1. Microfinance: A look at the microfinance industry's rebuilding efforts in a post-Ebola West Africa. Devex
2. Unbanked: In what sounds similar to a time-compressed version of this experiment, Accion Venture Lab's Managing Director reports on his experience of being unbanked for a day. Medium
3. Development Valentines: Every February, Love is in the air...and on Twitter. Storify
4. Inclusion vs. Laundering: It's not always easy for financial institutions to walk the line between improving financial inclusion and preventing fraud by strengthening Know Your Customer requirements. How do financial institutions strike the right balance? The Guardian
5. Transparency: A recent RCT in Indonesia shows evidence that simple techniques to increase transparency and community participation in a food subsidy program (providing price information, ID cards, and forming village committees) can increase efficiency and reduce leakage. NBER
Savings groups are a popular and effective way of helping poor households increase their savings. But is there a way to incorporate the mechanisms that make them effective outside of the group in savings products in general?
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