Week of July 6, 2015

1. Transfers: Cash transfers are a more common form of benefits for the world's poor than you might think. In fact, Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region where food and other in-kind transfers are more prevalent than cash transfer programs. The World Bank

2. Global Poverty: Between 2001 and 2011, the global middle-income population (those living on $10-$20 per day) almost doubled while those living on less than $2 per day halved from 29% to 15%. However, the poor just became slightly less poor as the portion of people living on $2-$10 increased 6 percentage points during this time while high income categories barely changed. Pew Research Center

3. Digital Literacy: A new report finds many women rely heavily on their social circles for instruction and trouble-shooting when it comes to accessing mobile internet, an important finding for mobile money and digital content providers. GSMA

4. Microcredit: Interest rate ceilings are in place to protect poor customers from excessively costly loans. But how much do they push riskier customers out of credit markets in the first place? Macrothink Institute

5. SME Financing: Since 2008, the outstanding portfolio of online lenders in the US has grown about 175% a year (compared to a 3% decline in the traditional banking sector). But more does not always equal better - what does this explosive growth mean for borrowers, particularly small businesses? The Huffington Post
 

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