U Microfinance Bank Ltd. signed a grant agreement with Karandaaz Pakistan, with funding from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The grant will help U Bank further its mission of financially including more women. U Bank won the grant through a competitive application process via Karandaaz’s Digital Experiments program.
Islamabad: Karandaaz Pakistan has signed grant agreements with 2 FinTechs, Oraan Tech Pvt. Ltd. and Techlets Pvt. Ltd, with funding from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and a separate one with NRSP Microfinance Bank with funding from UK’s Department for International Development (DFID).
The impact of microfinance has been a subject of much debate over recent years. While numerous studies have been conducted over the last decade, these have mainly focused on impact in terms of household income, personal assets, and socioeconomic indicators including economic status, children’s education, housing, women empowerment, and health expenditure and child immunization.
Access to financial services has been a subject of increasing policy debate in developing countries. Financial inclusion is important as it reduces poverty and inequality, allows poor people to smooth out their consumption and invest in their futures through education and health.
Digital finance and financial inclusion offer several benefits not only to financial services users but also to digital finance providers, governments and the economy at large as well.
Conventional banking has typically focused on the 5Cs of “Credit” – character (identity), collateral (security), capacity (to repay), capital (savings, investments, or other assets), and conditions (usage of loan) – while making lending decisions.
Access to financial services has been a subject of increasing policy debate in developing countries. Financial inclusion is important as it reduces poverty and inequality, allows poor people to smooth out their consumption and invest in their futures through education and health.
Digital finance and financial inclusion offer several benefits not only to financial services users but also to digital finance providers, governments and the economy at large as well.
Conventional banking has typically focused on the 5Cs of “Credit” – character (identity), collateral (security), capacity (to repay), capital (savings, investments, or other assets), and conditions (usage of loan) – while making lending decisions.
