Financial Inclusion

PayPal Makes a Move Toward Traditional Banking by partnering with small banks to offer debit cards, direct deposit to withdraw cash at ATMs and the ability to add funds to accounts by taking a photo of a paper check or by having employers direct-deposit earnings there. PayPal Holdings Inc. is nudging its customers closer to mainstream banking services.  The San Jose, Calif.-based ... Read More »

FICO® Score XD 2 Helps Score over 26.5 Million Previously Unscorable Consumer Files FICO® Score XD 2 increases coverage and is able to score over 26.5 million previously unscorable consumer files 11.8 million of these consumers are without credit files and unscorable by any scoring system relying on traditional credit bureau data alone While the traditional FICO® Score is able ... Read More »

Online mega-retailer Amazon could get into the checking account business, as the company reportedly sees underbanked markets — including millennials — as a prime opportunity. Amazon has held talks with the likes of JPMorgan Chase and Capital One for a “checking-account-like product” that would be accepted at its website and Whole Foods, according to The Wall Street Journal. The product would reportedly ... Read More »

In the Autumn Budget 2017, the UK government announced the Rent Recognition Challenge – a £2 million Prize Fund, open to all, challenging firms to develop new applications, or build on existing ones, to enable rental tenants to record and share their rental payment data with lenders and credit reference agencies. Why this initiative? Currently, a history of meeting rent payments ... Read More »

Post-financial crisis regulations have forced banks to become more diligent and aggressive against financial fraud, including money laundering. In response to new rules, financial institutions in the U.K. have heightened their practice of de-risking — that is, withdrawing bank accounts or other financial services from customers deemed to be high-risk.  Financial institutions assure authorities that their increase of de-risking practices ... Read More »

Small Businesses Report Greater Access to Bank Loans and Increased Hiring Small businesses (< $5M in revenue) are finishing 2017 strong, reporting both revenue increases and optimism for future growth according to the fourth quarter 2017 Private Capital Access (PCA) Index report from Dun & Bradstreet and Pepperdine Graziadio Business School.  Fifty-eight percent of small businesses, up from 52 percent in Q4 2016, reported ... Read More »

Experian Asked 2000 People About Their Attitudes Towards Data Sharing – Here’s What They Found An Experian White Paper In May of 2018, the arrival of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will see a new enforced focus on consumer rights in this space. We will also see the advent of new data driven initiatives such as Open Banking, ... Read More »

Three international banks, three large corporates and four fintech startups have announced a pioneering project that will explore how blockchain technology can be used to track physical supply chains while unlocking access to financing for sustainable sourcing.  The year-long project will kick off in January and involve Unilever, Sainsbury’s and Sappi together with Barclays, Standard Chartered and BNP Paribas, which will ... Read More »

The Credit Access and Inclusion Act Unanimously Passes Vote in the House Financial Services Committee The Credit Access and Inclusion Act (H.R. 435) unanimously passed the Committee on Financial Services of the House in a 60-0 vote today . We would like to thank Representatives Keith Ellison and Robert Pittinger, who sponsored H.R. 435 and the 28 Republican and Democrat ... Read More »

Amazon Lending & Six Alternative Funding Options for Your Business Amazon Lending is an invitation-only short-term business loan that helps Amazon sellers fund inventory purchases.  But it’s not something growing sellers can tap for other business needs like marketing, facilities, or staffing.  For these, sellers must turn to funding sources like Payability, savings, or credit solutions. Here’s what to expect ... Read More »

Credit is a hugely important part of the global economy and also has a major effect on the quality of individual’s personal and professional lives – from making everyday purchases with credit cards to borrowing larger sums for investing in vehicles, homes or businesses. The world is governed by budgets and pay checks, and people frequently require credit to meet ... Read More »

Customers without credit scores can take the digital journey to get loans Rajiv Raj and Abhishek Agarwal co-founders of CreditVidya comment why fintech companies and P2P lending platforms are looking at alternative data, and how you should take care of your digital footprints Rajiv Raj (left) and Abhishek Agarwal, co-founders of CreditVidya. Mumbai-based CreditVidya, a fintech start-up, uses alternative data ... Read More »

On December 12, 2017 FICO took out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal.  FICO stated: This is the start of an initiative to clarify and bring transparency to credit scoring standards in the mortgage market. With calls by VantageScore, a credit scoring company owned by the three major credit bureaus, to retool the entire mortgage ecosystem to adopt new ... Read More »

As Black Friday Nears, a Record 196 Million Consumers Now Have Access to Various Forms of Credit Cards and Other Revolving Lines of Credit New Q3 2017 TransUnion Industry Insights Report reveals latest consumer credit trends With the holiday shopping season officially kicking off during Black Friday next week, TransUnion’s (NYSE: TRU) just released Q3 2017 Industry Insights Report found that ... Read More »

Alipay’s technology to upgrade payment experience for local users of Mynt’s GCash The Philippine mobile operator Globe Telecom announced that Ant Financial Services Group, one of the world’s leading digital financial services providers, has entered into a strategic partnership with Globe Fintech Innovations, Inc. (Mynt), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Globe Capital Venture Holdings (GCVHI) under Globe Telecom, and Ayala Corporation, one ... Read More »

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has formed a high-level task force on public credit registry (PCR) for India. The task force, chaired by Y M Deosthalee, former CMD of L&T Finance Holdings Ltd will have nine other members.  [BIIA has reported about this initiative previously] The other members of the task force include, Sekar Karnam, DMD and chief credit ... Read More »