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Fintech is helping accelerate financial inclusion 

Fintech is helping accelerate financial inclusion 

by 
Lechi Zhang
Aug 13, 2019

Fintech and digital financial inclusion were the main topics of a SME Finance Forum’s presentation at University of Toronto, held on August 13th, during the 5th Annual FinTech Canada Conference, organized by the Digital Finance Institute in Toronto, Canada.

The presentation focused on how fintech is changing...

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Blog

Fintech is helping accelerate financial inclusion 

Fintech is helping accelerate financial inclusion 

by 

Lechi Zhang

Aug 13, 2019
Fintech and digital financial inclusion were the main topics of a SME Finance Forum’s presentation at University of Toronto , held on August 13th, during the 5th Annual FinTech Canada Conference , organized by the Digital Finance Institute in Toronto, Canada. The presentation focused on how fintech is changing the nature of banking, and how...
More
SME Finance Forum's immersion program: Visit to Yillion Bank, a new digital-first bank in the West

SME Finance Forum's immersion program: Visit to Yillion Bank, a new digital-first bank in the West

by 

Lechi Zhang

Jul 24, 2019
China's banking industry has traditionally been dominated by state-owned financial institutions. Even the smaller banks have roots going back to provincial or municipal governments. In recent years, however, Beijing has started to issue banking licences to private players. A new kind of digital-first bank, sometimes referred to as a 'neobank' in...
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ICBC Gives 17 SME Finance Experts an Inside Look at their Operations

ICBC Gives 17 SME Finance Experts an Inside Look at their Operations

by 

Carmen Smith

Jun 25, 2019
The largest bank in the world, ICBC has never stopped its innovations. SME Finance Forum members had an opportunity to learn about the company during the Forum's second immersion program on June 10. During the visit, 17 members gathered in depth knowledge about an innovative aspect of the company’s operations. Since the inception of its e-ICBC 3.0...
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JD Finance Gives 17 SME Finance Experts an Inside Look at their Operations

JD Finance Gives 17 SME Finance Experts an Inside Look at their Operations

by 

Carmen Smith

Jun 21, 2019
From agribusiness to capital markets, JD Digits has been a leading ecosystem player to bring automation, robotics and artificial intelligence to a wide range of industries. SME Finance Forum members had an opportunity to learn about JD Digits during the Forum's second immersion program to JD Finance, the company that manages the service, on June...
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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

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

by 

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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