The Economist magazine's intelligence unit (EIU) has published a report on regulatory support for financial inclusion in developing countries and it is now gaining traction with press and analysts; the report scores countries on having an inclusiveness strategy and building governmental and private sector expertise, then provides in-depth details in areas including credit markets, non-regulated lenders, payments and insurance; Colombia ties Peru this year for the most progressive country; India has shown the most improvement; Latin America and East/South Asia are leaders regionally while Africa and the Middle East remain behind; the EIU performed the research in conjunction with the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion and the Multilateral Investment Fund at the Inter-American Development Bank. Source
India company, Bharat Financial Inclusion, has reported financial performance that is demonstrating success with a rural-focused audience, operational cost controls and reduction in cost of funds; this strategy compares with other micro-lenders in India that are seeking rapid loan volume growth in urban centers, but with limited or negative profitability; Bharat announced net income growth of 87.3% to Rs146 crore (US $22 million) in the second quarter ended September 30; the marginal cost for borrowing to fund micro-loans has declined to 9.5% in Q2, and its average interest rate to borrowers stands at 19.75%. Source
BBVA Compass and the Opportunity Finance Network are teaming up to identify and increase training for 25 leaders in community lending through an Opportunity Fellows Program; BBVA Compass is a leading banking franchise with 668 branches mainly in the US sunbelt; Opportunity Finance Network is an association of community development financial institutions (CDFIs); the chosen Fellows will receive six days of training through early 2017 on themes including financial innovation and financial inclusion; applications open mid-November 2016; cost is not specified but appears to be complimentary or highly-subsidized for the leaders given the opportunity to participate. Source
Today, the University of Michigan's "Next Billion" initiative writes about Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation research into financial inclusion and fintech; part of the research addresses payment aggregators that use APIs to connect buyers, commercial enterprises and other clearinghouses; the research claims that creating truly open APIs, which don't require complex legal agreements or technical integrations between parties, would be of great benefit to the financial ecosystem, including enhanced innovation and reduced transaction costs; a case study about Selcom, an African payment aggregator, highlights six areas suitable for near-term open API development: payment initiation (including via mobile wallets and online chatbots), check payment status, retrieving account history, easily cancelling a payment and a set of user interface foundation code that can be white-labelled by any customer-facing innovator. Source
Announced today, the MasterCard Foundation is partnering with the Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI) at Accion on a $4.4 million initiative to promote more robust consumer financial protection laws around the world; CFI's Smart Campaign has existed since 2009 and has certified the consumer protection practices of 68 financial institutions to-date; the MasterCard Foundation contribution will support involvement of more parties (such as regulators, non-bank financial institutions and fintech platforms) and more countries; a particular focus will be on sub-Saharan Africa. Source
Payments International is hosting the "FinTech and Future of Payments Forum" in London from November 15th to 18th; the agenda on Nov.18 includes their own version of "Shark Tank"-like business pitch competitions; finalists and judges have been announced in the areas of Identity (including blockchain), financial inclusion/personal financial management; the Internet of Things, and cross-border payments. Numerous "fresh face" companies and personalities in these sectors are noted, with judges covered on the Nov.18th agenda page and entrants covered in this LendIt News post.