MicroSave, a for-profit consulting company based in India, recently launched ePaathshala, an educational program for both staff and clients of financial institutions.
Category: South Asia, East Asia and Pacific
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Australian Government, ANZ Bank, PFIP to Connect Solomon Islands’ Coconut Farmers to Mobile Banking
The Australian government; the Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) Bank, a publicly traded commercial bank; and the Pacific Financial Inclusion Program (PFIP), a Fiji-based initiative of the United Nations that attempts to extend financial services to unbanked Pacific Islanders, recently started a program with a budget of SBD 5 million (USD 650,000) to connect rural coconut oil producers, laborers, buyers and transport operators in the Solomon Islands with digital financial services.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Inclusive Finance India Summit, December 5-6, 2016, New Delhi, India
Event Name: Inclusive Finance India Summit 2016
Event Date: December 5-6, 2016
Event Location: The Ashok Hotel, 50-B, Diplomatic Enclave, Chanakyapuri; New Delhi, Delhi 110021, India
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Philippines Implementing Microfinance NGOs Act
Philippine officials recently finalized the implementing rules and regulations of the Microfinance NGOs Act, a measure signed into law on November 3, 2015, by then-President Beigno Aquino III that: (1) calls for the establishment of a microenterprise development strategy; (2) creates a microfinance NGO regulatory council that will accredit NGOs that offer financial services to microentrepreneurs and small-business owners.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Global Symposium on Innovative Financial Inclusion, September 21-22, 2016, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Event Name: Global Symposium on Innovative Financial Inclusion: “Harnessing Innovation for Inclusive Finance”
Event Date: September 21 – September 22, 2016
Event Location: Sasana Kijang, Number 2, Jalan Dato’ Onn, 50480, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Dual Return Funds Managed by C-Quadrat Loan $17m to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in India, Kenya, Namibia, Nicaragua, Peru, Romania, Including $3m for Education Lending
Austria-based C-Quadrat Asset Management recently issued loans worth the equivalent of USD 17 million to unspecified microfinance institutions (MFIs) in India, Kenya, Namibia, Nicaragua, Peru and Romania.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India’s Nandan Nilekani, Ratan Tata, Vijay Kelkar, R.Venkataramanan Announce the Start of New Microfinance Company, Avanti Finance
Nandan Nilekani, Co-founder of Infosys Limited; Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons; Vijay Kelkar, Chairman of India’s National Institute of Public Finance and Policy; and R. Venkataramanan, Managing Trustee of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, recently announced the launch of Avanti Finance, “a technology enabled financial inclusion vehicle.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Philippine Government Institutionalizes Steering Committee to Oversee National Strategy for Financial Inclusion
The Philippine government recently issued an executive order institutionalizing a Financial Inclusion Steering Committee (FISC) to oversee implementation of the country’s National Strategy for Financial Inclusion (NSFI), which was launched in July 2015 to “raise awareness, appreciation and understanding of financial inclusion and enable coordination among various stakeholders.”
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Sa-Dhan Association to Host National Conference, September 14-15, 2016, New Delhi, India
Event Name: Sa-Dhan National Conference 2016: “Financial Inclusion on Path to Sustainable Development Goals”
Event Date: September 14-15, 2016
Event Location: India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, India 110003
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Innovations in Building Financial Capability; BBVA Microfinance Foundation Social Performance Report; Growth, Evolving Trends in Financial Inclusion in India
“A Change in Behavior: Innovations in Financial Capability”; published by the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion; April 2016; 47 pages; available at http://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/fi2020/roadmap-to-inclusion/innovations-in-financial-capability
This document describes research aimed at identifying effective interventions for building the financial capability of microfinance customers, specifically as administered by three groups: financial service providers, governments and social service providers.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Asian Development Bank (ADB) Announces $50m Credit Facility to China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation for Microfinance in Rural PRC
The Asian Development Bank (ADB), a 67-member development finance institution headquartered in the Philippines, recently issued a credit facility of USD 50 million to CFPA Microfinance Management Company Limited, an investment vehicle of the NGO China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA), to support rural microfinance in the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Cambodia’s Prasac Microfinance Introduces Mobile Banking Services Through Compass Plus’s TranzWare
Cambodia’s Prasac Microfinance Institution Limited recently launched a suite of mobile banking services using the TranzWare processing platform from Compass Plus, an electronic payment systems provider with primary offices located in Russia and the United Kingdom.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: VisionFund Selects BankBI’s Cloud-Based Software to Manage Microfinance Institutions in 32 Countries
VisionFund International, the microfinance arm of US-based NGO World Vision, recently selected UK-based BankBI Limited’s business intelligence and analytics software to manage its operations in 32 countries.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Interest Rate Cuts by Reserve Bank of India Trickle Down to Microfinance Loans
Successive interest rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) since 2015 have led to decreasing cost of funds for microfinance institutions (MFI) and a reduction in lending rates to end customers.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Smart Communications, ICMFI to Offer Mobile Banking Accounts in Iloilo, Philippines
Smart Communications Incorporated, a mobile services subsidiary of publicly traded PLDT Incorporated (formerly the Philippines Long Distance Telephone Company), has partnered with the Philippine nonprofit International Care Ministries Foundation (ICMFI) to provide Smart Communications’ “SMART Money” mobile banking accounts to members of the Pototan community in Iloilo province.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India’s Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society (JSLPS), MicroSave Launch Financial Education Pilot Program for Self-Help Groups (SHGs)
The Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society (JSLPS), a program of the local government’s Rural Development Department, and MicroSave, a financial inclusion consulting firm headquartered in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, recently launched a financial education pilot program in the Bero, Khuntipani and Manoharpur blocks of the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fusion Microfinance Raises $24m in Equity from Creation Investments, GAWA, BIO, Oikocredit as Incofin Exits
Fusion Microfinance Private Limited, an Indian non-banking financial company, has raised
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFMR Investment Managers Raising Third Debt Fund, IFMR FImpact Medium Term Microfinance Fund
The Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR) Investment Managers, a unit of India-based IFMR Trust Group providing investment management services in asset classes that impact the financially excluded, is seeking to raise INR 1 billion (USD 15 million) for a debt fund called IFMR FImpact Medium Term Microfinance Fund to invest exclusively in microfinance firms.