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KICB
May 14, 2026 – Kyrgyz Investment and Credit Bank (KICB) has joined the SME Finance Forum as the newest member of the global membership network. The Forum’s 250+ members and affiliates are SME finance experts operating across 190 countries, united by a shared goal of expanding access to finance for small businesses worldwide through knowledge...
Cracking the Credit Code: Alternative Data and AI for Financial Inclusion
Fintech
How Alternative Data and AI Are Transforming Lending for Underserved and thin-file Borrowers Cracking the Credit Code: Alternative Data and AI for Financial Inclusion explores how new data sources and artificial intelligence are transforming credit scoring and expanding access to finance for underserved borrowers in emerging markets. Traditional...
ILI
April 27, 2026: The International Law Institute (ILI) has joined the SME Finance Forum as the global membership network’s latest affiliate. The 250+ members/affiliates of the Forum are SME financing experts operating in 190 countries who share the common goal of expanding access to finance to small businesses worldwide through knowledge exchange...
Global SME Finance Forum
The Global SME Finance Forum 2025 was held in Johannesburg from 15 to 17 September as an official side event of the G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion Working Group. The event brought together nearly 1100 participants from 78 countries including 235 speakers and featured 70 sessions with diverse stakeholders from across the SME finance...
Amazon Quote
April 20, 2026 – SME Finance Forum today announced that Amazon has joined its global network of 250+ SME financing experts across 190 countries working to expand small business access to finance worldwide. "We are delighted to welcome Amazon as our newest member. Together, we share a vision of empowering SMEs to grow, compete, and expand across...
Qarar
April 14, 2026 – Qarar has joined the SME Finance Forum as the global membership network’s newest member. The Forum’s 250+ members and affiliates are SME financing experts operating across 190 countries, united by a shared goal of expanding access to finance for small businesses worldwide through knowledge exchange and innovation. “The SME Finance...
INSME Quote
April 8, 2026: INSME - The International Network for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (INSME) has joined the SME Finance Forum as the global membership network’s latest affiliate. The 250+ members/affiliates of the Forum are SME financing experts operating in 190 countries who share the common goal of expanding access to finance to small...
Khayelitsha craft market. South Africa. Photo: Trevor Samson / World Bank
Receivables finance is an underutilised financing arrangement for SME’s. Using the unpaid customer invoice after goods and services have been delivered, the SME can convert the invoice to immediate cash through what was called debtor finance. For the financier, the customer invoice potentially provides an IOU from a more credit worthy client than...
Climate Change
Without strong financial systems to support climate adaptation and resilience, there is a growing risk that FSPs will retreat from high-risk areas, worsening financial exclusion and deepening inequality. Supporting climate goals requires a systematic approach to building financial systems that can respond to the breadth of climate risks and the...
AI
The agentic AI revolution is here. Leading technology giants like Amazon,Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Salesforce are embedding agentic AI into their offerings, possibly signaling a major shift in intelligent automation. AI agents can independently reason, execute complex tasks, and achieve targeted goals, unlocking efficiencies across many...