Women make up about 80 percent of the world’s garment industry workforce, but they are mostly paid their wages in cash and many lack access to traditional financial services. And when they are paid in cash, many women workers cite an inability to save because a family member controls their income. Geography and social conventions can have a major impact…
Latest progress report from Better Than Cash Alliance reinforces how digital financial inclusion, when provided responsibly and sustainably in a well- regulated environment, not only drives growth, but also enables faster progress toward many of the other sustainable development goals (SDGs). Since the UN adopted its 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, the pace of digitization has grown…
The global informal economy (that is, legal income out of sight of the government and tax authorities) is substantial and comprises close to a quarter of global economic activity. Capturing the informal economy could bring many benefits, including less poverty, more job security, greater access to social benefits, and additional tax revenue to fund the development of infrastructure, education, and…
According to the World Bank, 230 million financially excluded people still receive their wages in cash, and 235 million unbanked adults in developing countries receive cash for their agricultural products. In total, 6.3 trillion dollars of global supply chain payments are still made in cash. For as long as a business purchases goods from unbanked suppliers or it needs to…
Around the globe, technology is being harnessed for social good in many different ways. From addressing complex social issues to fighting hunger, technology can make a positive and sustainable change in people’s lives. In particular, the rapid spread of mobile technologies in developing countries is creating new opportunities to assist the unbanked to enter the financial system. At Bluechain we…
The race to cashlessness is being run around the globe, but at very different speeds. In the developed world, cash payments continue to decline. In some parts of Europe, shops, restaurants and bank branches even refuse to handle cash because of how little consumers use it. But in the developing world, cash payments commonly still account for over 90 percent…
Much has been written about the advantages of the cashless society, but the barriers to going cashless are many and varied, and the importance of each can change with geography and demography. In the developing world, the issues of going cashless or cash-lite are largely about financial inclusion, i.e. access to banking services, access to technology, and cost, whereas in…
You might not be familiar with the term, but “financial inclusion” is an important issue in emerging and developing economies. And that’s because many governments have identified it as one of the key enablers for sustainable economic growth. When too much business activity is conducted informally, outside traditional financial systems, governments lack the controls they need to effectively manage their…
If you plan to attend the Financial Inclusion Conference or Seamless East Africa, please be sure to check out Bluechain’s sessions at both of these events. Bluechain’s Managing Director Africa, Yoku Korshah, will be discussing a range of issues that are impacting East African financial institutions, from financial inclusion to merchant acquisition strategies. Korsah will draw from his deep domain…
Although the need for financial inclusion is well understood, the solution has proved elusive. Access to education, communications services, and financial and banking services can pose special challenges in the Third World. And the barriers to inclusivity in developing countries are often formidable, such as distance from a financial service provider, lack of necessary documentation papers, lack of trust in…