1. Financial Inclusion: Lisa Servon asks: Are banks too expensive to use? The New York Times
2. Savings: A newly launched micro-pension platform in India links employers and domestic workers to a streamlined enrollment process for a National Pension Scheme product. CFI
3. Human-Centered Design: Seven human-centered design projects in eight countries testing 30 prototypes for 175 concepts for financial products or services. All in one report. CGAP
4. SMEs: A companion case study to the Doing Business 2015 report underscores the importance of credit reporting and secured transactions for small and medium firms around the world. The World Bank
5. Cash Transfers: An early evaluation of Family Rewards 2.0, the second iteration of a conditional cash transfer program active in New York City, suggests that tweaks to the program have been successful in engaging more families. MDRC
Savings groups are a popular and effective way of helping poor households increase their savings. But why do they work? We explore the mechanisms that make savings groups effective in this video.
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