41 Results
Graham Seel Principal Consultant at BankTech Consulting
From its modern beginnings with Grameen Bank, microfinance has focused on women. This made so much sense: they were traditionally underserved and financially disadvantaged, had clearer financial priorities, and were better risks. Savings groups as well have focused particularly on women in most parts of the world, again for very good reasons. But ...
08 July 2015 /retail /inclusion Financial Inclusion
… are greatly exaggerated. This is very significant for financial inclusion. Many people are rightly considering how much easier financial inclusion would be, especially in rural areas, if we had a society that was fully digital in its financial activities. But even in a country like Kenya, that is a very, very long way off, so we must focus on an...
16 June 2015 /retail Financial Inclusion
A major challenge for full financial inclusion is extension to the poorest households in rural areas. Even in the presence of access to mobile services, the lack of financial literacy, unawareness of available services, and very small initial savings capabilities severely limit take-up and utilization of financial services. Well-constructed inform...
09 June 2015 /retail Financial Inclusion
Is that arrogant enough? But what if we could create a generalized digital lending platform that is specifically designed for the needs of the world’s poorest people? Is that remotely possible? What might it look like? This blog takes a high-level shot at this – not because I think have all the answers (duh!) but in the hope that it will generate s...
01 June 2015 Financial Inclusion
Should financial institutions offer lines of credit (such as overdraft facilities) for the very poor? The question is prompted by some comments on a couple of my earlier posts, in which concern is expressed that banks have used overdraft facilities to push poorer households into overspending and overextending, resulting in significant overdraft fe...
27 May 2015 /regulation /retail Financial Inclusion
We often talk about whether banking the poor can be profitable, as though that’s the only thing stopping banks from providing the financial services the poor need. But in reality, the bigger challenge is that standard consumer financial services simply won’t do. Even when poor households have access to formal or semi-formal financial services, the...
20 May 2015 /retail Financial Inclusion
The US Financial Diaries, which have been collected and analyzed over the past year or so by the Center for Financial Services Innovation in tandem with NYU Wagner’s Financial Access Initiative (FAI), provide some helpful insights into financial behavior, preferences and issues particularly for lower-middle class and poorer households in the US. T...
15 May 2015 /retail Financial Inclusion
There is a tendency to talk about savings for the poor rather generically, as though there really is just one thing called “savings”. With credit, it is more obvious that there are short-term and long-term loans, revolving lines of credit, credit cards, secured real estate loans, etc. Too often it seems that financial institutions have a rather o...
12 May 2015 /retail Financial Inclusion
Can we reach full financial inclusion in 5 years? Given the World Bank FI2020 goals, apparently our world leaders think the answer is yes. But those of us working in the commercial banking segment see all sorts of barriers to financial viability. Just what would it take? A set of financial products that actually meet the needs of the poor and ver...
06 May 2015 Financial Inclusion
With the current huge focus on Financial Inclusion at the global level and in an increasing number of governments, as well as rapid developments in technology, opportunities to provide financial services to the world’s poorest people abound. In many countries, access to bank accounts has increased rapidly. However, usage of these accounts has gene...
28 April 2015 /retail Financial Inclusion
Welcome to Finextra. We use cookies to help us to deliver our services. You may change your preferences at our Cookie Centre.
Please read our Privacy Policy.