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Government & Policy |
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December 7, 2010 The crisis that erupted in the Indian State of Andhra Pradesh in early October 2010 hit at the epicenter of microfinance in India and has implications there, across the country, and globally. |
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Protecting Branchless Banking Consumers September 23, 2010 Transformational branchless banking heightens the consumer-related concerns of regulators and supervisors because it combines the use of agents and technology-enabled devices to serve large numbers of less educated and inexperienced customers. |
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July 30, 2010 The success of Kenya’s M-PESA has raised the question of how most effectively to regulate nonbanks who contract directly with customers to issue electronic value against receipt of equal funds. |
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AML/CFT: Strengthening Financial Inclusion and Integrity September 9, 2009 Over the past 30 years, access to formal financial services for the poor has increased dramatically. However, efforts to reduce criminal activity threaten to slow the pace of progress. |
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November 4, 2008 This brief reviews seven areas in which those embarking on a transformation should research and seek legal counsel’s advice. |
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Islamic Microfinance: An Emerging Market Niche August 6, 2008 This Focus Note provides an overview of the current state of the Islamic microfinance sector and identifies possible challenges to its growth. |
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National Microfinance Strategies June 1, 2008 This Brief summarizes a study of several national microfinance strategy/policy documents. |
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Regulating Transformational Branchless Banking January 1, 2008 This Focus Note is based on assessments of policy and regulation in seven key countries. Current regulation tends to be both over- and underprotective, and policy will determine not only where branchless banking is allowed, but also which business models turn out to make economic sense -- and how far they will go in reaching poor people. |
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Use of Agents in Branchless Banking for the Poor October 1, 2006 This Focus Note examines the experience of five pioneering countries -- Brazil, India, South Africa, the Philippines, and Kenya -- where agent-assisted branchless banking that targets poor customers is already a reality. It introduces the main issues involved in regulating branchless banking, particularly regarding the use of retail agents. |
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Competition and Microcredit Interest Rates February 1, 2006 Does competition result in lower interest rates to microcredit customers? To address this question, this Focus Note analyzes the experiences of Uganda, Bangladesh, and Bolivia, home to some of the early regional and even global pioneers of microcredit. |
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Protecting Microfinance Borrowers May 1, 2005 Strategically, enhanced consumer protection measures can be a more constructive alternative to new or lowered interest rate ceilings. This Focus Note discusses two approaches to enforcement of such measures -- voluntary codes and state regulation -- in the context of developing countries. |
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State-Owned Development Banks in Microfinance August 1, 1997 This Focus Note gives a brief overview of how a state-owned village banking system in Indonesia, Bank Rakyat's desa unit, is transformed into a successful microfinance institution. |
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The Challenge of Growth for Microfinance March 1, 1997 This Focus Note summarizes an Ohio State University report on BancoSol, a Bolivian MFI that faced significant financial and management challenges as it underwent a transition from NGO to licensed commercial bank. |
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October 1, 1995 This Focus Note covers the April 1995 Women’s World Banking (WWB) Global Policy Forum in India. During the Policy Forum, leaders reached agreement on the approaches and actions needed and committed to moving the recommendations into practice. |