1. Savings: FAI affiliate Ignacio Mas challenges us to step back from usage data and rethink how we approach the development of savings products for the poor. Center for Financial Inclusion
2. Behavioral Economics: According to Helaine Olen, Americans' financial woes have "more to do with the outside economy than their inner psyche." Bloomberg
3. Payments: New research presents findings on who is using prepaid debit cards and why. One suprising finding? it's not necessarily the unbanked - 7 in 8 users have or previously had a checking account. The Pew Charitable Trusts
4. Remittances: The latest report on remittance prices shows the global average cost of sending money is 8.36% - a new all-time low. The World Bank
5. Research Methods: How to tell if measuring impact is valuable or if you're just going through the (costly) motions. Standford Social Innovation Review
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