamala and Mexico in achieving financial stability.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Africa Information and Communications Technology Exhibition and Conference (AITEC) Banking & Mobile Money – Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Nairobi, Kenya, March 7-8, 2012
Event Name: Africa Information and Communications Technology Exhibition and Conference (AITEC) Banking & Mobile Money – Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) 2012
Event Date: March 7 – March 8, 2012
Event Location: Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC), Nairobi, Kenya
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Development Seed, Key2Flex Offer Geospatial Technology Services to Analyze Availability of Financial Services in Developing Countries
Geospatial mapping is being used to show the geographic distribution of banks, automated teller machines (ATMs) and banking agents in relation to low-income and other population groups, thus giving an indication of the accessibility of financial services to those groups.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: African Mobile Money Research Conference (AMMREC), Nairobi, Kenya, April 2-3, 2012, Papers Solicited for Special Issues of International Journal of Computing and ICT Research (IJCIR) and African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development (AJSTID)
Event Name: African Mobile Money Research Conference (AMMREC): Evidence of Financial Inclusion through Mobile Technology
Event Date: April 2 – April 3, 2012
Event Location: Nairobi, Kenya
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Mint Technology Forms Microfinance Subsidiary “Mint Money” Targeting Market in United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Mint Technology Corporation (Mint), a Toronto-based provider of prepaid credit card programs to employers, has created Mint Money, a subsidiary that will seek to offer microfinance loans directly to its existing cardholder base starting during the first quarter of 2012.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Standard Chartered Indonesia Loans $3m to Bank Andara to Finance Lending, Technology Services for Microfinance Institutions
Standard Chartered Indonesia, a branch of the London-based bank Standard Chartered PLC, has announced that it will loan IDR 30 billion (USD 3.3 million) to Bank Andara, an Indonesian wholesale lender to microfinance institutions (MFIs), to expand its services to MFIs in Indonesia [1].
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Technology Innovation for Banks in Growth Economies, London, United Kingdom, November 29 – November 30, 2011
Event Name: Technology Innovation for Banks in Growth Economies
Event Date: November 29 – November 30, 2011
Event Location: Kingsway Hall Hotel, 66 Great West Queen Street, Covent Garden, London, United Kingdom
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroEnsure to Offer Microinsurance in Kenya Using M-Pesa, FrontlineSMS:Credit Technology
The Kenyan office of MicroEnsure, a subsidiary of US-based microfinance network Opportunity International, is employing M-Pesa, a mobile money service in Kenya, and FrontlineSMS:Credit, a nonprofit software provider specializing in mobile financial services, to offer microinsurance policies independent of savings and credit groups.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Creation Investments, Promus Equity Partners Raise $5.5m in Equity For Mobile Banking Technology Provider Eko India
Eko India Financial Services Private Limited, a mobile banking technology provider and business correspondent (BC) for State Bank of India and India’s ICICI Bank, has raised USD 5.5 million in “growth equity” through an investment campaign led jointly by Creation Investments Capital Management LLC and Promus Equity Partners, two private investment funds based in the US.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Boston Microfinance Club Hosts Technology and Microfinance Colloquium, June 23, 2011, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Event Name: Technology and Microfinance Colloquium
Event Date: June 23, 2011
Event Time: 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Event Location: The Microsoft NERD Center, Horace Mann Room, One Memorial Drive, Suite 100, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: “Monetary Theory and Electronic Money: Reflections on the Kenyan Experience” Published by Economists Robert M Townsend of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Tavneet Suri of MIT, Economist William Jack of Georgetown University
US-based economists Robert M Townsend and Tavneet Suri from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and William Jack from Georgetown University recently co-authored a paper entitled Monetary Theory and Electronic Money: Reflections on the Kenyan Experience.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) Technology Blog Analyzes Developments in Mexico’s Microfinance and Banking Sectors, Publishes Summary Note Covering Mexico’s Branchless Banking Industry
As part of a series on branchless banking around the world, a post was recently published on the CGAP Technology Blog, a website operated by US-based think tank CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), covering regulatory developments in the Mexican microfinance sector.