Forjadores de Negocios, a Mexican microfinance institution (MFI) majority-held by Peruvian NGO Grupo ACP, recently began operations as Banco Forjadores, having received permission from Mexican banking authorities to convert to a multiservice bank in 2012. Continue Reading »

Event Name: Evidence on Innovations in Financial Capability Conference and Matchmaking Event

Event Date: May 29 – June 1, 2013

Event Location: Universidad del Pacifico, Lima, Peru  Continue Reading »

“Regulatory Options to Curb Debt Stress;” by Gabriel Davel; published by CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor); March 2013; 29 pages; available at: http://www.cgap.org/publications/regulatory-options-curb-debt-stress

This report highlights how the dynamics of credit markets can lead to cycles of credit growth and accumulation of consumer debt followed by widespread default and contraction. Continue Reading »

Pro Mujer Bolivia, a branch of the US-based nonprofit Pro Mujer, recently secured unspecified support from Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ), the German Agency for Technical Cooperation, to raise awareness of violence against women among Pro Mujer employees. Continue Reading »

Published by Global System for Mobile Communications Association’s mWomen Global Development Alliance, Visa and Bankable Frontier Associates; 2013; 40 pages; available at: http://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/GSMA-mWomen-Visa_Unlocking-the-Potential_Feb-2013.pdf

This report analyzes connections between mobile financial services and women’s financial inclusion in the developing world. Continue Reading »

Brazilian bank Itau Unibanco recently joined the Business Call to Action (BCtA), a multi-organization initiative that seeks to reduce poverty through the private sector in support of the United Nations Millenium Development Goals (MDGs). Continue Reading »

“Invisible Giants;” by Lindsay Levin; published by Vala Publishing; March 2013; 176 pages, available for purchase at: http://vala.wazala.com/?page=product_det&id=112381 Continue Reading »

The Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ), a state-owned bank, plans to launch a mobile money pilot project in partnership with unspecified microfinance institutions (MFIs) in April 2013. Continue Reading »

Fundacion para el Desarrollo Socioeconomico Rural (FUNDESER), a nonprofit Nicaraguan microlender, plans to launch a public bond issue in April 2013. Continue Reading »

Anne Hastings, CEO of Haitian microfinance institution Fonkoze Financial Services, recently summarized the challenges outlined by a panel hosted by the Better Than Cash Alliance (BTC), a US-based NGO that promotes financial inclusion through mobile banking, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January 2013. The panel discussed the benefits and challenges of making the transition from cash to electronic payments. Continue Reading »

CAF Development Bank of Latin America, a Venezuela-based multilateral financial institution that was formerly Corporacion Andino de Fomento, is partnering with Codespa Foundation, a Spanish non-governmental organization that works with poor communities in developing countries, to undertake a feasibility study for the creation of a trust fund that would provide microfinance services to small-scale producers in rural Ecuador. Continue Reading »

The Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), a member of the US-based IDB (Inter-American Development Bank) Group, recently disbursed a grant of USD 362,000 to Nicaraguan nonprofit microfinance organization Fundacion para el Desarrollo Socioeconomico Rural (FUNDESER) to support the microlender in the process of becoming regulated by the country’s Superintendency of Banks and Other Financial Institutions, which is known by the Spanish acronym SIBOIF. Continue Reading »

By Michael J. McCord; published by the Microfinance Centre for Central and Eastern Europe and the New Independent States, the Microinsurance Centre and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD); 2012; 124 pages; available at: http://www.ifad.org/ruralfinance/wrmf/manual.pdf

In this manual, Mr. McCord proposes a “systematic new-product development process” for the microinsurance market. Continue Reading »

Event Name: Mobile Money Americas Conference & Expo 2013

Event Date: April 15 – 17, 2013

Event Location: Westin Santa Fe, Mexico City, Mexico Continue Reading »

The Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), a member of the US-based IDB (Inter-American Development Bank) Group, reportedly has approved a USD 2.5 million equity investment in El Fondo para el Desarrollo, Inc. (FONDESA), a nonprofit microfinance institution in the Dominican Republic. The investment is intended to help FONDESA acquire status as a regulated microfinance institution under the new name Banco de Ahorro y Crédito FONDESA (BANFONDESA). Continue Reading »

Symbiotics Investment Group, a Swiss for-profit microfinance investment intermediary, recently disbursed a USD 10 million syndicated loan to Fundacion de la Mujer Bucaramanga, a microfinance institution (MFI) in Colombia. Continue Reading »

“Banking on Change: Breaking the Barriers to Financial Inclusion;” published by Plan UK, Barclays and Care International UK; January 2013; 28 pages; available at: http://www.careinternational.org.uk/research-centre/microfinance/251-banking-on-change-breaking-barriers-to-financial-inclusion Continue Reading »

The US-based financial service provider Citigroup reportedly has made its Citi Mobile Collect payment program available in the Dominican Republic. Continue Reading »