by Zach Deluca -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: HDFC Bank to Lend $100m to Micro-, Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) in India – Half Led by Women – with Support from DFC, Mastercard, USAID

HDFC Bank, an affiliate of India’s Housing Development Finance Corporation, recently agreed to lend USD 100 million to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in India to support their usage of digital payments, including to adjust to the COVID-19 pandemic. Half of the credit facility is

by Harriet Ritchie -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Common Cents Lab, IDB, Mastercard, MercadoLibre Harnessing Behavioral Economics, Technology in Effort to Bolster Financial Stability of Entrepreneurs, SMEs in Latin America

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a multilateral financial institution that promotes economic development in Latin America and the Caribbean, recently partnered with US-based Common Cents Lab, US-based financial services company Mastercard and Argentina-based e-retailer MercadoLibre on a program intended to improve the ability of entrepreneurs as well as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) “to prepare for, deal with and recover later from economic shocks.” Over two years, the partners will design and test “behavioral-informed interventions,” such as reminders, deadlines or social pressure, “within the MercadoLibre platform and

by Harriet Ritchie -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BancoSol Adds “GanaSol” Game to Mobile App to Incentivize Financial Services Usage in Bolivia

Banco Solidario (BancoSol), a Bolivian commercial bank that primarily offers microfinance services, recently upgraded its mobile app to include “gamified” software intended to boost its customers’ usage of mobile banking. GanaSol allows users to earn points by “maintaining or increasing their savings account balances;” the points can

by Kate Finster -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Business Correspondent Sub-K Impact Launching Digital Platform for Insurance, Investing, Microfinance Referrals with Support from Accion, Mastercard

Sub-K Impact Solutions, a subsidiary of India-based BASIX Social Enterprise Group, is releasing a digital platform called SARTHI (Seamless Advanced Resourceful Tech-driven Hybrid Interface) to facilitate access to insurance, microloans and investment services. SARTHI will place users in contact with financial services providers