All over the world, women have less access to credit than men. Because of both discriminatory property laws and unwritten social customs, women are less likely than men to own high-value assets that can be used as collateral to secure loans.
... See More + Financial institutions in developing countries rely on heavy collateral requirements because they don’t have enough information about their borrowers. New technologies, many emerging from financial technology (fintech) startups in the Silicon Valley, have the potential to generate data on borrowers that can replace traditional collateral requirements, and unlock finance for women. In Ethiopia, authors explored introducing fintech that could harness the data that financial institutions are already sitting on. The technology focuses on digitizing hard-copy loan application files of previous borrowers to identify trends and characteristics associated with repayment, and predict creditworthiness of new borrowers. In Ethiopia, we explored introducing fintech that could harness the data that financial institutions are already sitting on. The technology focuses on digitizing hard-copy loan application files of previous borrowers to identify trends and characteristics associated with repayment, and predict creditworthiness of new borrowers. Fintech solutions can viably address the collateral constraint for women borrowers, and can work even in low tech environments. But technology adoption isn’t easy, and assessing the readiness of financial institutions to adopt fintech and embark on technological change is a critical first step.
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Working Paper 116858 JUN 26, 2017
k.org;; 000478170:Rachel Dawn Coleman:rcolemaDisclosed
All over the world, women have less access to credit than men. Because of both discriminatory property laws and unwritten social customs, women are less likely than men to own high-value assets that can be used as collateral to secure loans.
... See More + Financial institutions in developing countries rely on heavy collateral requirements because they don’t have enough information about their borrowers. New technologies - many emerging from financial technology (fintech) startups in the Silicon Valley - have the potential to generate data on borrowers that can replace traditional collateral requirements, and unlock finance for women. In Ethiopia, the authors explored introducing fintech that can harness the data that financial institutions are already sitting on. The technology focuses on digitizing hard-copy loan application files of previous borrowers to identify trends and characteristics associated with repayment, and predict creditworthiness of new borrowers. Fintech solutions can viably address the collateral constraint for women borrowers, and can work even in low tech environments. But technology adoption isn’t easy, and assessing the readiness of financial institutions to adopt fintech and embark on technological change is a critical first step.
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The main objective of the Financial Sector Technical Assistance Project of Kosovo is to enhance the Central Banking Authority of Kosovo's (CBAK) capacity to oversee the financial system's stability and its development in Kosovo.
... See More + The closing date of the project is being extended by six months from June 30, 2016 to December 31, 2016 to complete the two remaining activities: achieving a fully-automatic, operational Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS) and completing refurbishment of the Business Continuity Center. In addition, savings accumulated under IDA 50060-XK of XDR 80,000 from category one (part one) and XDR 50,000 from category two (part four) will be re-allocated to category three (part five) to accommodate additional costs associated with BCC implementation.
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The November 8, 2015 elections in Myanmar marked a historic milestone in the country’s political and economic transition that began in 2011.
... See More + Incoming policy makers are preparing to pick up the baton and deliver on the people’s strong aspirations for a harmonious and prosperous Myanmar. In this series of policy notes, the World Bank Group seeks to promote dialogue on critical development challenges and on options for policies and reforms that can contribute to shared prosperity for the people of Myanmar. The policy notes focus on six interconnected areas that are likely to be high priorities for shared prosperity. The first is on closing the gap in access to social services for improving Myanmar’s human development outcomes. This could help to strengthen the productivity and employability of Myanmar’s current and future labor force, which is the critical input to inclusive growth and a precondition to success in all the other areas. The second policy note is on growing together by reducing poverty in rural areas. Policies to boost agriculture productivity and accelerate the delivery of essential services in rural areas, where they lag the most, could help to supply the much needed labor and food for the rapidly expanding industrial, manufacturing and service sectors.
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Myanmar’s financial system is undergoing a rapid transformation. A history of economic isolation has left Myanmar with small and underdeveloped financial institutions and very low access to financial services.
... See More + Since 2011, however, demands on the financial system have grown exponentially with increased trade and investment, growing household income, and expanding government operations. While recent reforms have stimulated financial sector growth, much more needs to be done to establish a competitive and vibrant financial sector that can meet the needs of Myanmar’s expanding economy, boost incomes, and reduce poverty particularly among those living in rural areas. Increasing access to financial services is critical to achieving shared prosperity in Myanmar.
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Financial infrastructure is the underlying foundation of a country’s financial system. It comprises all institutions, the rules, and standards of all the systems which enable financial intermediation.
... See More + The quality of a country’s financial infrastructure determines the efficiency of intermediation, the ability of lenders to evaluate risk and of borrowers to obtain credit, insurance, and other financial products at competitive terms. For instance, the efficient and smooth functioning of the payment, and securities settlement systems facilitates the discharge of financial obligations and the safe transfer of funds across distances and institutions; hence, it support the stability of the financial system. This technical note contains the assessment of the national payment and settlement systems (NPS) infrastructure in Montenegro. The assessment was undertaken in the context of the IMF and World Bank (WB) joint Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) mission to Montenegro during September 1-15, 2015. The assessor was Gynedi Srinivas of the World Bank’s Payment Systems Development Group. The assessor will like to thank the counterparts in Montenegro for their excellent cooperation and hospitality during the mission.
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Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) 104768 FEB 01, 2016
The objectives of the Electricity Expansion Project for Kenya are to: (a) increase the capacity, efficiency, and quality of electricity supply; and (b) expand access to electricity in urban, peri- urban and rural areas.
... See More + Some of the negative impacts and mitigation measures include: construction of the main access road, as well as the internal roads to the villages to a quality as provided for in the Government specifications and standards - KenGen to maintain the roads to until such a time that the roads will be ready to be handed over to the Government; electricity connection to the School, dispensary and the Social Hall, with accessible lines to enable KenGen to make electricity connection to the PAPs housing units and finalize within 3 months from the date of relocation: The cost of connection shall be recovered from the Kshs.35,000 movement allowance which the PAPs are entitled to; and processing of the community land title in respect of the 1700 acres resettlement land and 14 acres for the Cultural Center, amounting to a total of 1714 acres, KenGen to finalize the processing of title deeds within 6 months from the date of relocation. KenGen undertakes to safeguard the PAPs interest with regard to the subject land until the title deeds are issued.
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The development objective of the Climate Innovation Center Project for Vietnam is to support entrepreneurs and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) involved in developing technological solutions and increase business activities in green growth through the establishment and operation of climate innovation center.
... See More + Some of the negative impacts and mitigation measures include: (1) implement dust control measures to ensure that the generation of dust is minimized and is not perceived as a nuisance by local residents, maintain a safe working environment; (2) vehicles must have appropriate certificate of conformity from inspection of quality, technical safety, and environmental protection avoid exceeding noise emission from poorly maintained machines; (3) at completion of construction works, water collection tanks, and septic tanks shall be covered and effectively sealed off; (4) areas of the site not disturbed by construction activities shall be maintained in their existing conditions; (5) waste storage containers shall be covered, tip-proof, weatherproof, and scavenger proof; and (6) installation of lighting at night must be done if this is necessary to ensure safe traffic circulation.
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Similar to other low-income countries, in Myanmar social protection benefits are usually provided through direct cash or food distribution. With the rapid development of the financial and telecommunications market in the country, there is the potential for a gradual transition to electronic payment systems for current and future social protection transfers, once adequate legal and regulatory frameworks are in place.
... See More + This will make the delivery of payments cheaper, quicker, safer, and more transparent. In addition, increasing the connectivity of the people of Myanmar, especially the poor and vulnerable, to financial services will not only accelerate povertyreduction but also promote inclusive economic growth.
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In Sub Saharan Africa women are often not protecting their savings through formal devices but instead keeping their savings in more vulnerable savings options.
... See More + After participating in a savings promotion program, women are more likely to save in semi-formal savings options. Participants moved their cash to semi-formal saving options, such as ROSCAs, but did not go as far as moving to regular bank accounts or other formal savings options. The pilot identified subgroups that may be especially receptive for informational savings campaigns. Women who were illiterate or had been robbed or stolen from in the past one and a half years show significant increases in take-up of formal savings options after participating in the program. The savings mobilization program resulted in reallocation rather than accumulation of monetary wealth.
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The objectives of the Emergency Labor Intensive Investment Project for Egypt are: (i) to create short-term employment opportunities for unemployed unskilled and semi-skilled workers, and (ii) to provide access to basic infrastructure services to the target population in poor areas in the Borrower's territory.
... See More + This restructuring paper seeks the approval of the Country Director to introduce changes to the Egypt Emergency Labor Intensive Investment Project. The following changes are proposed to be addressed under a level two restructuring: (i) extending the closing date of the project by 18 months; (ii) revising the Results Framework (RF), including the targets; and (iii) adjusting the disbursement schedule.
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Low-income consumers stand to benefit greatly from more accessible and affordable digital financial services (DFS) offerings. Indeed, evidence from consumer research in 16 markets analyzed for this paper indicates that customers highly value and benefit from many basic DFS.
... See More + However, many users are not only new to both formal finance and technology, they also live precarious financial lives that allow little room for error. Enabling users to understand and mitigate risks and minimize potential losses when using these new products and services will be critical for DFS to meet users’ expectations and needs and, in turn, achieve sustained financial inclusion. The paper reviews available evidence on DFS consumers’ risk perceptions and experiences, focusing on risks that can cause financial loss or other harm. Its main goal is to advance responsible digital finance by helping the diverse industry actors engaged in DFS delivery better understand which problems are most important from the consumer perspective and motivating them to strengthen risk mitigation practices. The paper analyzes consumer research findings from 16 countries, including surveys and qualitative research in nine countries, four country case studies, and other research. It also presents findings from an initial landscaping study of relevant risk mitigation efforts by FSPs, as well as observed consumer protection regulatory and supervision measures.
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This study presents the vision and implementation recommendations for the electronic identity based service delivery framework (EISDF) in Vietnam.
... See More + It also delineates the roles to be played by the diverse stakeholders (private, public, development community, etc.) in the field. The study recommends various relevant and innovative electronic identity (eID) services that can be implemented to transform and enhance the accountability and efficiency of service delivery across sectors. These recommendations are based on the stocktaking of international experiences and identified possibilities based on the country assessment. Special emphasis is placed on eID systems that operate on mobile phones, and on those that have the potential of being scaled up by both the public and private sectors in Vietnam. The eID systems can help reduce identity fraud and enable individuals to avail of services more securely in a variety of contexts as in mobile banking and mobile applications for health care.
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