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Out with Old. New Ecosystem of Digital Financial Services Support SMEs Growth for SDGs

Out with Old. New Ecosystem of Digital Financial Services Support SMEs Growth for SDGs

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Carmen Smith
May 01, 2019

Matthew Gamser, CEO of the SME Finance Forum, was the keynote speaker at the United Nations Secretary-General's Task Force on Digital Financing of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Gamser led a policy discussion on innovative mechanisms to finance MSMEs at the UN's headquarters alongside experts from Visa, Milken Institute and KIVA.

SMEs are a key driver of growth, directly affecting SDG 8, 9 and 17. Emerging markets generated...

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Blog

Out with Old. New Ecosystem of Digital Financial Services Support SMEs Growth for SDGs

Out with Old. New Ecosystem of Digital Financial Services Support SMEs Growth for SDGs

by 

Carmen Smith

May 01, 2019
Matthew Gamser, CEO of the SME Finance Forum, was the keynote speaker at the United Nations Secretary-General's Task Force on Digital Financing of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Gamser led a policy discussion on innovative mechanisms to finance MSMEs at the UN's headquarters alongside experts from Visa, Milken Institute and KIVA. SMEs...
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Complementing Finance with Know-How for Women in Business

Complementing Finance with Know-How for Women in Business

by 

Ines Rocha

Mar 08, 2019
At the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), we believe that complex inequalities need wide-ranging responses. This is why in 2014, the EBRD launched an ambitious new approach to support the financial and economic inclusion of women. Since then, the Women in Business programme has reached more than 50,000 women entrepreneurs...
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Commercial Bank of Africa: From Corporate Banker to Digital Pioneer

Commercial Bank of Africa: From Corporate Banker to Digital Pioneer

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Nadia Afrin

Oct 24, 2018
Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA), the largest privately-owned bank in East Africa has transformed its offering in the last six years, acquiring over 26 million customers. As Kenya’s most popular bank, SMEs account for 50 percent CBA’s customers and 30 percent of the bank’s overall revenues. With three out of every four people employed in Kenya...
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CreditEase China: Big Data Makes What Once Seemed Impossible, Possible

CreditEase China: Big Data Makes What Once Seemed Impossible, Possible

by 

Nadia Afrin

Oct 18, 2018
Founded 12 years ago, CreditEase offers inclusive finance and wealth management for SMEs. The China-based fintech company provides products and services such as: payment, technology, marketplace lending, crowdfunding, robo-advisory services, insurance technology and blockchain products and services. With a US $1.890 billion financing gap for China...
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BRAC Bank: SMEs Are Not Just Another Business Opportunity, They Are A Reason for Being

BRAC Bank: SMEs Are Not Just Another Business Opportunity, They Are A Reason for Being

by 

Nadia Afrin

Oct 03, 2018
BRAC Bank was established in 2001 to help grow the vital, yet unbanked SME sector in Bangladesh. The bank’s reason for being is to serve SMEs; with 186 bank branches, 2,500 specialized SME staff and the provision of more than 60 percent of the collateral-free SME loans in Bangladesh, the bank is doing exactly that. The overall lending to SMEs by...
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SME Finance Forum CEO Keynotes ADFIMI International Development Forum

SME Finance Forum CEO Keynotes ADFIMI International Development Forum

by 

Carmen Smith

Sep 24, 2018
Matthew Gamser, CEO of the SME Finance Forum, was the keynote speaker at the ADFIMI International Development Forum on September 11-12 in Istanbul, Turkey. Under the theme, “SME Finance and Development in the Age of Digitalization,” the Forum analyzed the current state of knowledge about contributions of SMEs to economic and social well-being...
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Study Tours: Learning Best SME Finance Practices

Study Tours: Learning Best SME Finance Practices

by 

Carmen Smith

Sep 19, 2018
Networks such as the SME Finance Forum exist so that direct practitioners can learn from one other and offer effective models to strengthen the industry. Study tours are one of the most effective ways to provide hands-on learning experiences for professionals. This November, the SME Finance Forum will kick off its Global SME Finance Forum 2018...
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BBVA: Reinventing Banking as a Digital Business

BBVA: Reinventing Banking as a Digital Business

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Nadia Afrin

Sep 07, 2018
BBVA is Spain’s second largest bank and an innovative global financial group that provides financial services in more than 30 countries to 72 million customers, of which SMEs is a very important client segment. In recent years, the bank has reinvented itself as a digital business, and it aims to be as nimble as a fintech. BBVA is recognized within...
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Bank of Palestine: Aiming to be the “Bank of Choice” for Women and Small Businesses

Bank of Palestine: Aiming to be the “Bank of Choice” for Women and Small Businesses

by 

Nadia Afrin

Aug 22, 2018
Bank of Palestine was established in 1960 to serve Palestinians of all socio-economic groups. With a network of 70 branches, 31 percent market share of deposits, 33 percent market share of loans and more than 890,000 customers, the bank serves retail, corporate, small and medium enterprises, microenterprises, and the Palestinian diaspora. The bank...
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How Is Ant Financial Closing the SME Finance Gap in China?

How Is Ant Financial Closing the SME Finance Gap in China?

by 

Marie-Sarah Chataing

by 

Khrystyna Kushnir

Jun 07, 2018
There are over 11 million formal SMEs in China and 58% of them are financially constraint according to the MSME Finance Gap 2017 . The size of the finance gap is 17% of GDP. Digital and mobile banking opened new opportunities for affordable finance for China’s entrepreneurs by decreasing transaction cost of making a loan. According to the Global...
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