Week of October 5, 2015

1. Microcredit: Kiva announced it will scale back Zip, its P2P lending program in Kenya, due to operational challenges. While it works on trying to crack the code of direct P2P lending in low-income environments without middlemen, Zidisha is enjoying success in doing just that. NextBillion - Zip and Zidisha

2. Mobile Money: Samsung announced a data breach of its mobile payments technology. Although the breach occurred around March, Samsung did not discover it until August and does not know if any information was taken. Incidents like this beg the question - Where are the risks in mobile payments? Payment Eye and CGAP

3. Debt Collection: An analysis of five years of debt collection lawsuit data from three metropolitan areas — St. Louis, Chicago and Newark — shows that even accounting for income, the rate of judgments was twice as high in mostly black neighborhoods as it was in mostly white ones. ProPublica

4. Global Poverty Rates: If you haven't seen coverage of the World Bank's announcement of the drop in worldwide extreme poverty, then you're reading the wrong newsletter. Vox, Center for Global Development, Our World In Data, Deutsche Welle, and The World Bank

5. Fun with Data: This week saw a proliferation of interesting (but educational!) interactive graphics on topics ranging from the minimum wage in the 50 states, mapping NYC's unbanked, and historical GDP comparisons from around the world. EPI, Urban Institute, and Vox

October 13, 2026

Financial Access Initiative

The Swarm Edition

Editor’s Note: I’m going to assume that you are seeing plenty of AI content (news and papers, not AI slop, though I’m sure you’re getting plenty of that too) from other sources, so I’m trying to think hard about the marginal value that the faiV can provide. As far as I’ve gotten so far: a) make sure that directly AI-related content does not take up more than 2 of the 5 items, and b) try to focus specifically on the cybersecurity issue for financial inclusion. Beyond that, I’m open to feedback on the value you get from the faiV in relation to AI to help guide us in the future. On a different note, I’ll be making a brief cameo appearance at the e-MFP Inclusive Finance Conference to moderate the opening plenary. If you haven’t registered, do so and I hope to see you there! - Tim Ogden

October 6, 2026

Laura Freschi

Rereading Michael Kremer

Ten years ago, FAI managing director Tim Ogden published Experimental Conversations, a collection of interviews with economists and other people who critique, promote, and use randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in development economics. One of the interviewees was Michael Kremer, a pioneer of the movement, now a Nobel laureate, and recently appointed Chief Economist of the World Bank.

August 13, 2026

The Massive DDoS Edition

Editor's Note:

If you were hoping that the faiV would be a pleasant distraction from the overwhelming flow of AI-related content, sorry. For the record, the faiV had “ai” built in before Anthropic existed. And a housekeeping note: we’ve finally jumped ship from Mailchimp to NYU’s mailing platform—I guess if you’re reading this it’s been a seamless transition and if you’re not, well, you’re not. Feedback on the faiV’s content and format and delivery methods is always welcome, just drop me an email.

- Tim Ogden

Blog

News, events, and perspectives