The elderly, young people, the homeless and casual workers are just some of the groups that might have a difficult time participating in the economy, the article notes. Some do not have the skills to use digital payments, do not have access to the internet, do not have a credit history or a fixed address:

A dependence on cash can be linked to the digital divide that exists in both rich and poor countries, said Mayada El-Zoghbi, managing director for the Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI), an independent U.S. think tank.

“A move to a cashless society will not benefit all groups equally. The groups that are most likely to be excluded will be women, rural communities, and the elderly,” she said.

Read the full article <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-banks-britain-trfn-idUSKBN23X0XE" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a>.

&nbsp;

Reuters Quotes Mayada El-Zoghbi on Going Cashless During the Pandemic

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&gt; Posted by Alexandra Rizzi, Deputy Director, the Smart Campaign

<a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/03/06/uk-britain-payday-lenders-idUKBRE9250EB20130306" target="_blank" rel="attachment wp-att-10283"><img class="size-medium wp-image-10283 alignright" style="border:0" alt="In London pedestrian walks past a payday lending shop that featuring potentially aggressive or misleading advertising. " src="http://centerforfinancialinclusionblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/download.jpg?w=300" width="300" height="194" /></a>

The Smart Campaign’s just wrapped up its <a href="http://smartcampaign.org/about-the-campaign/campaign-steering-committee" target="_blank">Steering Committee</a> meeting in Switzerland this week. This twice-a-year event is a wonderful opportunity to take stock of the Campaign’s accomplishments, goals, and challenges, and receive feedback from stakeholders who represent the global microfinance market. One of the issues that came up often during this meeting was the opportunity for interaction between the standard-setting work of the Smart Campaign and the policymakers and regulators involved in setting regulatory frameworks for client protection. The need for such interaction is particularly important in countries where client protection regulation for financial services is not yet well developed.

I was also reminded of the importance of a regulatory framework for client protection by <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/payday-lenders-have-12-weeks-to-clean-up-their-act-or-face-being-shut-down-says-office-of-fair-trading-8522302.html" target="_blank">news coming out of the U.K. today</a>. The U.K.’s Office of Fair Trading has cracked down on 50 of the biggest providers in the £2 billion pay-day lending market, giving them approximately 12 weeks to improve their practices or be closed. The Office of Fair Trade had been monitoring the payday lending market and found many problems, including:
<ul>
	<li>Failure to adequately assess the affordability of the loan for customers (<a href="http://smartcampaign.org/about-the-campaign/smart-microfinance-and-the-client-protection-principles" target="_blank">see the Client Protection Principle</a>, Avoiding Over-Indebtedness)</li>
	<li>Aggressive debt collections practices and lack of transparency in how repayments are collected (Client Protection Principle on Fair and Respectful Treatment of Clients)</li>
	<li>Advertising that lured customers into loans they could not afford (Client Protection Principle on Transparency)</li>
</ul>
The Smart Campaign has been developing guidance on good practices in each of these three areas. The Smart Campaign’s perspective is that providers can and should take affirmative responsibility to install responsible practices, and it assists in this process through capacity building, tools, and development of standards of practice. We are proud of our reach to date, resulting in thousands of organizations that are now aware of and actively improving their practices. However we realize that financial markets are complex, that microfinance providers are not the only financial organizations interacting with the poor, and that capacity building and standard setting needs to be complemented by a regulatory framework that creates an orderly marketplace that is safe for clients. The Campaign hopes to explore ways in 2013 that it can interact with regulators to exchange knowledge and viewpoints.

Back in the U.K., the Office of Fair Trade has proposed referring the pay-day lenders case to the Competition Commission, which can conduct a full investigation and potentially take more drastic actions to make the pay-day market function better and protect its customers. We’ll be sure to continue to follow this story as it develops.

Image Credit: <a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/03/06/uk-britain-payday-lenders-idUKBRE9250EB20130306" target="_blank">REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett</a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35489169@N05/3393922697/">
</a>

Have you read?

<a href="http://cfi-blog.org/2013/02/14/how-client-protection-certification-and-ratings-work-together/" target="_blank">How Client Protection Certifications and Ratings Work Together</a>

<a href="http://cfi-blog.org/2013/02/07/can-self-regulation-protect-microfinance-clients/" target="_blank">Can Self-Regulation Protect Microfinance Clients?</a>

<a href="http://cfi-blog.org/2012/11/28/our-woman-in-milan-observations-on-the-intersection-of-mobile-money-and-regulation/" target="_blank">Our Woman in Milan: Observations on the Intersection of Mobile Money and Regulation</a>

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[embed]https://soundcloud.com/accioninternational/there-is-much-more-empathy-across-the-globeanthemiss-vica-manos-1[/embed]

In episode five of <a href="https://www.accion.org/series/venturekast-rebuild" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">VentureKast: Rebuild</a>, Vica Manos, Partner at <a href="https://www.anthemis.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Anthemis</a>, explains that the collaboration of traditional banks and fintech startups during and after COVID-19 will foster “an equilibrium that really works for consumers.” Vica shares a holistic understanding of financial wellbeing focused on resilience and explains that we must back companies that promote positive customer behavior. Although a few aspects of how Vica and Anthemis operate have changed, their ability to support entrepreneurs and their theses around digital services have only been reinforced through the pandemic. The advantages of Anthemis' portfolio companies — like <a href="https://www.altbank.co/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Altbank</a>, which leverages a digital, distributed model, and <a href="https://abaka.me/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Abaka</a>, which enables digital infrastructure for financial institutions — are shining through now more than ever.

Unlike past recessions, Vica sees that the landscape for early-stage investing is burgeoning. The “data speaks for itself,” says Vica, who is proud to share that Anthemis has added eight new companies to their portfolio in the second quarter of 2020 alone. The long-term increase in demand for digital services, catalyzed by the COVID-19 crisis, has encouraged founders “to take the plunge and take the risk” to build scalable solutions to address customer challenges. In other words, says Vica, “the opportunity cost of not innovating, not inventing … has become way bigger.” Entrepreneurs are responding to this call to innovation. There will be “more opportunities that happen way faster," says Vica, adding that, "there is much more empathy across the globe and across industries because we are all in this together this time.”

Please join our host and co-Managing Director of <a href="https://www.accion.org/how-we-work/invest/accion-venture-lab" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Venture Lab</a> <a href="https://www.accion.org/bio/vikas-raj" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Vikas Raj</a> as he interviews industry leaders every Thursday about how COVID-19 is impacting their work.

"There is much more empathy across the globe" - Anthemis's Vica Manos

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[embed]https://vimeo.com/235368446[/embed]
<a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://aire.io/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Aire</a> is a London-based fintech company that augments the credit scores of “thin-file” customers — those with little or no credit history — so they can get unbiased access to loans, including mortgages and student loans. As Aire’s founder and CEO, Aneesh Varma, explains in this interview, the growing ranks of independent entrepreneurs, freelancers, and consultants often don’t fit a traditional lender’s desired profile, as they lack regular salary histories, for example. Says Varma, “As people’s lives change and they become self-employed, or freelancers and contractors, how are the financial services coping… and who’s helping create financial products for this new type… of work and style of life?” With Aire, a lender can collect additional information on an applicant using the online Aire “virtual interview” process, which will give a more complete account of creditworthiness.
A serial entrepreneur himself, Varma can relate to his target customer’s credit challenges. “I’ve been through that, and most of my team’s been through that,” he says. He’s counting on being ahead of the curve as he looks to the future. Speaking of the increasing workforce trend toward self-employment or, as some call it, the “gig economy,” he says, “I think it will take us 15 or 20 years as a society to realize this change has happened. But Aire is trying to make… inroads today so that when that change does happen, society’s ready… and we’re sort of caught up on it.”
This interview took place at the June 2017 <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://www.accion.org/inclusive-fintech-leaders-meet-to-accelerate-innovation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CEO Forum and Fintech for Inclusion Global Summit</a>, hosted by <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://www.accion.org/venturelab" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Accion Venture Lab</a>, <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://www.fmo.nl/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">FMO</a>, and <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://www.quona.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Quona Capital</a>.
Aire and Accion Venture Lab have partnered <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://www.accion.org/accion-venture-lab-to-empower-additional-creditworthy-consumers-through-investment-in-aire/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">since 2016</a>.
<a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://www.accion.org/aire-labs-alternative-credit-scoring-thin-file/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">For more from Aneesh Varma, listen to his 2016 interview on Accion Venture Lab’s VentureKast podcast.</a>

Aneesh Varma of Aire

South Africa is a global hub for fintech innovation. Accion supports and advises South African innovators using technology to help entrepreneurs expand their businesses and families protect their homes around the world.

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Capital raise led by the Accion Frontier Inclusion Fund – managed by Quona Capital – the first global fintech fund for the underserved
Johannesburg, South Africa – May 3, 2017 – AllLife, a South Africa-based company disrupting the life insurance space with life coverage for those living with HIV and diabetes, has announced the close of a funding round that will support the company’s expansion into innovative product lines and new geographies.
AllLife’s insurtech model uses algorithmic pricing, robo-underwriting (an automated assessment of applicants), and a health-centered approach to treatment adherence driven by behavioral economics, to extend insurance to those with chronic diseases. With clients’ agreement to a specific treatment plan, AllLife – through its proprietary underwriting algorithm – can offer immediate pricing, issue a policy, and manage risk through its continuous contact with the customer, including periodic tests to verify the treatment’s efficacy. The data generated enables accurate underwriting and algorithmic pricing, with high profit predictability. In addition, regular contact with the client promotes each client’s health and well‐being, reflected in the 95% adherence to treatment protocols of AllLife’s clients to-date.
This investment marks the entry of the Accion Frontier Inclusion Fund, managed by Quona Capital, into the insurtech space, and complements the Fund’s existing portfolio of investments in innovative financial technology and services companies that promote financial inclusion for the world’s three billion financially underserved people. Existing investor LeapFrog Financial Inclusion Fund I also participated in this capital raise.
“We are excited to bring on Quona and the Accion Frontier Inclusion Fund to support our continued focus on technology innovation and big data. Quona’s introduction to fintech experts will help us on our journey to be at the leading edge in providing the best customer experience, while continually enhancing our model,” said Ross Beerman, CEO of AllLife. “With this investment, we are on a trajectory to continue to scale our efforts in providing coverage to a greater number of underserved clients who currently lack access to quality life insurance.”
While largely focused on the South African life insurance market the past five years, AllLife recently announced an agreement with Royal London, the UK’s largest mutual life, pensions, and investments company, for Royal London to leverage AllLife’s pioneering technology platform.
“AllLife’s innovative business model and data-driven approach push the boundaries of insurtech by reaching those who were previously considered ‘uninsurable,’” commented Monica Brand Engel, a founding partner at Quona Capital, a venture firm dedicated to fintech for the underserved that manages the Accion Frontier Inclusion Fund. “More broadly, AllLife has the potential to change the landscape of insurance coverage around the world as mainstream insurers like the UK’s Royal London bring the model to western markets. This reverse innovation, where a breakthrough business model developed in Africa is being imported into western markets, is a powerful statement of AllLife’s potential.”
In South Africa, an estimated 19.2% of the adult population is living with HIV (UNAIDS), and approximately 7% is living with diabetes (International Diabetes Foundation).
###
About AllLife:
AllLife is in the business of changing people’s lives, through the provision of affordable life insurance to people living with HIV and Diabetes. AllLife revolutionised the South African life insurance market by being the first to offer affordable life cover to the ‘uninsurable’. The company’s innovative products, for people living with HIV and Diabetes, use a continuous underwriting approach that helps to increase life expectancy and the quality of life for their clients. AllLife continues to reduce stigma and open up life cover to diabetics globally, via its Kalibre robo-underwriting platform. The first global roll-out of the Kalibre platform was in April 2017 with the UK’s Royal London. For more information, visit: alllife.co.za.
About the Accion Frontier Inclusion Fund and Quona Capital
The Accion Frontier Inclusion Fund, managed by Quona Capital, is the first global fintech fund for the underserved, investing in innovative financial technology and services companies that promote financial inclusion for the three billion people around the world who are underserved by financial services. Quona Capital is an early growth-stage venture firm focused on financial technology for underserved consumers and businesses in emerging markets. The fund is sponsored by Accion, a global leader in inclusive finance with a rich history of double-bottom line investing, where its impact investments create positive economic and social returns. For further information, visit <a href="http://www.quona.com/">http://www.quona.com </a>and <a href="http://www.accion.org/frontier">http://www.accion.org/frontier</a>.
###
MEDIA CONTACT:
Katie Mounts
<a href="mailto:kmounts@accion.org">kmounts@accion.org</a>
+1 202.280.5859

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Insurtech Leader AllLife Raises Funds to Expand Coverage to People Living with Diabetes and HIV

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 	<li>Creditworthy applicants are often denied credit because they lack the detailed credit histories on which banks rely to lend. Aire, a UK-based credit scoring startup, helps these ”thin-file” customers – including legal migrants, new borrowers, and young adults – access financial products and build the credit histories they need for the future.</li>
 	<li>Aire leverages deeper, more meaningful data – gathered through its online virtual interview, a combination of applicant-provided information, as well as data from other reliable sources – and an artificial intelligence-driven process to validate the data.</li>
 	<li>There exists a sizable market of potentially credit-worthy, “thin-file” customers in the U.S. and around the world.</li>
</ul>
London, UK, April 11, 2016 –Financial inclusion pioneer Accion announced today that it will help more creditworthy households responsibly access credit and build their financial histories through a new investment in Aire, a UK-based credit scoring startup.

Aire uses a proprietary artificial intelligence process to ultimately help banks lend to new, qualified borrowers. During an online interview, the company’s collects and validates applicant-provided data to evaluate profession, education, and financial knowledge. Accion made the investment through its Venture Lab, a $10 million initiative dedicated to providing seed capital and management support to innovative startups that expand financial access to the poor and underserved.

“Around the world, millions of people cannot access the credit that they need to launch businesses, buy homes, or build better lives,” said Accion CEO and President Michael Schlein. “In many cases, this isn’t because they have bad credit history, but rather because they have no credit history. By providing an alternative to traditional credit scoring, Aire helps to extend financial services to more people who need them.”

Potentially creditworthy borrowers are often denied loans or credit cards because they lack the traditional credit profiles that lenders rely on to evaluate applicants. These “thin-file,” but still creditworthy, customers can include those entering the world of formal finance, legal migrants whose credit histories do not transfer between countries, people with limited sources to build up credit history – such as those who are self-employed, and young adults applying for credit for the first time. Aire hopes to address this problem by enabling fairer access to credit for consumers around the world. When applicants lack sufficient credit history, they are referred to an Aire online interview, which evaluates a consumer’s creditworthiness to create an “Aire Score.” Lenders can use this score to evaluate applicants and provide them with credit.

“Accion Venture Lab has been very supportive of our research and product since our early years. I am really glad to have them come onboard now as we start our international expansion,” said Aire co-founder and CEO Aneesh Varma. “Both Aire and Accion Venture Lab really care about improving financial inclusion around the world.”

Varma co-founded the company, along with Mr. Jon Bundy and Dr. Srini Sundaram, in 2014 after Varma personally experienced the hardship of being a “thin-file” customer. Despite having a strong financial history in the United States, Varma struggled to be approved for a credit card because of a lack of credit history in the UK.

“This investment builds on the Accion Venture Lab’s deep commitment to promote financial inclusion through the use of innovative ways to assess creditworthiness,” said Vikas Raj, Director of Investments for Accion Venture Lab. Prior investments that help banks lend to thin-file customers with confidence include those in startups such as First Access, DemystData, and RevolutionCredit, all of which help people excluded from the financial system to access and benefit from formal financial services.

Credit invisibility is a problem in both developed and emerging markets. In the United States, 1 in 10 Americans has no credit history, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and an additional 19 million Americans have credit reports that are so outdated that they are practically unscorable. Aire estimates that that there are 17 million such consumers in the UK and significantly larger proportions in emerging markets.

###

About Accion

Accion is a global nonprofit dedicated to building a financially inclusive world with economic opportunity for all, by giving people the financial tools they need to improve their lives. We are building the next generation of top-tier microfinance institutions, and over more than 50 years have helped build 65 such institutions in 32 countries on four continents that today reach millions of clients. Our impact investing initiatives are pushing beyond microfinance to catalyze more than 20 innovative start-ups dedicated to improving the efficiency, reach, and scope of financial services for the poor. And our Center for Financial Inclusion is helping to build a stronger industry with high standards and broad engagement. Currently, our work spans nearly two dozen countries, including the U.S., where we are the nation’s largest nonprofit microfinance network. For further information, visit <a href="http://www.accion.org">http://www.accion.org</a>.

About Aire

Aire gives people a new credit score to help them qualify for essential financial products. Formed by a collective of finance, technology, and commercial specialists, Aire is redefining how the market approaches credit scoring using only clean data and ethical means. By harnessing industry expertise, machine learning and an in-depth understanding of the issues facing many consumers, Aire has created a service that allows businesses to access a new, financially-capable population. Aire aims to put people at the heart of the solution in a transparent, responsible, and inclusive manner—abiding by its principle to go “beyond the data,” and understand the story of the applicant in every credit-scoring situation. Aire was launched in 2014 in London and is backed by White Star Capital, SparkLabs Global Ventures and Techstars. For further information please visit <a href="http://www.aire.io">www.aire.io </a>or follow Aire on Twitter @AireScore.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Katie Mounts
<a href="mailto:kmounts@accion.org">kmounts@accion.org</a>
+1 202.280.5859

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Accion Venture Lab to Empower Additional Creditworthy Consumers through Investment in Aire

I remember the first time I was in Wembley Stadium: it was to see Live Aid for Africa in 1985 with the Gods of Music: Queen, U2, Boomtown Rats, Bowie, and McCartney. As a pre-teen, to pay my way, I saved up money by building and selling music amplifiers and Intel 286 computers to schoolmates in India.

My most recent trip to Wembley Stadium was a rather different affair. There, I got to see ‘rock stars’ of a sort, though they didn’t play any music. Wembley recently hosted <a href="http://www.fintechconnectlive.com">FinTech Connect Live! 2015</a>, one of the largest fintech events in Europe. I joined over 1,400 other attendees. Many of them came from across Europe, but quite a few were from farther afield — representatives from Canada, USA, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria attended the conference. There were over 100 exhibitors showcasing their wares – from digital identity solutions and digital keys for hotel chains, to big data analytics firms and international money transfer solutions.

The British government has made it a priority to make London the world’s fintech capital, and FinTech Connect is one of the main ways the city is earning that distinction. Another key organization promoting this message is the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-trade-investment">UK Trade and Investment</a> (UKTI) — a government body that helps British firms export and international firms import goods and services. UKTI co-sponsored the event.

Accion was invited to speak at the event, and I chaired a panel titled “FinTech Driving Financial and Social Inclusion.” The panel members included Samee Zafar, director at Edgar Dunn &amp; Co, a consultancy; Louise Holden, who leads MasterCard's Financial Inclusion efforts in Europe; Claire Alexandre, who heads the M-Pesa Commercial and Strategy team within the Vodafone Group; and Eric Barbier, the founder and CEO of TransferTo, the global mobile money hub serving 400 mobile operators in 100 countries.

We discussed what the ideal enabling environment — in both emerging and developed markets – would look like to foster the growth of innovative fintech companies. One of the first points that the panel agreed on was “right touch” regulation – finding the ideal level of regulatory oversight that fosters innovation while also addressing risks. Creating effective, enabling regulation is one of the quickest ways that we can help the two billion people living in poverty and without access to financial services formally save, create credit history, purchase insurance, and join the world economy. It’s one of the main reasons why Accion supports the Economist Intelligence Unit’s <a href="http://www.accion.org/how-countries-can-promote-financial-inclusion/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Global Microscope 2015: The Enabling Environment for Financial Inclusion</a>, which assesses 55 countries on their financial inclusion policies and transparently shares the very best financial inclusion policies.

Case in point is India — where, until recently, the Reserve Bank of India was seen as a draconian rule-maker. Now, following the Bank’s decision to create new types of licensed financial institutions and Prime Minister Modi’s <a href="http://www.cgap.org/blog/can-india-achieve-universal-digital-financial-inclusion">Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana</a> program, which has provided hundreds of millions of Indian households with a basic bank account, India’s financial inclusion policymakers are seen as some of the most progressive in the world.

Another related factor that the panel agreed could help fintech drive financial inclusion was making it easier to set up corporate entities. For example, in the UK, one can set up a company in about 2 hours because the regulations allow it. The high speed of registration of legal entities is, unfortunately, not the norm around the world. In Nigeria, for example, it takes 75 days to setup a new company in a process that includes a number of physical meetings with the corporate affairs commission.

We also talked about the role of partnerships to help fintech scale up. Just because you have a shiny new widget does not mean that people “ought” to listen to you — or use your product. Claire Alexandre was passionate about the point of coming up with a clear value proposition that fills a gap and meets a need.

The challenge is finding an equitable business model for both the young fintech developers and the legacy players. Mobile operators typically call the shots on these negotiations, and it is not uncommon for the network operators to charge 50-75 percent of revenue from a third party. This is changing with OTT models which run “over the top” of the existing infrastructure (mobile, internet, etc), such as Google Hangout and Skype, which provide alternatives to and steal market share from traditional services (in this case making calls by phone).

That said, there are many existing organizations that will help startups accelerate public adoption of certain services. For example Safaricom’s i-hub in Nairobi, Barclays’ Techstars Accelerator, Santander’s Innovation Labs, and others.

Eric Barbier talked about the power of being interconnected, globally, and enabling international value transfer (via money, airtime, and <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2015/01/21/cryptocurrency-explainer/">cryptocurrencies</a> such as bitcoin) to allow people “back home” to pay for goods and services. <a href="https://www.transfer-to.com/">TransferTo</a> has faced challenges in new geographies relating to regulatory permissions for inbound and outbound international money transfers – anti-money laundering rules are becoming ever tighter due to the fight against terrorist financing.

The commercial case is tricky, particularly for financial inclusion-minded fintech. Developers need investors who are willing to back an idea long before it reaches viability or returns a profit. Louise Holden talked about the role of government in fostering financial inclusion and helping de-risk untested business models by subsidizing project operating costs. M-Pesa, for instance, was initially funded by the UK government’s Department for International Development. Many governments want to use fintech, such as both Mozambique and Pakistan, which both are looking to use the technology for conditional cash transfers.

Interestingly, Samee Zafar talked about the rise of the “Impact Investor” as a key phenomenon and asset class for family foundations and high net worth individuals. The challenge with many of these is that they are not entirely clear about what they can and will invest in – mainly due to the great cultural distance between investors and what they invest in. Investors can only overcome this by researching and understanding local issues.

During the conference, there was a great debate about the value of cryptocurrencies and the use of big data analytics to create risk models that can help ascertain how well a product ‘fits’ a given customer. This debate — like so many others in financial inclusion — is still ongoing. And Accion is definitely one of the key influencers and perhaps driving the debate forward.

Unlocking fintech for financial inclusion