Accion and the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion (CFI) challenge the industry to better serve, protect, and empower clients. We develop insights, advocate on behalf of clients, and collaborate with stakeholders to achieve a comprehensive vision for financial inclusion.
We address some of the most pressing obstacles impeding financial inclusion, influencing the industry to prioritize client protection and empowerment. We share new research that details how financial service providers can integrate new technologies to improve operations, create more personalized products, and leverage data. We also activate thought leaders throughout the sector to develop and expand the financial inclusion community, share best practices, and research common issues.

Article

Mr. Martín is a third-generation entrepreneur who owns a business selling specialty products in Mexico City. As we visited his stall in the <a href="https://www.civico.com/lugar/mercado-martinez-de-la-torre-zona-mexico-1">Mercado Martínez de la Torre</a>, he told us about the family tradition surrounding the business. After he earned his degree in mathematics and computer science, he made the decision so many others have made throughout the years — to take over the family business. But these days, family tradition doesn’t always have the same pull. While Mr. Martín wants his children to inherit the enterprise, they would rather pursue more modern lifestyles and their own careers.

Mr. Martín, along with his brothers and uncles, manages six other stands, which makes them part of a vast population who depend on Mexico’s markets for their livelihoods. Because so many people work in markets, they’re of particular interest to Accion partner, <a href="https://www.civico.com/">CÍVICO</a>. CÍVICO is a <a href="https://www.accion.org/how-one-platform-connects-cities-and-boosts-small-businesses/">digital platform that connects small businesses and individuals</a> to their cities and to each other. Users can map and interact with local enterprises, and micro, small, and medium business owners can use the platform to access financial tools. For people who work in markets, this is often their first opportunity to use quality financial services and can make a real difference in modernizing the business.

Mercado Martínez de la Torre is one of the 329 public markets in Mexico City, some of which are over 100 years old. These markets are considered centers of the Mexican economy, providing income for about <a href="https://www.sedeco.cdmx.gob.mx/comunicacion/nota/gcdmx-quiere-que-los-mercados-publicos-brillen">280,000 families</a>, according to the Government of Mexico City. Different government initiatives have been introduced to organize, formalize, and develop these markets to improve how they function. Today, they still evoke the traditional way of carrying out business, the exchange of essential goods and consumer products, with a somewhat nostalgic cultural and social function that goes beyond strictly business.

Most of these markets have a specific focus; the Mercado Martínez de la Torre specializes in basic household needs, while the <a href="https://www.civico.com/lugar/mercado-de-granaditas-mexico">Mercado de Granaditas</a> mainly sells leather goods. In the latter, we had the opportunity to speak with Ms. Bertha, who sells handmade leather handbags. Ms. Bertha learned this trade from a very young age from her dad, whom she deeply admires and who ensured she would grow up to be self-sufficient and know the value of hard work. An estimated <a href="https://www.sedeco.cdmx.gob.mx/comunicacion/nota/mujeresinnovando-en-los-mercados-publicos">70 percent of public market tenants are women</a>, and Ms. Bertha is proud to work among her fellow female business owners, stating that “we women are warriors, and we are the pillar of Mexican families.”

[caption id="attachment_18979" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<img class="wp-image-18979" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Doña-Bertha-1024x768.jpg" alt="Ms. Bertha standing in front of her handmade leather bags in Mercado de Granaditas" width="700" height="525" /> Ms. Bertha shows off her handmade leather bags in Mercado de Granaditas[/caption]

As we spoke to business owners like Mr. Martín or Ms. Bertha, we learned about the different challenges that they face, such as finding someone trustworthy to help with daily business needs, growing sales in an increasingly competitive world, and in particular, dealing with the ways that technology is changing business. While technology can be tricky for traditional enterprises to navigate sometimes — it also offers opportunities. Customers are better informed and ready to purchase with digital payment methods, which they see as easier to use and more secure. People are also becoming interested in buying products online or using messaging applications such as WhatsApp to make orders, and merchants who know how to use digital platforms to promote themselves and enable sales can take advantage of these new channels.

It’s unclear whether the markets as we know them today will disappear, but what is certain is that the way to do business and promote products is already changing and evolving. That is why, in collaboration with CÍVICO, Accion’s Global Advisory Solutions team has been interviewing these businesses to identify the main barriers they face. Supporting small business owners is crucial if we want to drive inclusive economic growth. We need to understand the different challenges they face today so we can work with CÍVICO to create financial products and services that meet their needs.

Our initial interviews revealed two primary opportunities:
<ul>
 	<li>In their search to diversify and attract new clients, entrepreneurs are very interested in new ways to promote their businesses through digital platforms</li>
 	<li>Business owners are increasingly open to accepting electronic payments through different systems (Clip, Sr. Pago, iZettle, etc.)</li>
</ul>
Family-owned enterprises are steeped in tradition, but it’s clear that the modern world has a lot to offer them, too. These entrepreneurs can’t wait for the next generation to take over the business and modernize — these changes are happening right now. We’re hopeful we can use our findings to give people the tools they need so their businesses can continue to stand the test of time.

This research is part of the <a href="https://www.accion.org/helping-small-businesses-and-communities-thrive-with-digital-financial-services">partnership</a> between the <a href="https://www.mastercardcenter.org/">Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth</a> and Accion that aims to give 10 million clients, including 4 million merchants, access to the necessary financial tools to run better, buy better, and sell better. To achieve this goal, this partnership will support a number of institutions across the world, with <a href="https://www.accion.org/helping-small-businesses-and-communities-thrive-with-digital-financial-services">CÍVICO being one of our first collaborators</a> in Colombia and Mexico.

This article was written with support from <a href="https://www.accion.org/bio/leonardo-tibaquira">Leonardo Tibaquira</a>, <a href="https://www.accion.org/bio/juan-alberto-almonacid">Juan Alberto Almonacid</a>, and Gabriel Quiros Rubio.

The faces behind Mexico City’s mercados públicos

Press Release

Cape Town, South Africa, 25 June 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lulalend, South Africa’s first online automated provider of short-term funding for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), today announced its Series A financing of $6.5 million. The round was co-led by IFC and Quona Capital, a leading fintech firm whose funds are sponsored by Accion, with participation from existing investors Accion Venture Lab and Newid Capital. The new funding will provide growth capital to help Lulalend scale in response to South Africa’s significant funding gap for small businesses. More information on Lulalend is available at <a href="https://www.lulalend.co.za/">https://www.lulalend.co.za/</a>

Lulalend was established in 2014 by co-founders Trevor Gosling and Neil Welman. Unlike traditional financial institutions, Lulalend allows SMEs to apply for and receive funding without visiting a bank branch. Its lending decisions are automated, and funding is provided within 24 hours. Leveraging data from alternative and online sources, Lulalend utilizes a proprietary scoring algorithm that allows it to evaluate applicants and provide funding to SMEs quickly, conveniently, and transparently. Most of the funding provided by Lulalend to small and medium-sized businesses is used for inventory or equipment, renovations or marketing.

“69 percent of small and medium-sized businesses in South Africa say that access to working capital would help their businesses grow,” said Trevor Gosling, co-founder and CEO of Lulalend. “Yet for years in South Africa there’s been a massive funding gap for small-and medium enterprises, the very lifeblood of the economy. This fundraise from Quona Capital, a leading VC globally in emerging markets fintech, and IFC , a member of the World Bank Group, provides us with the growth capital and support we need to scale and drive exciting partnerships.”

“Quona Capital has been excited about Lulalend from the very earliest stage,” said Johan Bosini, Quona Capital partner. “Lulalend has built a seamless user experience that solves a massive funding gap faced by so many SMEs in South Africa -- enabling SMEs to grow and thrive, rather than getting stuck due to lack of working capital. We’re happy to partner with the IFC to fund this growing company.”

Quona Capital is a venture capital firm focused on fintech for inclusion in emerging markets, leveraging a strategic relationship with Accion, a nonprofit financial inclusion pioneer. Accion’s seed-stage investment initiative Accion Venture Lab first invested in Lulalend in 2016, and made a follow-on investment in this round.

"Small business lending is changing, and by partnering with digital innovators like Lulalend we can capitalize on new sources of data and models to deliver finance to reach more small businesses in South Africa, thus driving job creation and economic growth,” said Kevin Njiraini, IFC’s Regional Director for Southern Africa and Nigeria.

The partnership with Lulalend is part of IFC’s comprehensive program to deepen small business development and promote access to finance to improve economic inclusion and create job opportunities.
###
About Lulalend

Founded in 2014 by Trevor Gosling and Neil Welman, Lulalend was created to provide SMEs in South Africa with the best possible funding for their businesses. To do this, Lulalend utilizes proprietary credit scoring technology which enables it to provide quick decisions, fast funding, and transparent pricing to SMEs. For more information, visit <a href="https://www.lulalend.co.za/">https://www.lulalend.co.za/</a>

About Quona Capital
Quona Capital is a scale-up stage venture firm focused on fintech for inclusion in emerging markets. Quona partners have deep experience as investors and operators in both emerging and developed markets, and look for entrepreneurs whose companies have the potential to provide outstanding financial returns and promote breakthrough innovation in financial inclusion. To date, Quona has supported more than 20 financial technology companies expanding access for underserved consumers and small businesses in Latin America, South and Southeast Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Quona got its start through a strategic relationship with Accion, a global nonprofit with a pioneering legacy in microfinance and fintech impact investing. The firm has offices in Washington D.C., Bangalore, Cape Town, Mexico City and Singapore. For more information, visit <a href="http://quona.com/">quona.com</a>.

About IFC
IFC—a sister organization of the World Bank and member of the World Bank Group—is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. We work with more than 2,000 businesses worldwide, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in the toughest areas of the world. In fiscal year 2018, we delivered more than $23 billion in long-term financing for developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. For more information, visit <a href="http://www.ifc.org/">www.ifc.org</a>

Media Contact:

Tom Stuart for Lulalend
<a href="mailto:tom@lulalend.co.za">tom@lulalend.co.za</a>
+27 (0) 87 943 2381

Shannon Austin for Quona Capital
<a href="mailto:shannon@quona.com">shannon@quona.com</a>
+1 (703) 338-8813

Devon Maylie for IFC
<a href="mailto:dmaylie@ifc.org">dmaylie@ifc.org</a>
+27781958098

Lulalend, South Africa’s First Online Automated Provider of Short-Term Funding for Small and Medium Enterprises, Raises $6.5 Million   Series A

JAKARTA, Indonesia, June 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- KoinWorks, Indonesia’s largest peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform registered and supervised by OJK, today announced its Series B fundraise of S$16.5 million (IDR 170 billion). The oversubscribed round was co-led by EV Growth and Quona Capital, with participation from existing investors. The new funding will be used to expand the KoinWorks team and partnerships, and further develop systems and technology to provide financial inclusion throughout Indonesia with its popular one platform.
KoinWorks was established in 2016 by co-founders Benedicto Haryono and Willy Arifin. The company brings together borrowers and lenders online through a single platform that provides access to financial services for SMEs who have historically been un- or underbanked by traditional financial institutions. Leveraging machine learning, KoinWorks enables borrowers to access low interest loans while funders receive better returns. Available products include business financing and invoice financing.
“When we started KoinWorks, we set out to democratize finance in Indonesia while fostering financial inclusion,” said KoinWorks’ co-founder and Executive Chairman Willy Arifin. “In just a few short years we’ve grown to have the largest retail investor base in Indonesia, with more than 300,000 users. The round was oversubscribed, which means that the money raised only represents the amount of liquidity that existing shareholders were willing to make available, and does not reflect the true appetite of investors in KoinWorks.”
KoinWorks’ co-founder and CEO Benedicto Haryono said, "For the past three years, we have served the majority of Indonesia’s retailer market for the distribution of productive loans. Our rapid growth is supported by increasing public awareness of the importance of early investment.”
Today more than 60 percent of investor-funders in KoinWorks’ platform are millennials, and 70 percent of investors say KoinWorks is their first investment product.
"The gap between access and convenience in providing investment products and loans makes KoinWorks a very unique fintech in Indonesia,” said Willson Cuaca, Partner at EV Growth, a joint venture growth fund between East Ventures, Sinar Mas Digital Ventures (SMDV) and YJ Capital Inc. “We’ve been impressed by the company’s rapid growth.”
“KoinWorks shares Quona’s mission of financial inclusion, and has had a dramatic impact on businesses in Indonesia as a result of their commitment to responsible lending,” said Ganesh Rengaswamy, co-founder and Partner at Quona Capital. “Their role in enabling resources catalyzing SME growth cannot be overstated. We are thrilled to support KoinWorks as they consolidate their market leadership.”
Quona Capital is a leading venture capital firm focused on fintech for inclusion in emerging markets, leveraging a strategic relationship with Accion, a nonprofit financial inclusion pioneer.
KoinWorks had previously raised a Series A in 2018 from investors Mandiri Capital Indonesia, Convergence Ventures, Gunung Sewu, Beeblebrox and Quona Capital.
###
About KoinWorks
KoinWorks, founded in 2016, is the largest peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform in Indonesia registered and supervised by the Indonesia Financial Services Authority (OJK). KoinWorks brings together borrowers and lenders through a single online platform that provides access to financial services for people who have not been served by traditional banking institutions. Trusted by more than 300,000 users, KoinWorks focuses on productive loans for business development through KoinBisnis and KoinPintar products.
In 2017, Bisnis Indonesia named KoinWorks “Most Innovative Fintech of the Year.” KoinWorks was also named the Most Innovative Company in Online Funding with Machine Learning in Fintech in 2018 and 2019 by Warta Ekonomi. More information on KoinWorks is available at <a title="" href="https://www.globenewswire.com/Tracker?data=UpP4B2L8B5zDMUBrYcPDfuE3UBrfwvujM0HvFbrdJcpQc1VX7g2uIin-o98ZypSQatPSnfywg2_uwoqxgU7I8jkc8fyydIQWC1vje2LNcSc=" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://koinworks.com</a>
About EV Growth
EV Growth is a US$200 milion joint-venture fund between East Ventures, SMDV -- the VC arm of Indonesian conglomerate Sinar Mas -- and YJ Capital, the VC arm of Yahoo Japan. EV Growth invests in growth-stage startups in Southeast Asia, primarily focusing on Indonesia. EV Growth has backed startups from different sectors including Sociolla, IDN Media, Moka, Warung Pintar, and Ruangguru.
About Quona Capital
Quona Capital is a scale-up stage venture firm focused on fintech for inclusion in emerging markets. Quona partners have deep experience as investors and operators in both emerging and developed markets, and look for entrepreneurs whose companies have the potential to provide outstanding financial returns and promote breakthrough innovation in financial inclusion. To date, Quona has supported more than 25 financial technology companies expanding access for underserved consumers and small businesses in Latin America, South and Southeast Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Quona got its start through a strategic relationship with Accion, a global nonprofit with a pioneering legacy in microfinance and fintech impact investing. The firm has offices in Washington D.C., Bangalore, Cape Town, Mexico City and Singapore. For more information, visit <a title="" href="https://www.globenewswire.com/Tracker?data=UrdDneEkuJbWeGqhHIwszunFJLlNcGOoAGnSTbGfqYuzvI5bP45u8C_gB1w1HSpolcU5xp2fYSBcRQil_qdqoQ==" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">quona.com.</a>
Media Contact:
Jonathan Bryan
KoinWorks
<a href="mailto:jonathan@koinworks.com">jonathan@koinworks.com </a>
+62 812 8780 1003

Try Prihatono Ngaserin
EV Growth
<a title="" href="https://www.globenewswire.com/Tracker?data=8pCPOe_OUfJQAmgHM3VdjvyEF1MNgS154oq0sIwKRsHuNSVdNGnsyRuqcQuSmPAElUyQP2ikSMffNb2Qk712HQ==" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">try@evgrowth.vc</a>
+65-8172-8137

Shannon Austin
Quona Capital
<a title="" href="https://www.globenewswire.com/Tracker?data=Egs__68FZoigvgvizMY0cWO5qodxy_LBpwQYYcMxapQlqiv-hdFJ_0-ZZbcZ0z9jZ5DVy-1hsO0bP8z_njblQA==" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Shannon@quona.com</a>
(+1) 703-338-8813

KoinWorks, Indonesia’s Largest P2P Lending Platform, Raises an Oversubscribed S$16.5 Million Series B

Ayodele Magret O’s entrepreneurial journey has been about learning — learning how to manage her finances as a small business owner, learning how to network and build her business’ reputation in the community, and giving her three children a chance to learn as much as they can in school.

Ayodele started her bookshop in Lagos with just a few books, and she has gradually built it into a thriving bookstore. Along the way, she’s taken out loans from Accion Microfinance Bank to acquire new inventory and manage income flows.

Accion Microfinance Bank is a leading provider of financial services to microentrepreneurs like Ayodele in Nigeria. Accion was a founding investor and provided the initial management for the bank. Today, we continue to support the bank with a digital transformation strategy to reach more customers with the financial tools they need. Nearly 7 in 10 of the bank’s customers are women. Having access to financial services empowers women to be more autonomous — better able to control their personal finances, support their families, and remain resilient.

For Ayodele, the financial support that helped her grow her business also helped her fund her children’s educations. From her oldest son who’s at university in Canada to her youngest daughter who’s just beginning her journey at a private primary school, Ayodele’s children are making their mother proud.

Ayodele’s next plan for her family is to build a house. That way, no matter how far her kids go in life, they’ll always have a place they can call home with the mother who made it all possible.

<img class="size-large wp-image-18964 aligncenter" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nigeria_Accion_Clients_0017-1024x683.jpg" alt="Ayodele Magret O with two of her children at her store" width="1024" height="683" />

“The journey is so good and so sweet.”

At Venture Lab, we are focused on a big problem — the 3 billion people globally who are left out of the financial system. Many of those individuals don't have access to a safe savings account, credit to build their business, or insurance in the case of a health emergency.  But even among this group, refugees and migrants are uniquely vulnerable to financial exclusion. According <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/figures-at-a-glance.html">to UNHCR</a>, there are 70.8 million displaced people in the world today: 25.9 million refugees living outside their home countries, plus 41.3 million internally displaced people, and 3.5 million asylum seekers. Displaced people are even less likely to have access to the financial tools they need to improve their lives, and many of the inherent challenges that exclude low-income consumers (lack of credit history, lack of collateral, low balances) are only exacerbated for this population. The silver lining is that innovation in fintech can help to change that.

When thinking of the many millions of people needing the very basics of food, shelter, and medical care, access to financial services may not be top of mind. But for a displaced person, being able to protect and access any assets they may own; having a way to receive money from relatives, employers, or organizations; or being able to pay for necessities like cell phone service or clothing can make a difficult situation a little more bearable. And when, at last, a refugee is able to return home or establish a new home, having some savings or a credit history will help them establish a more secure foundation on which to rebuild their life. 

Venture Lab has been keen to support models targeting this customer for some time and has already worked with one fintech firm that was founded with the explicit purpose to provide financial services to refugees. <a href="http://www.leafglobalfintech.com/">Leaf</a> uses blockchain technology to give refugees the chance to convert cash into digital currency before they leave home, so they can protect their assets and access them from their eventual new location. This unique business caught our eye and led us to sponsor Leaf for support through the <a href="https://catalyst-fund.org/">Catalyst Fund</a> accelerator initiative. In <a href="https://www.accion.org/can-blockchain-help-refugees-build-better-lives">a discussion with my colleague Amee Parbhoo last year</a>, Leaf’s founders explained how their expertise in microfinance and refugee relief led them to develop a sustainable model that serves this vulnerable population. 

In fact, as I mentioned during <a href="https://youtu.be/ccPfLFE5jgo">a recent panel on financial inclusion and refugees</a> at the Society for International Development annual conference in Washington, DC, Venture Lab has also invested in other fintechs that don’t specifically serve refugees but provide lessons for how we can leverage innovation to serve these populations. For example, we <a href="https://www.accion.org/invested-in-now-money">invested in</a> <a href="https://nowmoney.me/">NOW Money</a>, a neobank for migrant workers in the United Arab Emirates. There are some 8 million foreign workers in the UAE, most of them from Asian countries and most working low-wage jobs such as construction and domestic labor. Like refugees, these workers are away from their home countries and need secure ways to receive wages and transfer money to relatives back home. By partnering with employers and using scalable technology, NOW Money is able to serve these consumers when they were too small, and too hard to identify, for larger financial institutions. 

Another of our portfolio companies, U.S.-based <a href="https://www.selflender.com/">Self Lender</a>, provides “thin-file” banking customers with ways to <a href="https://www.accion.org/using-fintech-with-a-human-touch-to-improve-credit-scores-in-the-us">establish or improve their credit scores</a>. Self Lender uses an online version of a traditional “credit builder” loan so borrowers can demonstrate their creditworthiness by sticking to a repayment plan. Refugees would generally qualify as “thin-file” customers, having no employment history or financial records in their new locations, so a model like Self Lender’s could be very useful in helping them get started on building the all-important credit score. 

The global refugee crisis is daunting, both in terms of sheer numbers and in the details of human suffering it causes. The challenges of addressing worldwide poverty are similarly huge, yet the companies that Venture Lab supports provide the beginnings of a pathway to solutions. Every day we work with bright, ambitious, and innovative entrepreneurs seeking to use technology to help reach the underserved. We support these companies so they can succeed, and we learn which types of models can work to reach even more excluded customers around the world. I hope to hear of more fintechs like Leaf that are finding an effective way to serve refugees — if you know of any, please <a href="mailto:http://accionventurelab@accion.org">get in touch</a>!

Innovative fintech startups could make refugees’ lives easier

Expanding Financial Capability in Colombia 

Global Microscope 2018: The Enabling Environment for Financial Inclusion and the Expansion of Digital Financial Services

Digital Finance and Data Security 

Finance for All: Wedded to Fintech for Better or Worse

Responsible Digital Credit

Accelerating Financial Inclusion with New Data

Banking Sector Approaches to Customer Engagement and Capability

Financial Inclusion Hype vs. Reality: Deconstructing the 2017 Findex Results

Research from the Center for Financial Inclusion

After months studying the drivers of financial health and mobile and internet usage in eastern Europe, I was excited when our team finally landed in Serbia. During the hour-long taxi ride from Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla Airport to Novi Sad, we finalized our work plan for the coming days while catching glimpses of the countryside.

We came to Serbia to join our colleagues at the <a href="http://mfc.org.pl/">Microfinance Centre</a> (MFC) in conducting in-depth interviews with current and prospective customers of <a href="http://www.obs.rs/eng/">Opportunity Bank Serbia</a> and <a href="http://fiiw.pl/">Fundacja Innowacja i Wiedza</a> (Foundation for Innovation and Knowledge). We wanted to learn everything we could about the interviewees’ ambitions, challenges, attitudes, and technology use, so we can use these insights to design and develop a digital tool that will help clients understand and improve their financial health. This research is part of the <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/about/what-we-do/building-financial-capabilities-and-strengthening-institutions-through-customer-centered-innovations/">Building Financial Capabilities &amp; Strengthening Institutions through Customer-Centered Innovations</a> project, supported by <a href="https://www.metlife.com/corporate-responsibility/metlife-foundation/">MetLife Foundation</a>.
<h2>Euros vs. dinars: Serbia’s dual-currency dynamic</h2>
[caption id="attachment_18520" align="alignleft" width="500"]<img class="wp-image-18520" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/ECA-pic-2-1-1024x767.jpg" alt="Novi Sad taxi" width="500" height="375" /> Taxis in Novi Sad, Serbia, often quote cab fares in euros.[/caption]

As we pulled up to the hotel, I was perplexed when our driver, Božidar, quoted the cab fare in euros. Last time I checked, the dinar was the currency of Serbia, since it remains an EU candidate country. Yet Božidar demanded that we pay him in euros, as did many other local vendors. We discovered that our interviewees commonly use euros alongside dinars. One farmer said that she quickly deposits any payments made in euros, but she tends to use her dinars for everyday purchases or stash them at home for emergencies. A shop owner said the majority of her suppliers pay her in euros while she accepts payments from customers in both currencies.

The trend of “euroization” or “dollarization” — a foreign currency substituting or complementing the domestic one — is well studied. The graph below, from the <a href="https://www.oenb.at/en/Monetary-Policy/Surveys/OeNB-Euro-Survey.html">Austrian central bank’s Euro Survey</a>, shows that among its neighbors in central, eastern, and southeastern Europe, Serbia is the most euroized, with the highest proportion of all its cash and deposits held in the form of euros.

Why multiple currencies create financial health challenges in Serbia

If you’ve never used financial services in the past, you’re going to encounter a significant learning curve when you finally get access. That’s why more institutions are rolling out products to support first-time clients and equip them with actionable tips and tools to simplify their experience. These new services aren’t just good for customers, they’re good for business. By helping consumers attain the <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/a-change-in-behavior-catalogue-of-innovations-in-financial-capability">knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors</a> necessary to make sound financial decisions — what we call financial capability — customers can become more informed and engaged. In other words, they become better customers.

For any financial institution interested in increasing customer loyalty, building better financial capability is crucial.

<a href="https://www.accion.org/accion-and-metlife-foundation-announce-expanded-partnership-to-advance-financial-inclusion/">As we work with MetLife Foundation</a> to expand financial capability through customer-centered innovations, we’re excited about the potential benefits for both customers and institutions. Here are four reasons why helping clients build their financial capability is a win-win:
<h3>1. Financial capability drives active use of financial products </h3>
Products that help increase financial capability, <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/financial-capability-building-practices-in-mexico">drawing insight from behavioral science</a>, can encourage customers to use products more often, which translates to higher profitability for providers and greater usefulness to customers.

Take the case of <a href="https://www.grupobancolombia.com/wps/portal/personas/productos-servicios/cuentas/ahorro/transaccional/ahorro-a-la-mano">Ahorro a la Mano</a>, a mobile savings product and e-wallet from Bancolombia, the largest bank in Colombia. The bank discovered that if a customer does not make a transaction within the first month of opening the account, she is unlikely to make a transaction at all. It decided to use <a href="https://www.behavioraleconomics.com/resources/mini-encyclopedia-of-be/nudge/">“nudges”</a> to remind users to put money into their savings.

Bancolombia worked with<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/petercohan/2011/06/01/juntos-finanzas-helps-latinos-save-plan/#3c0a808d5db3"> Juntos</a>, a fintech company that specializes in data science and behavioral insights. Juntos developed a chatbot named <a href="https://content.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/IIF-CFI_FI-Fintech_Partnerships_Final.pdf">“Emilia,”</a>  that could point out opportunities to use the product and makes special offers to encourage transactions within the first month. Because they provide individually tailored messages in a friendly, personal voice, Emilia’s nudges and reminders build trust with clients, and they become more likely to act on her suggestions.
<h3>2. Customer loyalty increases</h3>
As customers use their products more frequently, they are likely to become more loyal. Most financial service providers’ balance sheets and product viability calculations do not figure long-term customer loyalty into their calculations, but customers that stick with a provider over time are important to business success.

In September 2017, BBVA launched <a href="https://www.bbva.com/en/bbva-opens-its-banking-app-in-spain-to-accounts-and-products-from-other-providers/">Bconomy</a>, a digital platform meant to add value to the customer experience by giving them a full picture of their financial health. Fueled by data analytics, the platform uses behavioral insights to encourage positive behavior. Clients can see an overall snapshot of their finances, turning their bank accounts into financial management hubs. The tool ensures that customers continue returning to the platform and rely on BBVA as their primary financial provider. To date, the platform has had over <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/banking-sector-approaches-to-customer-engagement-and-capability">2 million users per month.</a>
<h3> 3. Capable customers use more products</h3>
Part of the accepted definition of financial capability is a person’s confidence in using a wide range of products to meet their financial needs. Savvy institutions that promote financial capability also build appropriate follow-on products for customers. Institutions that ignore this strategy may see their first-time customers move on to other providers as they become more comfortable with formal finance.

<a href="https://acreimex.com.mx/">Acreimex,</a> a savings and credit cooperative in Mexico, has incorporated savings into payroll loan repayments so that customers who opt in can save painlessly while they repay their loans. Savings discipline is a key attribute of financially capable people, and automated savings is a tool that assists people to stick to their best intentions. Acreimex built this option by combining its two most popular products. It merged its payroll loan and savings services by rounding up repayment installment amounts and automatically depositing the excess amount into clients’ savings.

The combination of products resulted in significant increases in savings activity and balances. An <a href="https://optixproject.org/acreimex/">evaluation</a> showed that participants made about twice as many deposits and saved 30 percent more than those who didn’t participate. Additionally, <a href="https://nextbillion.net/stealthy-saving-building-on-payroll-credit-to-automate-savings/">96 percent of savers chose not to withdraw</a> the balances from their accounts throughout a 12-month pilot. 
<h3>4. Investing in financial capability is more effective — and less expensive </h3>
Traditional, classroom-based financial instruction is costly. Features that build financial capability are often cheaper and more effective because they generate direct and longer lasting behavior change.

When <a href="https://www.nefe.org/Portals/0/WhatWeProvide/PrimaryResearch/PDF/CU%20Final%20Report.pdf">researchers analyzed</a> more than 200 individual impact studies on financial education, they found that only 0.1 percent of the observed positive changes in people that had attended classroom-based financial education programs could be attributed to the programs themselves.

On the other hand, impact evaluations of financial products that incorporate behavioral insights to nudge client behavior consistently find statistically significant positive impacts. For example, in a study with <a href="http://www.bancoadopem.com.do/app/do/frontpage.aspx">Banco ADOPEM</a>, <a href="https://www.povertyactionlab.org/sites/default/files/publications/124_303%20Rules%20of%20Thumb%20AEJ%20Apr2014.pdf">researchers tracked customers</a> who attended either a traditional accounting-based financial education class or a class that, in keeping with behavioral insights, offered simple rules of thumb in accounting. Both classes aimed to assist customers to separate business and personal accounts. In the end, the customers who received the simplified rules of thumb displayed more positive business outcomes — they saw a 30 percent increase on average in the level of sales during weeks with typically low sales and saved an average of 6 percent more in personal savings.

More and more institutions are thoughtfully designing products and experiences that not only match their customers’ experiences and lives, but also consider their attitudes, skills, and behaviors. Financial institutions that invest in building up financial capability are likely ensuring they will have customers that are more active users of their products, that are loyal for longer, and that will use a wider variety of products.

We’ll continue to share insights on financial capability based on research conducted by Accion’s Global Advisory Services team and the Center for Financial Inclusion as part of our project on <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/about/what-we-do/building-financial-capabilities-and-strengthening-institutions-through-customer-centered-innovations/">Building Financial Capabilities and Strengthening Institutions through Customer-Centered Innovations project</a>, supported by MetLife Foundation.

Four reasons focusing on financial capability is good business

India is one of the fastest growing and most complex markets for inclusive finance, and there is a massive opportunity to extend financial services to the underserved. But the country has struggled in the past with unbridled growth of the microfinance sector leading to a crisis in debt stress, notably in <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/elisabeth-rhyne/on-microfinance-whos-to-b_b_777911.html">Andhra Pradesh</a> in 2010.

Policymakers and networks of microfinance institutions actively responded to these crises and elevated consumer protection on the policy agenda. But it’s one thing for regulators to signal policy support for consumer protection. It’s quite another to tackle the nuts and bolts of implementing best practices, especially in a market as complex as India.

One of the scalable solutions to arise in India is the concept of microfinance networks as Self-Regulatory Organizations (SROs). Networks that have been designated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as SRO networks are responsible for monitoring compliance of member microfinance institutions (MFIs) to the microfinance industry code of conduct and providing an effective grievance redressal mechanism between borrowers and member institutions. <a href="http://www.sa-dhan.net/">Sa-Dhan</a>, the largest organization of community banks in India, was designated an SRO in 2015. While Sa-Dhan had previously filled a quasi-regulatory role, this official designation expanded its mandate for monitoring and enforcement, in turn increasing its need for tools to identify and respond to risks at both the market and institution levels.
<div id="attachment_33139" class="wp-caption alignleft">

[caption id="attachment_33139" align="alignleft" width="500"]<img class="wp-image-33139" src="https://content.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/10/Sa-Dhan-tool-launch-photo-1024x714.jpg" alt="announcement-of-sadhan-monitoring-tool-group-photo" width="500" height="349" /> The Sa-Dhan monitoring tool was announced at a launch event during the Sa-Dhan Annual Conference in New Delhi in September 2018.[/caption]

</div>
Aiming to make a country-wide impact on the state of consumer protection in India, CFI’s Smart Campaign and Accion’s Global Advisory Services collaborated with Sa-Dhan to build a digital monitoring tool based on the <a href="https://www.smartcampaign.org/about/smart-microfinance-and-the-client-protection-principles">Smart Campaign’s global standards</a> for financial consumer protection and local regulatory guidelines. The tool is to be the vehicle through which Sa-Dhan collects the information it needs from its members to fulfill its supervisory role in maintaining compliance with the code of conduct. Accion’s advisory team led the digitization of the tool, building of the data warehouse, and the corresponding web platform. The tool was officially launched at <a href="https://www.accion.org/sa-dhan-the-smart-campaign-launch-ifc-backed-monitoring-tool-to-strengthen-consumer-protection">Sa-Dhan’s annual conference</a> with technical and financial support from the International Finance Corporation. Sa-Dhan’s members can now efficiently self-report data through the tool’s online interface, and Sa-Dhan can quantitatively assess market dynamics, especially areas of overindebtedness risk.

This new monitoring mechanism will help to instill consumer protection in Sa-Dhan’s nearly 200 member institutions and protect more than 30 million clients in India.

Across the microfinance sector, new examples of “regtech” and “suptech” are emerging. Just as technological transformation of microfinance institutions can scale their services to new clients, technology can help regulatory bodies meet their broadened responsibilities to oversee the proliferation of lenders. P. Satish, Executive Director of Sa-Dhan sees the new tool as an essential component for self-regulation because it will “help member MFIs with their data analytics and compliance measures, as well as reduce potential client distress.”

After the initial rollout and training workshops for microfinance institutions across the country, Sa-Dhan will put the tool into practice and will use the reports in consultation with the RBI to identify “hot spots” of overindebtedness or lack of compliance to the code of conduct. These reports will also help Sa-Dhan identify under-penetrated areas and help lenders to expand services.

India’s experimentation with self-regulation holds lessons for the world. Traditionally, self-regulation models have been met with skepticism, especially regarding how non-government networks can monitor and enforce compliance among members. The collaboration between the RBI and self-regulatory organizations in India give weight to the microfinance networks through a layered regulatory approach, and technology advances can build the capacity of networks like Sa-Dhan to access data from their members and oversee performance.

The Sa-Dhan monitoring tool can serve as a model for expanding consumer protection in other markets, especially those where there are concerns about rising debt stress. Better monitoring tools can serve as an early warning system and help provider networks or regulators head off crises before they spread.

This post was originally published on <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/a-new-digital-monitoring-tool-in-india-could-boost-consumer-protection-capacity">the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion blog</a>.

Increasing consumer protection for 30 million clients in India

According to the <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://globalfindex.worldbank.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Global Findex</a>, the percentage of adults in Mexico who are saving money at a formal institution plunged from 15 percent to 10 percent in just the <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://globalfindex.worldbank.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">past three years</a> — despite financial inclusion strategies <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://cfi-blog.org/2016/07/01/mexico-launches-comprehensive-financial-inclusion-strategy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">enacted by the government</a>. This steep decline in usage of savings accounts came as a surprise and also hit close to home for me as a Mexican. This <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://medium.com/accion/is-financial-inclusion-stalling-af0fbd502550" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">trend is a cause for concern</a>, and it’s also a call to action. At Accion, we took this as an opportunity to listen to the people we’d like to see benefit from financial services. <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://medium.com/accion/how-accion-metlife-foundation-will-improve-financial-inclusion-in-latam-1838b934d3e0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">With the support of MetLife Foundation</a>, we wanted to understand why fewer people were saving in banks, what products and services people were using — and who was providing those services if it wasn’t formal institutions.
To get answers about what people in Mexico want from their financial service providers, I recently traveled home to Mexico City as part of a team of researchers. We listened to small merchants map out their entire financial lives; their motivations, goals, and aspirations, how they feel about various types of financial services, the strategies they use to stay financially healthy, and more.
Our biggest surprise? The individuals we talked with know about and can access a lot of financial products — they just aren’t using them.
All of the individuals we spoke to reported having access to microloans, consumer store credit, credit cards, and savings accounts. Financial access didn’t seem to be an issue for them — not even in the more rural areas we visited two hours outside the city. Even though our small, qualitative study may not be rigorous enough to extrapolate to the broader population, this finding seems to be consistent with national data. In Mexico, <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://www.cnbv.gob.mx/Inclusi%C3%B3n/Documents/Reportes%20de%20IF/Reporte%20de%20Inclusion%20Financiera%208.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">86 percent of banking branches are located in urban areas</a>, so people close to the city are unlikely to deal with a shortage of services. What our interviews revealed is that a different issue is preventing further inclusion: lack of alignment between what low-income customers want and what current financial products offer. Most people we talked to dislike dealing with large commercial banks, and they continuously decline the offers for financial services they regularly receive, at their doorstep or in public places

<figure class="graf graf--figure graf--layoutOutsetLeft"></figure>
<div id="attachment_8449" class="wp-caption alignleft">

[caption id="attachment_8449" align="alignleft" width="500"]<img class="wp-image-8449" src="http://blogs.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/IMG_0825-768x1024.jpg" alt="Woman holding baby" width="500" height="667" /> Azucena works as a housewife in Alpuyeca, Morelos in Mexico.[/caption]


</div>
Many of the people we interviewed still prioritize saving cash at home, even if they also have a formal savings account. For example, Azucena, a former teller at a large commercial bank branch, told us that despite her relationship with a bank, she and her husband still prefer to store cash informally. “We save at home, but we do so separately, using different lock boxes for different purposes,” she says.
Through our conversations with clients like Azucena, we discovered that informal alternatives like lock boxes continue to be more convenient for clients and preferable to formal options. Keeping cash at home is, after all, indispensable for unexpected emergencies. If your money is in a bank, you’d have the hassle of getting there and waiting. Plus, it may not be available 24/7, and you can run into issues if the ATM is offline or the pharmacist, mechanic, or whomever else you’re turning to for help doesn’t take a debit card.
In many cases, the interviewees’ savings accounts had been opened for them by former employers to serve as payroll accounts or by government programs for disbursement of benefits. These accounts were less “savings accounts” and more “distribution” accounts that were immediately turned into cash and saved at home. Because the savings aspect wasn’t used — in fact, was never emphasized — once they switched jobs or stopped receiving benefits, they let the accounts lapse.
Convenience may be a key issue, but it is not the only one. Feeling unsafe withdrawing money from a bank branch is also an issue because thieves wait where the money is — outside bank branches and near ATMs. The lack of trust our interviewees placed in financial institutions was often less about security and more about the unclear, high (real, or perceived) maintenance fees banks charge on savings accounts.
Despite this perceived aversion to formal accounts, we found that people still continue to save and set high financial goals for themselves. In all the interviews we conducted, the number one financial goal was saving to access better opportunities: the education of their children, a home for their family, or the chance of opening their own business. The demand is clearly there, and most of the people we talked to were indeed saving.
We heard from customers, and now we’re working with a mix of fintechs and financial service providers of all sizes to use those insights to create financial products that customers will want to use as key tools for their financial lives. Stay tuned!
This research was conducted by Accion, the <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion</a>, and <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://www.dalbergdesign.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Dalberg Design</a> as part of our part of our <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://www.accion.org/accion-and-metlife-foundation-announce-expanded-partnership-to-advance-financial-inclusion/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Building Financial Capabilities and Strengthening Institutions through Customer-Centered Innovations</a> project, supported by MetLife Foundation.

Why aren’t people saving money in Mexico?

The World Bank is just days from releasing the next version of its <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/globalfindex" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Global Financial Inclusion Index (Findex</a>), the authoritative data source on global progress toward financial inclusion. The dataset, which tracks financial inclusion in 150 countries, is released once every three years, and we have been waiting eagerly to see how things have changed since 2014. We are confident that the numbers will show enormous progress on the World Bank’s goal of universal access to financial accounts. But we wonder whether the news will also indicate that people are actually using those accounts and whether financial services are helping them achieve financial health, gain resilience and pursue opportunity — the ultimate goals of financial inclusion.
After we high-five the World Bank team for a job well done, here are a few things that we will be looking for when we examine the new Findex numbers:

<h3 class="graf graf--h4">Increased access in smaller and less prominent markets</h3>
We’re sure that the Findex will show dramatic gains in access, and we predict that these gains will be driven by the significant advances we already know about in India, China, and East Africa. The big success stories result from unique characteristics in each location — the leapfrogging potential of mobile money in East Africa, the political support for building inclusion infrastructure in India and the rise of technology super-platforms in China. But what about countries like Mexico, Ghana, or the Philippines? These countries have all been making significant efforts to implement digital financial services. We hope to see success stories emerging in some of these lower-profile markets. We are also eager to see what is happening in the smaller countries that are often ignored in the excitement over big players, and that do not offer the economies of scale that attract digital financial infrastructure providers. We hope the data does not show a growing big-country/small-country digital divide. We would also like to see regional imbalances closing. Accion works throughout Latin America, which is often forgotten in the financial inclusion story.

<h3 class="graf graf--h4">A shrinking access-usage gap</h3>
When we first saw the 2014 Findex data, we <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/fi2020/mapping-the-invisible-market/by-the-numbers" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">pointed out</a> the huge numbers of accounts that sat unused or were used only as a pass-through — i.e., as a means to receive a payment and immediately cash out. This gap is a strong indicator of whether a financial service meets essential client needs. This year, we hope to see progress in reducing that access-usage gap. We’ll be looking especially at India, where the government has aggressively pursued its goal of an account in every household, but where we have seen significant account dormancy. One driver of active use is the ecosystem of value-added products that build on simple account or payment mechanisms. Progress in this area will signal that financial services are addressing real-life needs and that more people are becoming comfortable using phones and other digital means for financial transactions — as we documented last year in <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/programs-a-projects/cfi-fellows-program/782" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">research in Kenya</a>. We’d like to see people in countries beyond Kenya showing greater willingness to transact digitally.

<h3 class="graf graf--h4">Greater resilience among families</h3>
Our favorite question in the 2014 Findex asked whether a family could come up with a substantial sum of money (1/20 GNI per capita) in case of an emergency. This question — the “resilience question” — is the single indicator that best shows whether families are improving their <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/publications-a-resources/browse-publications/807-beyond-financial-inclusion-financial-health-as-a-global-framework" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">financial health</a>. Of course, a natural product to mention in connection with resilience is insurance. CFI released a <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/publications-a-resources/browse-publications/973-inclusive-insurance-closing-the-protection-gap-for-emerging-customers" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">new report</a> on inclusive insurance earlier this year. New ways of assessing and anticipating economic shocks — and covering them for lower-income populations — might move the numbers on vulnerability. Soon we will have two data points on resilience (2014 and 2017), and this trend line will allow us to make our first statements about whether financial inclusion is actually increasing financial security for clients. This question will give us insight into whether all the work toward financial inclusion is paying off.

<h3 class="graf graf--h4">A smaller gender gap</h3>
One of our disappointments in the past ten years is that while overall access to financial services has increased, the gender gap has hardly budged. As of 2015, women were about ten percentage points behind in access to an account, despite great funder and industry focus on women. While we do not have robust evidence yet, we hope to see progress here. We have done some thinking on gender equality and financial inclusion, as have many others. It is time that these collective industry efforts begin to result in a smaller gender gap!

<h3 class="graf graf--h4">Financial inclusion enabling the Sustainable Development Goals</h3>
We love it when we see financial inclusion acknowledged for the role it plays in creating positive change in economic and social development — including many of the Sustainable Development Goals. The Findex reports whether people have paid electronically for things like school fees or bills, and indicators like this provide some clues about what financial inclusion improvements can enable for people new to the formal financial system. Building on the recognition that financial services are fundamentally about supporting people to do more with their resources, we see the ultimate goal of financial inclusion as improving lives.

<h3 class="graf graf--h4">Commentary on the post-2020 future of financial inclusion</h3>
The World Bank has set the ambitious — but achievable — goal of reaching <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/financialinclusion/brief/achieving-universal-financial-access-by-2020" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">universal financial access by 2020</a>. This goal and this date have been a rallying cry among a set of prominent stakeholders who are key to making the achievement a reality. Now that 2020 is rapidly approaching, we want to know what comes next — and we have a strong view that access to an account is only the first step. If financial inclusion is to be more than a buzzword, we must continue to work until the newly “included” can use a full suite of quality services to make lasting improvements in their financial lives.
Join us in waiting eagerly, clicking the “refresh” button on our browser windows over the next few weeks as we await the answers to these questions. Whatever the data show, we are eager to engage in conversation and action with the financial inclusion community to continue charting a path toward meaningful financial inclusion.
A version of this post appeared previously on the Center for Financial Inclusion blog.

Six things we hope to see in the World Bank’s Global Findex

When women are <a href="http://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/economic-empowerment/facts-and-figures">economically empowered</a>, children benefit from better household spending, companies thrive with diverse leadership, and economies are boosted by the extra cash flow. But we’re not there yet. Women in developing economies are <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/results/2013/04/01/banking-on-women-extending-womens-access-to-financial-services">20 percent less likely</a> than men to have an account at a formal financial institution. And because of difficulties finding jobs and accessing economic opportunities, women are disproportionately <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/02/14/women-poorer-and-hungrier-than-men-across-the-world-u-n-report-says/?utm_term=.acc0bc8dd2c0">poorer than men</a>.  We’re working to help all women have the financial services they need to thrive.

At Accion, we’re proud to have a diverse team leading the charge as we work to tackle the problem of financial exclusion around the world.  Three in five people who work at Accion are women, and at Accion Venture Lab, more than half of all full-time staff are women — a rarity in the male-dominated world of venture funding.

To highlight some of the women working behind the scenes to build a more inclusive and prosperous world, we’re releasing a blog series on the women of Accion and our partners.

Here are a few of the leaders we’re proud to work with:
<h4>Tahira Dosani, Managing Director, Accion Venture Lab</h4>
<img class="alignnone" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Tahira-Dosani-headshot.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="600" />
“I hear a lot of people say that they are interested in an impact career or impact investing. The sector is really broad; if you want to find a role within the space, you need to understand what kind of impact you want to make and how your experience and skill set position you to succeed in that role,” Tahira Dosani says. For Tahira, making a sustainable impact means aligning social good and financial returns. At Accion Venture Lab, she’s able to achieve this goal by supporting startups that are leveraging fintech to advance financial inclusion. She leads the fund’s work on portfolio engagement. This hands-on strategic and operational support helps <a href="https://www.accion.org/content/venture-lab-portfolio">Venture Lab’s portfolio companies</a> grow and scale, and it helps us continue learning as investors. In addition to this engagement work, Tahira supports investment decisions, manages portfolio relationships, and drives the strategy and growth of Venture Lab. As a leader in her field, she makes sure to support other women, and she encourages everyone to do the same: “Once you’re where you want to be, help other women get there too.”

<h4>Bunmi Lawson, Former Managing Director and CEO, Accion Microfinance Bank</h4>
<img class="alignnone" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/bunmi-iwd-web.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="600" />
“Women who want to make an impact should have a clear focus on the nature and segment they want to change. Sometimes in a bid to improve the world we live in, we try to do too many things. Focus ensures we achieve significant impact and drive the positive change we want to see,” says Bunmi Lawson. And she should know — Bunmi has spent her career <a href="http://www.accion.org/one-womans-effort-to-end-financial-services-inequality-in-nigeria/">promoting opportunity and equality in Nigeria</a>. Before retiring from the role in December, she spent a decade as Managing Director and CEO of Accion Microfinance Bank. Under her direction, the institution grew from one branch to nearly 50 and helped close the gap in access to financial services in Nigeria. While at Accion Microfinance Bank, Bunmi made sure account officers were gender balanced in order to better serve their customers — 68 percent of whom are women.
<h4>Elisabeth Rhyne, Managing Director, Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion</h4>
<img class="alignnone" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/beth-iwd-web.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="600" />
“Get out to the field, spend time with the people you want to make a difference to, learn how the institutions and industries work, and get a few hard skills,” advises Elisabeth Rhyne to those looking to make an impact. Elisabeth worked in microfinance for 20 years, including in Kenya and Mozambique, before focusing on financial inclusion more broadly. While microfinance had focused on credit, she saw that people needed a full range of financial services and recognized the increased feasibility of new business models. Shifting her focus to financial inclusion more broadly was a response to these industry changes. Elisabeth first joined Accion as Senior Vice President, leading Accion’s initial entry into Africa and India.
<h4>Kathleen Yaworsky, Manager, Global Advisory Solutions at Accion</h4>
<img class="alignnone" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/katheleen-iwd-web.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="600" />
How can you have the biggest impact on the most people? That’s been the driving question for Kathleen throughout her career, and it eventually <a href="http://www.accion.org/what-does-financial-inclusion-have-to-do-with-the-sustainable-development-goals/">led her to Accion</a>. She sees financial services as the enabling infrastructure for other international development goals — from clean water to quality education to gender equality. At Accion, she offers advisory services for financial service providers worldwide. Her focus is on solutions that help deliver financial tools at scale, including digitization, <a href="http://www.accion.org/implementing-big-data-10-tips-financial-service-providers/">big data applications</a> for financial inclusion, customer engagement, and more. For other people who are driven to make a difference, she advises leaning into your strengths. There are many ways to achieve your goals, through different roles or different organizations. “The key is to find the right fit to really leverage your skill set,” says Kathleen. And don’t forget to pace yourself, she adds: “A career in international development is a marathon, not a sprint — it requires a sustained passion for social impact.”

Meet the women leading the way to an inclusive future — part one

At Accion, we’re proud to have a diverse team leading the charge as we work to tackle the problem of financial exclusion around the world.
To highlight some of the women in leadership working behind the scenes to build a more inclusive and prosperous world, we’re releasing a blog series on <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://www.accion.org/meet-women-leading-way-inclusive-financial-future-part-one/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the women of Accion and our partners</a>.
Here are a few of the leaders we’re proud to work with:

<h3 class="graf graf--p">Deborah Drake, Vice President, Investing in Inclusive Finance, Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion</h3>
<img class="wp-image-9288 size-full alignleft" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Deborah.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="450" />
Deborah had a lifelong interest in international development and Latin American, which drew her to Accion. She found the concept of microfinance compelling, liked Accion’s private sector approach, and saw firsthand the impact of its work. As Vice President of <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion</a>’s <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/programs-a-projects/investing-in-inclusive-finance" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Investing in Inclusive Finance Program</a>, Deborah leads the <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/programs-a-projects/abf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Africa Board Fellowship Program</a> as well as the Financial Inclusion Equity Council (FIEC). To those just starting out, Deborah recommends getting out into the field and getting a sense of what you want to change and how to do it. She also asserts the importance of persistence and flexibility. “The path to making an impact through your job may not be direct or come about the way you envision so be open to opportunities that at first glance may not fit your short-term objectives.”
&nbsp;
<h3 class="graf graf--p">Andrea Echavarría, Co-Founder, Escala Educación</h3>
<img class="wp-image-9298 size-full alignleft" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Andrea.jpg" alt="" width="450" height="600" />
Andrea Echavarría worked in Colombia’s nonprofit sector for 13 years before she decided to take a different approach to tackle the challenge of poverty. She co-founded <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://www.escalaeducacion.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Escala Educación</a> to help remove the barriers families — and especially women — face in accessing financial services and education. “Using fintech and the power of micro-savings, I bring <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://www.accion.org/why-we-invested-in-escala-educacion/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">access to college education</a> and have become a powerful agent of social mobility,” she says. By giving people the financial tools to take control of their own lives, ESCALA helps ignite economic empowerment for vulnerable communities and builds toward shared prosperity. “Don’t wait for the world to change,” she advises others who want to make a difference, “always pursue your purpose, and believe in your crazy ideas while committing 100 percent of your spirit, courage, and perseverance to achieve them.”

<h3></h3>
<h3></h3>
<h3 class="graf graf--p">Veena Mankar, Founder and Chairperson of the Board, Swadhaar</h3>
<img class="wp-image-9302 size-full alignleft" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Veena.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="450" />
“I grew up in a privileged household, and my parents always told us that whilst everyone had innate abilities, many did not have the opportunities to realize their full potential. We, therefore, had an obligation to open doors for those less fortunate than us,” says Veena Mankar. She still takes that obligation seriously today. At <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://www.swadhaar.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Swadhaar</a>, she helps low-income, urban Indians<a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://www.accion.org/swadhaar-giving-all-indians-tools-to-build-better-life/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> access small loans</a> that they can use to improve their lives. She doesn’t just want people to have resources to make it through the next week or the next month — she wants to have a sustained impact on people’s lives. And this kind of lasting impact is starting to become more attainable. Veena observes that India’s digital infrastructure and fintech developments make it possible to finally provide every household and small business with affordable financial services suited to their needs. Looking to the future, she says, “Traditional financial institutions and fintech partnerships can deliver the best solutions for financial inclusion.” Individuals can also play a part in building a more inclusive future. If you’re driven to help, Veena advises choosing a mission that leverages “your 3 Es — expertise, education, and experience.” Once you have that mission in mind? “Believe in yourself, and make your goal your dream.”

<h3></h3>
<h3 class="graf graf--p">Radhika Shroff, Deputy Chief Investment Officer, Gateway Fund at Accion</h3>
<img class="alignleft wp-image-9303 size-full" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Radhika.jpg" alt="" width="450" height="600" />
“Impact has always been a part of my life, both personally and professionally — and it permeates so much of what we do, without being called ‘impact’,” says Radhika Shroff. As the daughter of Indian immigrants, she grew up traveling to India, visiting women’s empowerment and education initiatives in Gujarat and seeing social change in action. While Radhika started her career in the private sector, she repeatedly saw that companies could both fill a social need and deliver market returns. At Accion, she brings commercial discipline to companies that can change the course of people’s lives for the better and works to attract the funds and attention impact investing needs to thrive. For those who want to follow in her footsteps, she recommends making sound investments that show market returns while making an impact and also establishing concrete metrics so you can measure that impact. She also emphasizes the importance of taking the work seriously: “Impact investing should have the same level of discipline, if not more, as all investing — which will attract more investors to impact.”
&nbsp;
Keep following this series to learn about more inspiring women in leadership who are breaking barriers and building a more inclusive financial system. If you missed part one of the series, <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://www.accion.org/meet-women-leading-way-inclusive-financial-future-part-one/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">read it now.</a>
<a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://emarketing.accion.org/page/s/get-updates" target="_blank" rel="nofollow nofollow nofollow nofollow nofollow nofollow nofollow noopener noreferrer">Subscribe to our newsletter</a> to receive stories, podcasts, updates on new Accion initiatives, and more.

Meet the women leading the way to an inclusive future — part two

At Accion, we’re proud to have a diverse team leading the charge as we work to tackle the problem of financial exclusion around the world.
To highlight some of the women working behind the scenes to build a more inclusive and prosperous world, we’re releasing a blog series on <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://www.accion.org/meet-women-leading-way-inclusive-financial-future-part-one/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the women of Accion and our partners</a>.
Here are a few of the leaders we’re proud to work with:

<h3 class="graf graf--p">Monica Brand Engel, Partner, Quona Capital</h3>
<img class="alignleft wp-image-8205" src="http://blogs.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/monica-photo_blog-768x1024.jpg" alt="Monica Brand of Quona Capital is one of the women working in financial inclusion for Accion and our partners" width="450" height="600" />“I’m half-Peruvian, and my multi-ethnic, multi-denominational upbringing instilled in me a deep appreciation of the threads in our society that sometimes get overlooked,” says Monica Brand. She’s worked in financial inclusion for her entire career because she views it as “a powerful way to give agency to those who have been marginalized or underserved and provide tools for them to meaningfully improve their lives.” She’s also a pragmatist who believes deeply in the power of markets to generate change. These beliefs have been a driving force for her throughout her career. Before co-founding <a href="https://quona.com/">Quona Capital</a>, Monica was the founder and managing director of Accion’s Frontier Investments Group, supporting inclusive financial companies as they grow and become more established. For Monica, being a strong leader has been about weaving together seemingly disparate threads — like her work in inclusion. Early in her career, she found that leadership traits that are often characterized as “masculine” — being assertive, outspoken, confident, logical — made her successful. But as she’s advanced professionally, she sees that her traits that may be labeled as “feminine” — empathy, patience, vulnerability, intuition — are most critical to her success as a leader. For women who want to lead the charge and make an impact, she offers this advice: “Look for mentors whose leadership style you respect, and spend time introspectively finding your own voice and special super power(s).”

<h3 class="graf graf--p">Sharlene Brown, Executive Director, Partnership for Responsible Financial Inclusion</h3>
<img class="alignnone wp-image-8206" src="http://blogs.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/SB-in-Uganda2_blog-1024x768.jpg" alt="Sharlene Brown of the Partnership for Responsible Financial Inclusion is one of the women working in financial inclusion for Accion and our partners" width="800" height="600" />Sharlene Brown’s journey, and that of her mother, sisters, and grandmother, remind her every day what women and their families can achieve when a woman gains access to work, health care, education, and other opportunities. Born in Jamaica and raised in New York, Sharlene knows women “back home” who continue to struggle to find regular employment, pay school fees, and have access to running water. “My commitment to financial inclusion is because of my very personal knowledge of these realities — be it in Jamaica or elsewhere,” Sharlene says. She believes that other women who want to take the lead and make a difference can find strength in numbers: “Learn to network early in your career, build quality relationships, and find a good mentor.”

<h3 class="graf graf--p">Katharine Budd, Co-Founder, NOW Money</h3>
<img class="alignnone wp-image-8207" src="http://blogs.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/katbudd_blog-1024x768.jpg" alt="Katharine Budd of NOW Money is one of the women working in financial inclusion for Accion and our partners" width="800" height="600" />Katharine Budd is a problem solver. When she was working in consumer finance in the Gulf, she saw how few people were able to access formal financial services in an area where 7 in 10 residents earn less than $1,000 a month. However, since 98 percent of people carry smartphones, Katharine also saw a solution. She co-founded <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://nowmoney.me/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">NOW Money</a> in hopes that the digital platform would give people the opportunity to manage their money. Customers can operate their account from a smartphone to <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://www.accion.org/invested-in-now-money/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">remit money overseas</a>, as well as buy phone credit and pay bills. One key factor in NOW Money’s success is its diverse team. “The NOW Money team is small, but spans six nationalities and seven languages,” says Katharine. Without a single dominant group, there’s less likelihood of particular cultural biases or traits establishing themselves in the company, she says, and instead, employees can focus on building the company’s own personality.

<h3 class="graf graf--p">Amee Parbhoo, Director of Investments, Accion Venture Lab</h3>
<img class="alignleft wp-image-8208" src="http://blogs.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/amee_blog-768x1024.jpg" alt="Amee Parbhoo of Accion Venture Lab is one of the women working in financial inclusion for Accion and our partners" width="450" height="600" />Tech is transforming our world, and Amee Parbhoo works to harness that power for good. “I have worked with fintech for inclusion startups in India, Kenya, and the US and discovered that the only way we could truly scale financial inclusion is by leveraging technology,” she says. Amee’s always had an interest in companies that can help the world’s poor and turn a profit, which is why she decided to work with early-stage financial inclusion companies. She knew these companies could provide underserved communities with the financial tools and stability that would let people take control of their own lives and support themselves, their families, and their businesses. When faced with the question of how companies can tackle financial exclusion at scale, Amee saw that fintech could provide an answer. Today, Amee channels her passion for fintech and social innovation into her role supporting Accion Venture Lab’s investments globally, leading deal activity and governance in Africa, and managing new projects, including the <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://www.accion.org/extraordinary-people-needed-start-a-tech-company-to-bring-financial-services-to-all-nigerians/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Company Builder</a> initiative. In this position, she gets to know the fintech startup landscape all around the world — knowledge she can use to predict the coming <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://www.accion.org/7-fintech-trends-to-watch-in-2018/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">trends in fintech for inclusion</a>. One unfortunate trend she’s noticed? “There are far too few women in fintech for inclusion, and we need more entrepreneurs who understand the needs of customers and who are looking to build the next generation of innovations.” But she’s working to help close this gender gap and always seeking out woman-led companies. To the female entrepreneurs who dream of making an impact, she offers this simple advice: “Take the leap and start something!”
Read <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://www.accion.org/meet-women-leading-way-inclusive-financial-future-part-one/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">part one</a> and <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://www.accion.org/women-in-leadership-inclusive-financial-future%e2%80%8a-%e2%80%8apart-two/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">part two</a> to learn about more inspiring women working in financial inclusion who are breaking barriers and building a more inclusive financial system.
<a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://emarketing.accion.org/page/s/get-updates" target="_blank" rel="nofollow nofollow nofollow noopener noreferrer">Subscribe to our newsletter</a> to receive stories, podcasts, updates on new Accion initiatives, and more.

Meet the women leading the way to an inclusive future — part three

At Accion, we’re proud to have a diverse team leading the charge as we work to tackle the problem of financial exclusion around the world.

To highlight some of the women working behind the scenes to build a more inclusive and prosperous world, we’re releasing a blog series on <a href="http://www.accion.org/meet-women-leading-way-inclusive-financial-future-part-one/">the women of Accion and our partners</a>.

Here are a few of the leaders we’re proud to work with:
<h3>Maria Alejandra Gonzalez, Head of Growth, Tienda Pago</h3>
<img class="size-full wp-image-8227 alignnone" src="http://blogs.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/TIENDA-PAGO-27.jpg" alt="Maria Alejandra Gonzalez, Head of Growth, Tienda Pago" width="600" height="450" />

In her role at <a href="http://www.tiendapago.com/en/">Tienda Pago</a>, Maria Alejandra Gonzalez makes it her mission to improve small retailers' lives through <a href="http://www.accion.org/technology-helps-fund-small-businesses-latin-america/">innovative financial solutions</a> in Mexico and Peru. She has seen firsthand how access to financial services can provide social mobility and opportunities. “Fintech for inclusion has allowed me to combine my two passions: creating solutions centered on a deep understanding of users' needs and context, and truly impacting peoples' quality of life,” says Maria Alejandra. This is true at Tienda Pago, where she works on designing and delivering products and experiences that make it easier for shop owners to keep their shelves stocked and support their families. It's not always easy to make a lasting impact in your career, but Maria Alejandra offers up a three-step plan to get started: “Identify what type of problem you want to help solve, find a team that is equally passionate about solving it, and get to it!”

 
<h3>Sonja Kelly, Director of Research, The Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion</h3>
<img class="alignleft wp-image-8228 size-full" src="http://blogs.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/fullsizeoutput_123-color-blog.jpg" alt="Sonja Kelly, Director of Research, The Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion" width="450" height="600" />

Sonja Kelly was inspired to make finance work better for low-income people by her first job after college. While traveling the world showcasing the work of microfinance to donors and investors, Sonja was moved by the care that these financial institutions had for their customers. Several jobs and one Ph.D. later, Sonja says, “I’m still driven by this desire to improve the ability of financial institutions to make products work better for clients—bettering their lives.” Working on financial health at <a href="http://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/">the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion</a> has given her a renewed focus on how financial products affect customers’ lives. She wants to make sure people can be more resilient and able to take advantage of opportunities. She believes anyone can join her in <a href="http://www.accion.org/why-we-care-about-the-sdgs-and-what-were-doing-about-it/">building a financially inclusive world</a> if they play to their strengths. “Make sure you bring something to the table,” says Sonja. “We need thoughtful global citizens, yes, but we also need people who understand risk modeling or complex data analysis or crafting a business case. Developing your expertise will help you to succeed beyond the limits of optimism and enthusiasm.”

&nbsp;
<h3>Peace Osangir, COO, Kopo Kopo</h3>
<img class="size-full wp-image-8229 alignleft" src="http://blogs.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Peace-Headshot-blog.jpg" alt="Peace Osangir, COO, Kopo Kopo" width="450" height="600" />

“Every day you are presented with opportunities to make a difference. Every hurdle that you encounter is a call to step up and be counted,” says Peace Osangir. For women who want to make an impact, she recommends embracing each challenge: “use it as an inspiration to develop practical solutions from your unique perspective as a woman.” As Chief Operating Officer of <a href="http://kopokopo.co.ke/">Kopo Kopo</a>, she knows all about challenges and impact. Kopo Kopo makes it easier for <a href="http://www.accion.org/kopo-kopo-mobile-money-kenya/">small businesses to accept mobile money</a> from customers to purchase goods and services in Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda. Peace initially stumbled into the fintech for inclusion space through her work in big data analytics. She gained an appreciation for financial inclusion because she saw the power of data and technology to serve the unbanked and underbanked populations in Kenya and Tanzania. And she realized that once people were economically empowered, they could build a better future for themselves, their communities, and even their countries. Understanding this potential inspired Peace to seek more opportunities that would go beyond financial inclusion at an individual level to economic inclusion at a business level. The effects of her work at Kopo Kopo inspire her to keep pushing forward: “The success stories that I continue to hear every day from our customers give me the assurance that I am making a difference in my small sphere of influence and continue to motivate me to innovate in this space.”

&nbsp;
<h3>Victoria White, Managing Director, Global Advisory Solutions at Accion</h3>
<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8230" src="http://blogs.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/IMG_4341-blog.jpg" alt="Victoria White, Managing Director, Global Advisory Solutions at Accion " width="600" height="450" />

Victoria White first became familiar with the barriers women face in accessing financial services during a grad school internship with the US State Department in Benin. She spent a good part of that summer talking to women business owners in Cotonou, which opened her eyes to the innovative models that could help serve people who had no access to formal financial services. That experience was pivotal to Victoria, stimulating an interest in microcredit and its potential to provide opportunity to families and communities, which ultimately led her to her work with Accion. Today, she serves as a member of Accion’s senior management team and holds responsibility for overseeing our advisory support to our partners throughout Asia, Africa, and Latin America. She also serves as a board director for a number of these partner institutions. For women who strive to be leaders in financial inclusion, Victoria says, “go big now. Don’t be afraid to take risks to make a difference in whatever area you find your passion.” She also stresses the importance of understanding your strengths and finding the right fit for you. “Impact can be made in so many different ways. What I find so stimulating about the financial inclusion industry today is that it draws from so many different areas of expertise,” she says. “The industry is open to so many different entry points, so many perspectives, and so many paths. Be intentional in charting your own, unique path. There are so many different combinations of passion, talent, and capability that are needed to build a better world, through financial services and beyond.”

&nbsp;

Read <a href="http://www.accion.org/meet-women-leading-way-inclusive-financial-future-part-one/">part one</a>, <a href="http://www.accion.org/women-in-leadership-inclusive-financial-future%e2%80%8a-%e2%80%8apart-two/">part two</a>, and <a href="http://www.accion.org/women-working-in-financial-inclusion-part-three/">part three</a> to learn about more inspiring women who are breaking barriers and building a more inclusive financial system.

Meet the women leading the way to an inclusive future — part four

At Accion, we’re proud to have a diverse team leading the charge as we work to tackle the problem of financial exclusion around the world.

To highlight some of the women leaders working behind the scenes to build a more inclusive and prosperous world, we’re releasing a blog series on <a href="http://www.accion.org/meet-women-leading-way-inclusive-financial-future-part-one/">the women of Accion and our partners</a>.

Here are a few of the leaders we’re proud to work with:
<h3>Isabelle Barrès, Global Director, Smart Campaign</h3>
<img class="alignleft wp-image-8245 size-full" src="http://blogs.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Isabelle-Barres.jpg" alt="Women Leaders: Isabelle Barrès, Global Director, Smart Campaign" width="500" height="500" />Isabelle Barrès always knew she wanted to have a career with a social purpose. She decided to work in international development because of the urgent need to eliminate global poverty. Eventually, her career path led her to financial inclusion, and she’s spent the past two decades tackling the issue from various angles. In her role at the <a href="https://www.smartcampaign.org/">Smart Campaign</a>, she works with a wide range of actors to ensure that inclusive financial services are delivered responsibly and add value for consumers. “Financial inclusion is not about merely providing access to financial services or even making sure that these services are used. It is about having a positive impact on people’s lives, improving their financial health, and opening opportunities that they would otherwise not have had,” says Isabelle. She offers this advice to those who want to dedicate their lives to making a positive change in the world: “Do not be afraid to get out of your comfort zone. Be willing to revisit and test your assumptions. Don’t be wedded to one approach or perspective but always be open to learning from as many different people as possible. Reducing poverty is a complex issue that will require a wide range of innovative solutions and a lot of collaboration, both within the financial inclusion sector and with other sectors.” Isabelle adds, “Make sure that in your busy life you keep some space to think and reflect!”

&nbsp;
<h3>Gowri Mukherjee, Co-Founder and CMO, CreditMantri</h3>
<img class="alignleft wp-image-8244 size-full" src="http://blogs.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Screen-Shot-2018-03-14-at-3.49.40-PM.jpg" alt="Women Leaders: Gowri Mukherjee, Co-Founder and CMO, CreditMantri" width="500" height="500" />“Be sincere, work hard, learn continuously, challenge yourself and the status-quo, and you’ll definitely see the impact,” says Gowri Mukherjee. Trust her — she knows all about making an impact. Gowri co-founded <a href="https://www.creditmantri.com/">CreditMantri</a> to help people learn about their credit scores and improve their financial health. In India, access to credit is crucial for lifting people out of poverty and offering them stability and a chance to thrive. “Seeing that many lack awareness of even what a credit report looks like, I felt there was a huge opportunity to make a difference,” says Gowri. CreditMantri uses an automated web platform and call center to help consumers easily access their credit reports, understand their credit scores, improve their creditworthiness, restructure outstanding debt, and get access to relevant products and services from lenders and financial institutions. With this accessible approach, CreditMantri has been able to serve more than 5 million customers, giving them a chance to build a better credit score and a better life.

&nbsp;
<h3>Amy Stewart, Manager, Global Advisory Solutions at Accion </h3>
<img class="alignleft wp-image-11215 size-full" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/IMG_2925_blog.jpg" alt="" width="480" height="480" />

“Financial inclusion isn’t charity — it’s fixing something that’s broken,” says Amy Stewart. “Well-designed financial systems can and should sustainably serve people across the economic spectrum — providing them with the tools they need to live their lives.” Low-cost digital tools are helping to realize this vision, and in her role at Accion, Amy is helping financial service providers across the globe tap into the power of digitization to reach more people than ever before. In addition to her advisory role, she helps translate insights from our advisory work into knowledge products and strategies. The resources that she develops, like our upcoming <a href="http://www.accion.org/rapidly-changing-landscape-digital-lending/">digital lending</a> guide, support our partner institutions and inform the industry. Amy’s also interested in guiding future leaders who want their career to promote social good. “Be open to experiences, people, and opportunities that you may not have considered — the path to impact isn’t linear,’ she says. “Proactively actively seek opportunities to gain new experience and improve the status quo. Don’t be afraid to speak up and ask why things are done a certain way.”

Read <a href="http://www.accion.org/meet-women-leading-way-inclusive-financial-future-part-one/">part one</a>, <a href="http://www.accion.org/women-in-leadership-inclusive-financial-future%e2%80%8a-%e2%80%8apart-two/">part two</a>, <a href="http://www.accion.org/women-working-in-financial-inclusion-part-three/">part three</a>, and <a href="http://www.accion.org/meet-the-women-leading-the-way-to-an-inclusive-future-part-four/">part four</a> to learn about more inspiring women leaders who are breaking barriers and building a more inclusive financial system.
<a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://emarketing.accion.org/page/s/get-updates" target="_blank" rel="nofollow nofollow nofollow nofollow nofollow nofollow nofollow noopener noreferrer">Subscribe to our newsletter</a> to receive stories, podcasts, updates on new Accion initiatives, and more.

Meet the women leading the way to an inclusive future — part five

Influential women of financial inclusion

Microfinance vs. financial inclusion: what’s the difference?

https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/what-is-financial-capability

What is financial capability?

Report

<h3>Executive Summary</h3>
Supply chain finance (SCF) offers high-quality, low-risk financing to the small merchants that tend to be underserved by traditional lenders. These microentrepreneurs often lack the credit data traditional lenders need and are seen as too costly to serve at scale. SCF leverages data generated by businesses when they buy from suppliers and sell to customers, using this information to evaluate the creditworthiness of small merchants. It is a useful tool to expand financial inclusion for the 141 million microenterprises in developing countries and to promote inclusive economic growth globally.  

SCF benefits merchants with timely access to credit; it also benefits merchants, suppliers, and fast-moving consumer goods companies (FMCGs) with higher sales, faster turnover, and more efficient operations. Lenders benefit as well: SCF reduces risk and costs, allowing financial service providers (FSPs) to cater to new markets.

We believe that platform-based models, those that consolidate data produced by the movement of money and goods in the supply chain, are best suited to deliver SCF. Platform-based SCF models can satisfy the interdependent needs of multiple stakeholders simultaneously and facilitate coordinated decision-making. FSPs and FMCGs are well positioned to develop SCF platforms. 

This brief discusses how SCF platforms can help small merchants, FMCGs, suppliers, and FSPs realize their economic potential. For institutions interested in developing an SCF solution, access our recent in-depth guide and playbook, <a href="https://www.accion.org/how-digitized-supply-chain-finance-can-help-small-merchants-grow/">How digitized supply chain finance can help small merchants grow.</a>

&nbsp;

Small merchants such as grocery shops, corner stores, and other micro-retailers employ <a href="https://www.smefinanceforum.org/sites/default/files/analysis%20note.pdf">more than half</a> of the world’s labor force and contribute significantly to global GDP. These merchants rely on personal savings, family and friends, and sometimes personal credit to meet cash flow needs, but collectively these businesses face an <a href="https://www.smefinanceforum.org/sites/default/files/Data%20Sites%20downloads/MSME%20Report.pdf">$8.1 trillion credit gap</a>, creating a significant barrier to inclusive growth.  This global credit gap is almost entirely a supply-side problem, as micro, small, and medium entrepreneurs’ (MSMEs’) demand for financing is significant. Serving this market is challenging for lenders. Small merchants have little to no business documentation, are often unable to provide high-quality collateral, operate primarily in cash, and require loan sizes that are not always worth the operational cost of serving them, making it difficult to assess credit risk and sustainably offer products that meet small merchants’ needs.

By addressing this problem and helping MSMEs obtain the financing they need when they need it, we help microentrepreneurs restock their shelves, expand operations, and hire more employees. By addressing this credit gap, we can help more people around the world realize their economic potential.

The supply chain finance opportunity

Digital technology continues to drive massive change throughout the financial sector. Acting strategically, inclusive fintech startups can use technology to increase access to, improve the quality of, or reduce the cost of financial services for the underserved.

However, in too many instances, fintech startups make the same mistake time and again: they build technology for technology’s sake. These fintech models are great on paper but don’t consider the needs and preferences of their customers. They do not use new technologies strategically and fail to transform finance into a sector that works for everyone.

Fortunately, a number of successful inclusive startups are finding innovative ways to balance new digital technologies with appropriate human interactions to engage, educate, and support their customers. Finding the right combination of “tech and touch” at the right moments during a customer’s journey is a key factor in determining whether a startup succeeds or fails. Doing so will help a business acquire and retain customers, reduce expenses, increase profitability, and accelerate financial inclusion.

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

<img class="size-full wp-image-10267 alignleft" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/MCF.png" alt="" width="225" height="225" />

This report was developed with the support of The Mastercard Foundation, which seeks a world where everyone has the opportunity to learn and prosper. The Foundation’s work is guided by its mission to advance learning and promote financial inclusion for people living in poverty. One of the largest foundations in the world, it works almost exclusively in Africa. It was created in 2006 by Mastercard International and operates independently under the governance of its own Board of Directors. The Foundation is based in Toronto, Canada. For more information and to sign up for updates from the Foundation, please visit <a href="http://www.mastercardfdn.org">http://www.mastercardfdn.org</a>. Follow the Foundation <a href="https://twitter.com/mastercardfdn?lang=en">@MastercardFdn</a> on Twitter.

The Tech Touch Balance

Digital lending can be a powerful force for financial inclusion. Innovations in digital lending are enabling financial service providers to offer better products to more underserved clients in faster, more cost-efficient, and engaging ways. This Accion Insights paper addresses common concerns, shares insights into new trends shaping digital lending, and distills emerging best practices into a framework that FSPs can use to implement digital lending today. Collectively, these steps are intended to help FSPs plan strategically to navigate the new and rapidly changing landscape of digital lending.

<img class="size-full wp-image-10267 alignleft" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Citi-Foundation.png" alt="" width="225" height="225" />

Accion’s Global Advisory Solutions team developed this report with the support of the Citi Foundation.

Demystifying Digital Lending

While access to financial services has steadily increased, three billion people are underserved by the world’s financial sector, with limited or no access to quality savings, credit, insurance, and payments. This Accion Insights paper sets out to help providers begin to address these complex challenges by providing a case for change and outlining the initial strategic and tactical steps a financial service provider can take to first assess and then enhance its data capability. This guide breaks down the multiple components required for a financial service provider to strengthen its data capabilities, while referencing the growing number of specific use cases for data-driven innovations in fostering a financially inclusive world.

Accion’s Global Advisory Solutions team developed this report with the support of the Citi Foundation.

Unlocking the Promise of Big Data to Promote Financial Inclusion

Micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) constitute the foundation of the global economy – from New York to Lagos to Jakarta. While the range of their activities spans the spectrum of agriculture, manufacturing, and services, all MSMEs face the same challenge in finding the money they need to hire new employees, purchase inventory, or upgrade their equipment in order to grow. This Accion Insights paper explores how innovative, tech-enabled lenders are using niche marketing, digital or mobile platforms, and enterprising partnerships – and often a combination of all three – to make financing available to underserved MSMEs. Informed by its investments and work with more than a dozen fintech start-ups in the MSME finance space, Accion Venture Lab charts a course for investors, regulators, microfinance institutions, and entrepreneurs to seize today’s opportunity to close the gap.

Venture Lab developed this report with the support of the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth.

Bridging the Small Business Credit Gap Through Innovative Lending

Accion Insights

Financial inclusion basics

The Center for Financial Inclusion is an action-oriented think tank advancing financial inclusion through powerful thought leadership.

Our thought leadership challenges and engages the industry, its leaders, and its regulators to achieve a financially inclusive world. 

María Belén Garrett

CÍVICO is helping micro, small, and medium enterprises innovate so traditional family businesses can succeed in a changing world

Oversubscribed round co-led by EV Growth and Quona Capital

Megan Peterson

Accion Microfinance Bank helped this entrepreneur succeed in Nigeria

Vikas Raj

Displaced people still need financial services, and startup-led innovation in inclusive finance can help

Jacqueline Foelster

People choose to use euros instead of local currency to protect wealth and hedge against risks of exchange rate depreciation —  something that’s a relatively recent bad memory in Serbia. Many of our interviewees recall the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/09/world/isolated-and-corrupt-serbia-s-economy-stagnates.html">hyperinflation</a> that plagued the economy in the early- to mid-1990s around the dissolution of the Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia. At the peak of Yugoslavia’s hyperinflation, <a href="https://www.vice.com/sv/article/4w38wq/poorest-billionaires-serbia-876">500,000,000 dinars bought a loaf of bread</a>. Several of our interviewees recognized that some of their attitudes toward money might be rooted in the past. And while current realities suggest that the dinar is stable today, risk aversion may be the more prudent course.
<h2>Euros are for saving — dinars are for spending</h2>
Our interviews revealed several insights, particularly around operating in multiple currencies. First, people form mental constructs about the purpose and use of each currency. For the farmer, and several other of our interviewees, euros are for saving, and dinars are for spending. People perceive euros as more stable, and depositing the euros in a bank account or any other formal or informal savings instrument may remove the temptation to spend them If these constructs hold, it could mean that individuals who receive most of their cash in dinars may spend their money more quickly than their peers who rely more on euros.
Our interviews also highlighted the need to manage liquidity properly, which is more complicated in two currencies. The shop owner we spoke with uses euros to pay for her inventory, but she also needs to ensure that her till is stocked with dinars so that she is ready to accept customer payments in both currencies.
Perhaps most important, our field research also confirmed that the risks involved in using multiple currencies, such as borrowing in one currency while operating in another, are a significant consideration when it comes to building financial health. Financial institutions, which have offered loans in a hard currency to people operating primarily in a soft local currency, have often exported currency risk to clients who are not well positioned to handle it. And they have suffered along with their customers when devaluations made it too costly for customers to repay hard-currency loans.
<h2>Next steps in our financial health project </h2>
As we start to develop a digital tool that clients can use to understand their financial health better, one challenge is making sure it accounts for the particular financial behaviors and cognitive biases of a dual-currency system. In addition to brainstorming ideas for behavioral nudges, we need to consider the tool’s user interface, i.e., for our target users in Serbia, are we going to express the value of money in terms of dinars or euros — or both?
We’re excited to put the insights we gained in Serbia to the test and use a customer-centered approach to designing and developing a new solution to help customers build their financial health. Keep an eye on the <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/blog">CFI Blog</a> for an update when we’re done prototyping in a couple of months!
We’ll continue to share insights on financial capability based on research conducted by the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion (CFI) and Accion’s Global Advisory Solutions (GLAS) as part of our project on <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/about/what-we-do/building-financial-capabilities-and-strengthening-institutions-through-customer-centered-innovations/">Building Financial Capabilities and Strengthening Institutions through Customer-Centered Innovations project</a>, supported by MetLife Foundation.
This post was originally published on <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/dinars-vs-euros-financial-health-and-the-multiple-currency-dynamic">the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion blog</a>.

Currency is one issue that will inform prototyping of a financial health digital tool for Serbia and other countries in Eastern Europe

Yanina Seltzer

Pablo Anton-Diaz

Expanding financial capability benefits financial service providers and customers

Alex Taylor

The Smart Campaign and Accion’s Global Advisory Solutions team up to build a digital monitoring tool for Sa-Dhan, the largest network of microfinance institutions in India

Customer research offers insights into the drop in financial product usage in Mexico

Sonja Kelly

Elisabeth Rhyne

The Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion’s wish list for financial inclusion progress

Part of Accion’s series highlighting women working in financial inclusion

Part of Accion’s series highlighting the women working in financial inclusion

Prateek Shrivastava

Priya Punatar

Scott Stefanski

Tech-enabled lenders are closing the MSME credit gap

Emerging <a href="https://www.accion.org/rapidly-changing-landscape-digital-lending">innovative digital lenders</a> are using alternative sources of data to offer a viable solution to address the merchant financing gap.  Their models are delivering higher-quality, faster, and more convenient finance to small merchants. These lenders connect with and understand their MSME clients in ways that allow them to better assess risk and manage cost.
One way that some new lenders are gaining better insights into this client base is by leveraging the existing relationships between merchants and their suppliers. Inventory suppliers who already know merchants well can provide valuable data, like inventory purchases, goods sold, and payments made, that FSPs can use to quickly assess merchants’ creditworthiness to get them credit when needed. These relationships form the basis of SCF.
This new way of assessing MSMEs’ creditworthiness follows on the success of e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Alibaba, which have been providing credit to small merchants for several years and demonstrate the significant market opportunity of creating an SCF solution. Ant Financial and MYBank, both affiliates of Alibaba, have used digital payment transaction data to underwrite more than <a href="https://www.betterthancash.org/tools-research/reports/igniting-sdg-progress-through-digital-financial-inclusion">$70 billion in cumulative loans</a> to 5 million small businesses, microenterprises, and entrepreneurs. This lending market has grown so rapidly due in large part to technological advances like cloud services, new data footprints, and e-invoicing, which allow lenders to quickly and accurately assess merchants’ creditworthiness.

SCF leverages relationships and data flows

SCF leverages commitments in the form of payables and receivables as well as data generated by the movement of goods along the supply chain to provide merchants with just-in-time credit. Lenders use SCF to finance inventory purchases, alleviating the financial bottlenecks that occur due to the delay between the acquisition of inventory and its sale.  This reduces risks for the lender because they know exactly how the credit is being used. To enable SCF, it is important to have an integrated approach with four key actors: the merchant, the FMCG company, their supplier, and the FSP. Each of these plays a critical role in exchanging inventory management and financial transaction data that can be used to underwrite financing for the merchant.
Platform models (such as Amazon, Alibaba and others) have created the digital infrastructure that enables all participants to interact with each other; these models are particularly well-suited to provide SCF services, as they facilitate the sharing of timely information and coordinated decision-making that enables merchant financing and ultimately closes the MSME financing gap.
Several innovative lenders are already using platform models to identify, assess, serve, and support small merchants, including Jaza Duka, Sokowatch, and Tienda Pago. While all of these are providing SCF, they use different strategies: each relies on different types of partnerships, varying degrees of mobile tech, and their proprietary algorithms for credit scoring. Each of these solutions free merchants from the constraint of needing cash on hand to purchase inventory, which ultimately allows them to sell more and increase their revenue over time.
Jaza Duka, Sokowatch, and Tienda Pago are making strides as viable alternatives to the traditional lenders that have been unable to cater to small businesses cost-effectively. Their success has helped MSMEs benefit from the formal financial sector.

Strategic partnerships use data to optimize sales

Jaza Duka is currently a partnership between Unilever, Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB), and Mastercard. The platform tracks how much Unilever product a store owner has purchased over time and combines that data with a credit analysis by Mastercard; KCB then receives that score and can use it to provide an interest-free credit line for the merchant to buy more Unilever products.

E-commerce facilitates same-day inventory deliveries

Sokowatch aims to provide informal retailers with the power of e-commerce through mobile ordering of goods. By aggregating merchants’ demand for FMCG products, Sokowatch increases suppliers’ efficiency when fulfilling merchants’ orders. By leveraging historic purchasing data, the company provides merchants in Kenya and Tanzania with a ‘pay later’ option to keep products they want in stock. Merchants order goods using a mobile phone-based inventory management system and receive same-day deliveries from Sokowatch drivers.

Distributor relationships enable access to capital  

Tienda Pago leverages relationships between FMCGs and small merchants across Peru and Mexico to inform its vetting process. It applies a proprietary screening algorithm across transaction and supply chain data to generate a credit score for each MSME retailer. Their mobile-based platform model not only helps close a funding gap for small stores but also enables distributors to increase their operational efficiency by reducing cash handling.

There are incentives for all actors to use SCF

FMCGs benefit from SCF through greater sales, since merchants can use financing to place larger orders. They also benefit from increased visibility into merchants’ sales, inventory levels, and demand at the end of the supply chain when an inventory ordering system is used. This information enables more accurate demand forecasting and more efficient distribution of goods.
SCF also offers an attractive proposition to the suppliers that deliver to merchants. When merchants purchase greater quantities of inventory, it ultimately increases suppliers’ sales. While suppliers may offer merchants credit themselves, this is not part of their core business, and they face significant risk in collecting cash and managing delinquency. Usually, suppliers are more than willing to pass on the provision of credit to another party. Ultimately, being part of an SCF solution will free up a supplier’s working capital for investment.
Similarly, SCF enables FSPs to use data collected from small merchants’ transactions along the supply chain to streamline underwriting and create new technology-enabled and data-driven products and services. Merchants benefit from SCF in many ways:
<ul>
<li>A customized, low-cost credit line, available based on order activity and payment history</li>
<li>Freedom from cash limitations when buying inventory, which can lead to:
<ul>
<li>Diversified product offerings</li>
<li>Fewer instances of out-of-stock inventory</li>
<li>Increased market share</li>
<li>Increased revenue</li>
<li>Increased customer loyalty</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Deeper relationships with suppliers, resulting in preferred selection and inventory pricing</li>
<li>Over time, merchants may develop formal credit histories that allow them to access more credit</li>
</ul>
Given that so much of the world’s economic and trade activity is driven by small merchants, an SCF solution that brings down the cost of financing and meets their needs will help promote sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth.

Partnerships are key to providing SCF

Unlike direct lending, SCF demands effective collaboration and data sharing among multiple actors to ensure the sustainability and scalability of the solution. Suppliers must maintain close relationships with small merchants to understand merchants’ ability to sell. Small merchants need to offer proof of purchase and inventory demand so FSPs can conduct underwriting and approve the SCF credit. The success of the arrangement also hinges on the FSP’s relationship with the supplier, as the supplier will provide the FSPs with the merchant’s purchase and repayment history.  When all parties work together collaboratively, the result is an integrated approach that drives adoption and usage of financial services, and therefore meaningful financial inclusion.

A clear value proposition for merchants is needed

The success of an SCF solution is largely dependent on whether the product is easy to use, affordable, and accessible to merchants. SCF providers will need to ensure that they build trust with merchants and meet them where they are, clearly explaining the product in a way that addresses any new requirements expected of the merchant.
To encourage the active usage of an SCF product, it should include suppliers of high-demand goods that are hard to substitute (such as the top local brands) and a growing catalog of products available to order. Strong FMCG product champions based on the ground, loyalty rewards, and discounts can help promote the solution. Value-add services, such as business education, financial tools, or supplemental financial products that can be tailored to merchant needs will also help incentivize continued use and ensure that an SCF solution is valuable to the merchant.

An integrated approach to developing a platform

Building a fully-operational and interoperable SCF platform will take time, but the key first steps are to strengthen internal knowledge and initial relationships for a successful SCF offering that can later open up platform possibilities.
Any actor in the supply chain can lead the development of a platform-based SCF solution; however, FSPs and FMCGs are particularly well positioned to do so.  Regardless of who takes a lead in developing an SCF platform, it is important to align incentives for all actors to take part in the supply chain solution.
FSPs have an incentive to lead, as SCF creates an opportunity to reach a new segment with a new product line. Since FSPs are not involved in the movement of goods within the supply chain and are only involved in providing financing to the merchant, they are also well-positioned to play the impartial role needed to aggregate competing FMCGs, suppliers, and merchants.

Key steps an FSP can take to get started

<ul>
<li>Begin building a network: Build relationships with influential supply chain actors. This could be done by taking on any debt owed to suppliers from merchants in exchange for knowledge of the distribution network.</li>
<li>Build a risk model: Leverage relationships with influential supply chain actors to vet initial financing candidates, and use the data collected to further build the credit methodology.</li>
<li>Consider disbursement, repayment, and collections: Assess payment network options available for repayment, and assess value to suppliers for performing collections on their behalf.</li>
</ul>
FMCGs are also well-positioned to lead an SCF platform. They typically own and manage inventory management systems that can collect data throughout the supply chain. FMCGs have an incentive to improve supply chain stability and increase their sales and turnover

Key steps an FMCG can take to get started

<ul>
<li>Begin building a network: Implement an inventory management system that is flexible enough to enable delivery drivers to record sales and delivery transactions.</li>
<li>Partner with an FSP for a credit product: Build a relationship with an FSP that can develop a risk model based on delivery receipts or invoices, and link the inventory management system with the FSP systems.</li>
<li>Consider disbursement, repayment, and collections: Assess payment network options available for repayment, and work with the FSP to enable digital disbursement of funds.</li>
</ul>
Regardless of which actor takes the lead, it is important to get ‘the equation right’ between merchants and others along the supply chain in order to create a scalable and inclusive solution. Each merchant has unique needs, and understanding these needs is essential for the design, launch, and optimization of an SCF platform.

Common challenges to scaling an SCF solution

As more FMCGs, suppliers, FSPs, and merchants participate on the platform, the network effect will take hold, increasing the amount of available data that the scoring model can use to assess creditworthiness and improving the value to the merchant through greater diversity of goods and competitive pricing. While competitors may be hesitant to participate in a joint solution, there are benefits to cooperate in a platform, such as aggregating small merchant demand that may be too disbursed and costly for any one actor to undertake themselves.
To scale, an SCF solution must also manage the costs related to onboarding merchants; however, suppliers’ distribution networks should offset those costs. Likewise, managing default risk is a key competency requiring effective partnerships with FSPs.
Finally, customer delinquency and retention has been a challenge for existing SCF solutions, as many customers do not fully understand or trust new digital products. This has led to poor repayment rates and high percentages of inactive clients. Making SCF work for merchants requires a well-designed and clearly articulated value proposition.

SCF will support financial inclusion 

Ultimately, an SCF platform solution can collect formal digital sales records, track demand, and provide small merchants with the credit they need to keep their shelves stocked and grow their businesses. For the merchant, stable inventory levels and fewer instances of out-of-stock inventory will increase their reliability in the eyes of their end-customer.
SCF can be a useful tool to close the credit gap faced by small merchants. It can help many FSPs reach new or expanded customer segments with high-quality, low-risk financial services. With nearly <a href="https://www.smefinanceforum.org/sites/default/files/Data%20Sites%20downloads/MSME%20Report.pdf">141 million microenterprises</a> in developing countries, digitized SCF represents a scalable solution to drive inclusive growth throughout the world.
<a href="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/SCF-Deck.pdf">To learn more about SCF platforms, read Accion’s Global Advisory Solutions recent in-depth guide</a>, which illustrates the enormous potential that digitized SCF offers to small merchants. The guide articulates the advantages that FSPs, FMCGs, and their suppliers in emerging markets can expect when joining and participating in an integrated, more inclusive financial system. It also offers a ‘playbook’ for how an organization could get started, expanding on the critical first steps and key considerations outlined here.
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Citi-Foundation.png" width="240" height="162" />
Accion would like to thank the Citi Foundation for supporting this report. The Citi Foundation works to promote economic progress and improve the lives of people in low-income communities around the world. The Citi Foundation invests in efforts that increase financial inclusion, catalyze job opportunities for youth, and reimagine approaches to building economically vibrant cities.

Influence

Overview

Advocacy, collaboration, insights, research

We develop insights, advocate on behalf of clients, and collaborate with stakeholders to achieve a comprehensive vision for financial inclusion.