Kabbage Joins 160 Other Financial Institutions to Promote SME Finance 

Washington, D.C., August 29th, 2019 – Kabbage has joined the SME Finance Forum, a global membership network that brings together financial institutions, technology companies, and development finance institutions to share knowledge, spur innovation, and promote the growth of SMEs. “200 million businesses worldwide need financing to invest, grow and create new jobs.

Report: Financial Inclusion for Woman-Owned Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises in India

With the growing recognition of women entrepreneurs’ contribution to economic growth, there is need to understand the state of their operations in India. This report, by the IFC, aims to assess the financing gap through a hybrid approach, including both secondary estimation and primary data collection, and identify the key characteristics of women-owned businesses (MSMEs), their need for financial and non-financial services, their uptake of financial products and the barriers to their access.

Why Should We Care About Digital Financial Services (DFS)

Digital financial services (DFS) are defined by the Alliance for Financial Inclusion as “the broad range of financial services accessed and delivered through digital channels, including payments, credit, savings, remittances and insurance.” The integration of new digital channels for transactions, information flows and data capture, and identity verification are shifting models for delivering financial services.

Fintech: The Experience so Far - IMF, World Bank Survey

The IMF and the World Bank Group launched at the 2018 Annual Meetings the Bali Fintech Agenda (BFA), a framework of high-level issues that countries should consider in their own domestic fintech policy discussions. The BFA is organized around a set of twelve elements aimed at helping member countries to harness the benefits and opportunities of rapid advances in financial technology that are transforming the provision of financial services, while, at the same time, managing its risks.

First private-sector “gender” bond to be issued in the Asia Pacific region

The first private-sector “gender” bond in the Asia Pacific region to be issued by Bank of Ayudhya (Krungsri), with the support of IFC and the GoldmanSachs 10,000 Women initiative, to expand access to capital for women entrepreneurs globally. IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and DEG (Deutsche Investitions und Entwicklungsgesellschaft) have agreed to subscribe to the Women Entrepreneurs Bonds to be issued by Bank of Ayudhya in the amount of up to $220 million.

Policy Brief: Taxing mobile phone transactions in Africa. Lessons from Kenya

This paper shows that taxation on mobile phone airtime and financial transactions may not expand the tax base significantly but, rather, may reverse the gains on retail electronic payments and financial inclusion. A higher tax rate on low-level retail electronic transactions mostly levied on low-income earners that are sensitive to transaction costs may discourage the use of mobile phone-based transactions, incentivizing them to revert to cash transactions to evade taxes and so less tax revenue. This trend will deal a big blow to the financial inclusion success witnessed so far.

Research about the financial health of small business owners in Nigeria by SMEFF members Accion and Mastercard

This interview to 22 small business owners who are clients of Accion Microfinance Bank (AMfB) to learn more about their financial health and capability is part of a research to develop a framework to help MSMEs better understand and achieve financial health.

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