The IFC’s inaugural SME business banking survey launched in 2018 posed questions to better understand what the biggest issues SME banking leaders are grappling with and where they see opportunities to run innovative, competitive and sustainable SME banking units.
A priority of the UNSGSA’s advocacy on technology-enabled innovation in financial services is to encourage good regulatory practices for FinTech. To ensure that FinTech is inclusive, safe, and responsible, it is vital that regulators have access to reputable advice when assessing, selecting, and implementing regulatory options. Over the past three years, regulators in advanced, emerging, and developing economies have developed a number of promising initiatives to regulate and adapt regulatory […]
The Special Advocate’s new annual report highlights key areas of focus, initiatives and country visits over the last year, as well as features a special section focusing on a decade of progress in financial inclusion. See more on UNSGSA’s website.
Financial service providers have an important and ever-increasing role in emerging digital identity ecosystems. The authors investigate the potential positive impacts digital identities can have on underserved markets and how financial institutions can help to responsibly and inclusively grow digital identities by adopting the latest emerging technologies. Financial institutions are well positioned to act as trusted, regulated players that can provide the building blocks for responsible digital identity initiatives by […]
In the 10 years since the Access to Insurance Initiative (A2ii) was established in 2009, the world has seen some good news. By 2011, the 1990 poverty rate had been cut in half, achieving the first Millennium Development Goal (MDG) ahead of schedule. There have been remarkable improvements in health outcomes. Education and literacy also made progress, overall as well as with reduced gender disparity in some cases.1 More people […]
The purpose of this disaster risk toolkit is to provide practical guidance on how to choose which disaster risk finance instruments for which circumstance. The main audience is policymakers in developing countries who are responsible for disaster risk management, at national, regional and local levels. It is also intended to assist the development and humanitarian community who support developing country policymakers in disaster risk management and who, sometimes, either implicitly […]
The private and public sectors are increasingly leveraging new technologies to deliver collaborative approaches for financial service providers (FSPs) to meet customer due diligence (CDD) requirements. These include sharing data and elements of compliance functions on a level that was previously unthinkable. By pooling resources, these collaborative approaches have the potential to lower CDD costs and increase the effectiveness of anti-money laundering and counter financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) measures. This […]
Research on the impact of financial services on the lives of low-income people provides valuable insights. However, these studies tend to focus on microcredit or a single financial product, such as savings or mobile money. As a result, an overly simplistic and product-focused story has emerged. Recognizing the need for a more nuanced and clearer impact narrative, this Focus Note synthesizes evidence since 2014 and highlights three overarching insights: Financial […]
African governments are at the forefront of efforts to harness digital technologies to build more inclusive economies. Double-digit growth in mobile phone ownership in the first half of this decade has triggered a surge of innovative digital tools and services across the continent. However, the benefits of the digital age are not being shared equally. Women—especially those living in poor and marginalized communities—are most likely to be on the wrong […]
Statistical models can help lenders in emerging markets standardize and improve their lending decisions. These models define customer scoring based on a statistical analysis of past borrowers’ characteristics instead of relying on the subjective judgments of loan officers. Evidence shows that statistical models improve the accuracy of credit decisions and make lending more cost-efficient. They also help companies make key decisions throughout the customer lifecycle. Lenders sometimes assume that statistical […]