Youth and Finance

ShoreBank International Vice President Jesse Fripp, in his remarks to the opening plenary of the 3^rd day of the Global Youth Economic Opportunities Conference, hosted by Making Cents on September 13^th, emphasized the critical need for partnerships, business model innovation, and empowerment of youth as economic drivers in order to realize the promise of mobile and branchless banking as a means to achieve financial inclusion. “Youth are leading the way in adoption, innovation, and creativity – we, the private sector and development practitioners must catch up. As emerging market technology and bandwidth access converges into a low-cost utility service reality in coming years, many, many more on-ramps will open up to enable a wide range of innovative market linkages,” Fripp commented.

Dr. Phillip Auerswald, Senior Fellow at the Kauffman Foundation, moderated the “Use of Technology for Linking Youth to Markets: Elixir or Achilles Heel?” plenary panel, which – in addition to Fripp - included Janet Longmore, CEO of Digital Opportunities Trust. In a dynamic panel format, Dr. Auerswald invited several members of the audience to rotate on to the stage to share insights and updates on a wide range of innovations.

Later in the day, SBI Senior Lead for ADC Implementation, Khurram Sikander, served as Discussant for a workshop session, “Counting on Technology to Deliver Financial Services to Youth: Lessons and Applications.” Panelists included Samuel Ndungu of Equity Bank (Kenya), Amelia Kukliwcz of Freedom from Hunger (Ecuador), and Jean Kabongo of FINCA (DRC). After a lively panel and audience exchange, Khurram summed up the session: "I believe there is a tremendous opportunity to work with tech savvy youth by exposing them to financial services at an early age. This will not only educate the youth on how to better manage money or financial habits but may result in innovation that changes how we bank."

Presentations for both sessions can be found at the links below:

Jesse Fripp – Plenary Session

Khurram Sikander – Counting on Technology

ShoreBank International supporting Faten on credit scoring

ShoreBank International is helping Palestine for Credit and Development or Faten, Palestine’s largest MFI, to incorporate a credit scoring module in its management information system that will eventually enable it to reduce credit risk and process loans disbursement more rapidly. AED and ESAF have also worked with Faten on its strategic and business planning, which envisions commercial borrowing to cover more than 50 percent of its future portfolio needs.

Click here to read the CGAP MENA Update May 2011.

Experts help boost mobile banking in emerging markets

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., May 27, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Mobile phone ownership is commonplace all over the world. A ubiquitous symbol of modernity, these communication devices are now a platform for providing financial services to underserved populations.

Darden School of Business Professor Frank Warnock and Batten Institute Fellow Veronica Cacdac Warnock have joined ShoreBank International (SBI) in their efforts to assist two new mobile banking companies achieve the goal of increased access to financial services for those outside the banking mainstream in Bangladesh and Pakistan.

The team, whose participation is funded through SBI's $16.9 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, will design a structure for evaluating the businesses and their progress toward the goal of financial inclusion for poor and underserved populations in the two countries.

Click here to read more.

Azerbaijani non-bank credit organization improves conditions on auto-loans

Azerbaijan, Baku, April 25

The Azerbaijani non-bank credit organization TBC Kredit has improved the conditions for auto loans.

"One can buy any car, new or used, on a credit with no initial payment and insurance, if the loan term is up to 3 years," the company said.The maximum loan amount is 50,000 manat for five years. The annual interest rate is 18-19 percent.

TBC Kredit has operated in Azerbaijan since 1999. About 75 percent of the company is owned by the leading Georgian TBC Bank and 25 percent by ShoreBank International Ltd.

Click here to read the original article.

Can microenterprise clients afford MFIs high interest rates in Pakistan?

Microfinance Focus April 19, 2011: A recent study commissioned by Pakistan Microfinance Network titled ‘Estimating micro businesses’ ability to pay’ attempts to assess the ability of micro-businesses to pay interest rates charged by microfinance providers (MFPs) in Pakistan. The findings of this report have been researched by ShoreBank International Limited – Pakistan (SBI-P).

Click here to read more.