Lots of banks are getting on board with basic mobile banking this year, but there's not been too much innovation when it comes to functionality. A handful of banks are leading the way with widely available capabilities that set them apart from the pack.
Consumer groups are applauding moves by the National Australia Bank (NAB) that are set to save credit card customers up to hundreds of dollars a year. "There are plenty of other tricks and traps with credit cards that need to be ironed out and we would invite the others to do likewise - move before regulation comes in."
Whether or not they do is likely to be watched closely by the holders of the more than 16 million credit cards currently on issue in Australia.
Online retailers are spending too much time and money dealing with card not present payments, a new study has found. “It is surprising that UK merchants are still opting to continue with manual reconciliation and patchwork payment systems.”
The announcement was made by a top Nokia executive at the Mobey Forum's 10th anniversary meeting in Helsinki this morning.
Bank card issuers will be punished for collecting fees for inter-network ATM internal-network transactions that have not been approved by the State Bank of Viet Nam, said Ho Huu Hanh, a representative of the State Bank’s HCM City branch.
Funds collected through these illegal fees would also be appropriated to the State budget, Hanh warned.
Thirty-five bankers and trainers from 15 institutions in Cambodia, Laos and Viet Nam yesterday participated in a training programme on building sustainable small and medium-sized banking operations in HCM City.
Consumers in the Netherlands will be using smartphones as mobile wallets within two years as result of a joint venture between top banks and mobile operators.
KfW Entwicklungsbank is helping improve internet access in Africa: the East Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy) provides about 250 million people on the continent with international communication through telephone and internet.
Grameen‐Jameel, a social business that serves the microfinance sector in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), announces it has entered Turkey. Grameen-Jameel has signed partnership agreements with the two leading microfinance institutions in Turkey, providing them with financial support and technical assistance amounting to over US$ 5 million, with the objective to alleviate poverty in Turkey by reaching and financing 16,000 underprivileged families.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) Provides Microfinance Institution (MFI) Inecobank Support to Expand Access to Trade Finance in Armenia
The International Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has announced a record investment volume in Sub-Saharan Africa for its 2010 fiscal year, underscoring its commitment to the region's private sector development, especially to supporting growth in the lowest income countries and those affected by conflict including Liberia.
According to a recent study by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the development arm of the United Nations, a humanitarian organization promoting peace and better living standards, 21 percent of the Nigerian adult population – 18 million people – have access to financial services, with women and youth least likely to have access.Limitations of the Nigerian microfinance industry are attributed to lack of capacity, inadequate coordination, policy shortfalls and a lack of strategy regarding stakeholders’ roles and responsibilities.
On August 30, 2010, Brian Cox, the president of MFX Solutions LLC, a company which offers currency hedging instruments, highlighted several emerging challenges that microfinance institutions (MFIs) face as they expand such as currency risks, tighter regulation, and tougher capital adequacy requirements.
Nigeria's microfinance sector has failed to make the expected impact on the economy due to misconception by the operators, but this will soon change.
A group of financial experts has ordered all commercial banks in the Central African Economic and Monetary Community, CEMAC, to raise the minimum amount of their capital reserves.
Highlighting the vast untapped potential of the sector, SBP acting governor said that Pakistan is among the few countries in the world where microfinance activities have been gradually mainstreamed into the formal financial system.
Microfinance doesn’t help the very poor.
While the argument that all the attention the microlending industry attracts sometimes diverts funds from reaching programs that need it more is not new, we were surprised to see it outlined by Vikram Akula, the founder of SKS Microfinance Ltd.
Suntech Power Holdings, the world's leading producer of crystalline silicon solar panels, has been selected to supply 34.5MW of solar panels for the first phase of the largest solar power plant in Thailand and Southeast Asia. Owned and operated by Bangchak Petroleum, and integrated by Solartron, the planned 44MW (38MW AC output capacity) solar power plant will be located just outside of Bangkok and generate decades of renewable energy for the booming metropolis and surrounding areas.
Three years ago, Loretta Nguyen took a business training class and scraped together several thousand dollars to start silk screening T-shirts and hoodies that she initially sold at street fairs and over the Web.
Residents in sub-Saharan African countries report a wide range of awareness about the availability of microfinance lending in their communities, suggesting these institutions remain locally inaccessible to many who would benefit most from using them. Malawians (65%) and Ugandans (63%) are the most likely to say they are aware of these institutions in their communities, while respondents from Ivory Coast (18%), Democratic Republic of the Congo (16%), and Zimbabwe (15%) are the least likely to say the same.
This AfricaFocus contains a diverse selection of recent books likely to be of interest and new to AfricaFocus readers. You will find, for example, new books by Africa's distinguished elders, such as Achebe, wa Thiong'o, and Mandela. Selected new books from publishers such as Africa World Press, HSRC Press, and Aflame Books. Books on topical themes such as SMS activism and other ICT developments, on India and China's relations with Africa, and on xenophobia and migration. And more.
All Nokia smartphones released by the company from 2011 will come with NFC (Near Field Communication) technology built in, according to Near Field Communications World (NFCW).
Mobile payment users worldwide are forecast to increase 2.1 percent to 109 million by the end of 2010, a US-based research
firm said in a report.
Mobile technology has the greatest chance of delivering financial services to Africa’s estimated 325 million low-income, un-banked people. Examples of African financial innovations abound and the results are being felt across the continent, where mobile phone penetration continues to skyrocket. Dianna Games writes about the success stories and the need for investors to think from the ground up.
SKS Microfinance Limited, the largest Micro Finance Institution in India, today announced that its public issue will open on July 28.
A renowned microfinance training centre in Italy will welcome representatives from five Pacific Island countries.
On July 1 Open Revolution and Geocell announced the ultimate innovative mobile payment method - MobiPay, which allows you to make purchases, bill payments and person to person money transfers much more easily, more quickly, more safely and more conveniently by mobile phone.
He would have been a hardcore banker had he not branched out to microfinance. And that was because “it is a business with a social mission offering double bottom line satisfaction to all stakeholders”. Udaia Kumar, MD Share Microfin Limited Interviewed by Pranab Ghosh, Hindustan Times.
Matthias Omeh, president, National Association of Microfinance Banks (NAMB), on Monday advised microfinance banks to partner with credit bureaux to ascertain the status of their customers.
2010 Legatum Africa Awards to Recognise and Reward Africa's Entrepreneurial Business Leaders. Awards Ceremony to be Hosted in Accra, Ghana
|