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About this Competition

G2012 Mexico and Ashoka Changemakers are launching an online competition to find the world's most innovative solutions that make valuable, affordable, secure, and comprehensive financial services accessible to underserved and excluded communities.
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Speak Up

Ben Knelman

Ben Knelman

Founder and CEO, Juntos Finanzas

Ask the winner of the G2012 competition about how Juntos is helping people transform their lives!

Pregunta al ganador del desafío G2012 cómo están ayudando a transformar vidas desde Juntos Finanzas!

  • Ben Knelman

    Hi Arnoud! (@arnoudsix) Thanks for your question via twitter. Our products are financial planning tools - they help peo [...]

    196 days ago

  • Ben Knelman

    Muchas Gracias Jose Pablo, Mohammad, Peter, Leandro y Natalie! It's been such a thrill and we feel so grateful to the G [...]

    196 days ago

  • Jose Pablo Arellano

    Felicitaciones!! Gran gra proyecto. Espero que sigan creciendo por toda latino america Un abrazo Jose Pablo [...]

    196 days ago

  • Mohammad ZiaurRehman

    Dear Ben, I personally and on behalf of AWAZ congratulate you and Juntos team for winning this prestigious award. we [...]

    197 days ago

  • Peter Szalontay

    Congratulations Ben! I am with SABEResPODER, the largest Spanish language out-of-home media company in the US. We have c [...]

    197 days ago

  • Leandro Asensos

    Felicitaciones Ben, a vos y a todos los que trabajan en Juntos Finanzas por la inclusión financiera! [...]

    197 days ago

  • Natalie Zuniga

    Congratulations Ben and team for the amazing work you are doing!!! [...]

    198 days ago
Join the dialog
Marten Leijon

Marten Leijon

CEO, Microfinance Information eXchange - MIX

Marten is the CEO of the MIX. Between October 29th and November 2nd he will be answering your question and comments about how objective data and analysis is strengthening the sector.

  • Natalie Zuniga

    Welcome Marten to this week Speak Up! Really glad to have you available to answer questions and comments about Microfin [...]

    204 days ago
Join the dialog
Jatinder Handoo

Jatinder Handoo

Manager of Strategic Alliances, FINO

Want to learn from India? Ask Jatin about FINO’s business correspondent model which serves more than 51 million end customers at the base of the pyramid. Read his article!

  • Natalie Zuniga

    Thanks so much Jatin for your very comprehensive response!! [...]

    201 days ago

  • Jatin Handoo

    @Natalie : Business Correspondent (BC) Model is a very powerful yet a sensitive business to deal in – at least durin [...]

    207 days ago

  • Jatin Handoo

    @ Victoria : Financial inclusion in India is a policy agenda for Government. Regulator – the Reserve Bank of Indi [...]

    207 days ago

  • Victoria Emanuelli

    Hi Jatinder! Thanks for joining this conversation! I have a question. From your point of view and experience, what are [...]

    208 days ago

  • Natalie Zuniga

    Hi Jatin, Welcome to our Speak Up section! Thanks so much for explaining us about the business correspondent model wor [...]

    208 days ago
Join the dialog
Elisabeth Rhyne

Elisabeth Rhyne

Managing Director, Center for Financial Inclusion at ACCION International

Elisabeth Rhyne, managing director of the Center for Financial Inclusion at ACCION International, will be available to answer your questions. Don’t miss this opportunity to speak with Elisabeth!

  • Sadya Siddiqui

    Jim Wells- how can one get in touch with you? [...]

    212 days ago

  • Piotr Michalak

    Hello, my name is Piotr Michalak. I'm crazy about creative economy. I try to launch portal giving possibility to local a [...]

    212 days ago

  • Elisabeth Rhyne

    Good analogy. Thanks! It has always baffled me why “banking the unbanked” has been such a popular phrase with policy [...]

    215 days ago

  • Elisabeth Rhyne

    You probably know much more about growing a small business than I do. My thought for getting credit is a) save up enough [...]

    215 days ago

  • Elisabeth Rhyne

    You are more positive about the capabilities – and, quite frankly, intent – of banks to offer quality services to lo [...]

    215 days ago

  • Elisabeth Rhyne

    Thanks for your comment and all the best with your important work. Many forms of group-based microfinance have as an imp [...]

    215 days ago

  • Elisabeth Rhyne

    I completely agree with you about the partial (but not total) disappointment with no frills accounts in South Africa and [...]

    215 days ago

  • Elisabeth Rhyne

    Thanks for your words of support, Hank! [...]

    215 days ago

  • Jim Wells

    Giving a poor person a bank account is about as helpful as giving a hungry person a refrigerator. The continuing fixa [...]

    216 days ago

  • Timothy Asiedu

    Hi Elisabeth. My name is Timothy Asiedu ,currently the Managing Director of an IT organization which was set up in 2001. [...]

    217 days ago

  • Jyoti Mahajan Khetarpal

    Dear Elisabeth, Welcome to this section. I agree that literacy about banking system is limited with underprivileged. Rea [...]

    218 days ago

  • Núcleo Da Cátedra Cátedra Unesco Amde

    Hi Ms. Rhyne. My name is Vera Guarda from the UNESCO Chair: water, women and development. I'm a Ph. D. in Pharmacy Scie [...]

    218 days ago

  • Henry Jackelen

    Hi Elisabeth I totally agree with your points..as a former banker I have always felt these statistics more than weak. [...]

    218 days ago

  • Elisabeth Rhyne

    This question of whether financial inclusion policy is focused on getting people to move from informal to formal service [...]

    218 days ago

  • Elisabeth Rhyne

    There are many barriers to more tailored financial products, but I would like to single out the organizational commitmen [...]

    218 days ago

  • Elisabeth Rhyne

    Yes, financial inclusion is more than having and using a bank account. In our view (the Center for Financial Inclusion [...]

    218 days ago

  • Florencia Farias

    Hi Elisabeth! I read your article “what’s wrong with banking the unbanked” and agree with your vision. We really n [...]

    221 days ago

  • Sadya Siddiqui

    What do you think of the failure of product design when it comes to microfinance products or telecoms' services trying t [...]

    221 days ago

  • Natalie Zuniga

    Welcome Elisabeth to our Speak Up section! We are really honored to have you available to answer questions and comments [...]

    223 days ago
Join the dialog
Claire Penicaud

Claire Penicaud

Claire is Market Intelligence Analyst for the Mobile Money for the Unbanked (MMU) Programme at the GSM Association.

Claire works in Market Intelligence for Mobile Money for the Unbanked (MMU) Programme at GSMA Association. During the week of October 1st, she will be sharing insights about her experience in the mobile money sector to further advance financial inclusion and answering questions about the MMU Programme. Join the conversation below!

  • Kasper Suits

    Online Kasper Suits Petite... [...]listed here are a handful of listings to internet sites which I con [...]

    51 days ago

  • Natalie Zuniga

    Welcome Claire to our Speak Up section! Thanks for sharing your time and insights about mobile money, this increasingly [...]

    231 days ago
Join the dialog
Bernadette Victorio

Bernadette Victorio

Project Manager, Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI).

During the week of September 10, Bernadette will be sharing her knowledge working on the operational strategy of the Maya Declaration with our community of innovators. Join the conversation!

  • Bernadette Victorio

    The Maya Declaration advocates for the integration of consumer protection and empowerment as a key pillar of financial i [...]

    236 days ago

  • Bernadette Victorio

    Thank you, the 2012 AFI Global Policy Forum has indeed been another big success for the AFI network. The summary report [...]

    236 days ago

  • Victoria Emanuelli

    Hi Bernadette! Great to know an organization is working together with 80 governments to find ways to collaborate and pr [...]

    244 days ago

  • Bernadette Victorio

    New forms of partnerships, in this context, means 2 things: 1) the Maya Declaration promotes the bottom-up approach wher [...]

    248 days ago

  • Bernadette Victorio

    Hi Jen, [...]

    248 days ago

  • Natalie Zuniga

    Welcome Bernadette! Thanks for offering to answer questions about the Maya Declaration and the work the Alliance for Fin [...]

    251 days ago

  • Jen Ko

    Hi Bernadette! In the article, you mention that new forms of partnerships are required to break the mold and accelerate [...]

    251 days ago

  • Natalie Zuniga

    Welcome financial innovators! Did you know that more than 80 developing and emerging countries created a collective visi [...]

    253 days ago
Join the dialog
Leora Klapper

Leora Klapper

Lead Economist, Finance and Private Sector Research, The World Bank, The World Bank

On Thursday September 6th at 11am EST Leora Klapper will be answering your questions about the Global Findex Database. Join the conversation!

  • Homepage

    ... [Trackback]... [...] Read More here: pulse.changemakers.com/leaders/2012/08/leora-klapper/ [...].. [...]

    185 days ago

  • Victoria Emanuelli

    Thank you Leora for your time and sharing your knowledge and experience with our community! Thanks to all the participan [...]

    257 days ago

  • Vero Esc

    Thank you Leora! [...]

    257 days ago

  • Natalie Zuniga

    Thanks everybody again for your participation. Amazing conversation! And special thanks to Leora Klapper for sharing [...]

    257 days ago

  • Leora Klapper

    Vero, let me end with your question-- Our analysis of the Global Findex data shows that account penetration is higher in [...]

    257 days ago

  • Natalie Zuniga

    Thanks everybody for participating in this fascinating conversation with Leora Klapper, Lead Economist from the World Ba [...]

    257 days ago

  • Leora Klapper

    Michelle, unfortunately we don't have this detail of data. Interestingly, we do see a higher rate of formal credit amon [...]

    257 days ago

  • Leora Klapper

    Thanks Cynthia for raising an important point. Although mobile banking has exploded in East Africa, less than 5% of adu [...]

    257 days ago

  • Michelle Fidelholc

    Hi Leora. I'm Michelle from Changemakers Brazil. It's great to have you here! I have a question? There's a lot of crit [...]

    257 days ago

  • Leora Klapper

    I often get asked, "“What’s next? How can the data make a difference?” The data be used to help close the gap [...]

    257 days ago

  • Vero Esc

    Hi Leora, another question from Mexico: Where you able to identify trends that can show how would the field look like [...]

    257 days ago

  • Marzena Zukowska

    That is really fascinating Leora! I was hoping you would share some insights from the field, especially since, looking a [...]

    257 days ago

  • Cynthia McKinney

    Hi Leora, and thank you for joining this important conversation. It seems a lot of innovation around financial inclusion [...]

    257 days ago

  • Leora Klapper

    Someone asked about market opportunities... something I found noteworthy in the data is the widespread use of community- [...]

    257 days ago

  • Leora Klapper

    Victoria (and all other readers!)-- the country-level data for all variables, disaggregated by gender, age, education, i [...]

    257 days ago

  • Leora Klapper

    Camillo, It is exciting to see a number of players—like the G-20, and the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI), and [...]

    257 days ago

  • Leora Klapper

    Marzena, my colleagues and I have had the pleasure to spend time in the field in Africa, Latin America, and ECA. Interes [...]

    257 days ago

  • Camilo Tellez

    This is predominantly in the area of mobile financial services and financial inclusion [...]

    257 days ago

  • Camilo Tellez

    Leora. Findex has made a good effort to bring together different actors on the survey demand-side such as Gallup, etc. [...]

    257 days ago

  • Victoria Emanuelli

    Hi Leora,I´m Victoria from Changemakers Latin America. Thanks for sharing so many interesting and usefull information a [...]

    257 days ago

  • Leora Klapper

    Alvaro, thanks for your question. I will double-check, but I don't think we have any cases of someone reporting having [...]

    257 days ago

  • Victoria Pietroboni

    Thanks Leora, it would be great if you could provide me that information, and particulary if we could have it sepparatel [...]

    257 days ago

  • Marzena Zukowska

    (Changemakers) This has been a great conversation thus far! Here is my question: What are some of the greatest chall [...]

    257 days ago

  • Natalie Zuniga

    Thanks Camilo for joining! [...]

    257 days ago

  • Leora Klapper

    Victoria--I will post a response in the comments later today. To make the definitions comparable across countries, 'rur [...]

    257 days ago

  • Camilo Tellez

    Thank Leora. [...]

    257 days ago

  • Natalie Zuniga

    Álvaro Martín Enríquez from Analistas Financieros Internacionales, also asks: Should we consider “retail stores c [...]

    257 days ago

  • Leora Klapper

    Eugene, I'm glad you had the chance to meet my colleagues in the field. The kind of non-financial support such as men [...]

    257 days ago

  • Leora Klapper

    Dani, as mentioned earlier, we ask the unbanked to identify barriers to fomal account ownership (multiple answers are pe [...]

    257 days ago

  • Natalie Zuniga

    Great Leora, Eugene Aroka from Kenya was who asked that question. He also would like to know: I have had the chance of [...]

    257 days ago

  • Victoria Pietroboni

    (PlaNet Finance Argentina) Here my question again! Leora, I´ve seen some indicators for Argentina and I´m surprised to [...]

    257 days ago

  • Dani Matielo

    Hello, Leora, thank you for joining this conversation. I would like to ask what is the impact in terms of financial incl [...]

    257 days ago

  • Leora Klapper

    This is an important question -- World Bank specialists work with over 60 countries on financial inclusion, providing ad [...]

    257 days ago

  • Leora Klapper

    We receved a question by email yesterday: "The World Bank is a major world partner for development, how does it collabo [...]

    257 days ago

  • Leora Klapper

    All--sorry if I'm missing some questions. Please check back later and I'll add responses and links under "comments". [...]

    257 days ago

  • Leora Klapper

    Thanks Vero for your question. Short answer--absolutely!! We ask the unbanked in our sample WHY they don't have an a [...]

    257 days ago

  • Vero Esc

    Hi Leora, thank you for this opportunity. This is Veronica from Mexico, my question is: Do you think technology will c [...]

    257 days ago

  • Leora Klapper

    Camilo, Technical detail-- our survey asks, "In the past 12 months, have you used a mobile phone to....? " (i) pay bill [...]

    257 days ago

  • Natalie Zuniga

    HI Martha, just post your questions on the board. We have Leora Klapper answering them now. [...]

    257 days ago

  • Leora Klapper

    In follow-up focus groups in Sudan, for example, people reported that the guy (or woman) in the village with the cell-ph [...]

    257 days ago

  • Leora Klapper

    Camilo, Thanks for joining. This was indeed one of the surprises in the data.. foe example, 52% of adults in Southern [...]

    257 days ago

  • Leora Klapper

    ... A challange of supply-side data is that it includes dormant and multiple accounts. The Findex asks for the numbr of [...]

    257 days ago

  • Victoria Pietroboni

    (PlaNet Finance Argentina) Hi Leora! Thank you for this conversation. I´ve seen some indicators for Argentina and I´m [...]

    257 days ago

  • Leora Klapper

    Álvaro, thank you for pointing out an important difference between "supply-side" indicators (from the perspective of pr [...]

    257 days ago

  • Martha Mcmanamy

    How does one join the live conversation? I would like to hear more about this work! [...]

    257 days ago

  • Camilo Tellez

    Hi Leora, This is Camilo Tellez from CGAP. Could you elaborate a bit more regarding the way that the numbers for us [...]

    257 days ago

  • Leora Klapper

    Veronica, to answer your first question on indicators of 'access' versus 'use' -- at their Summit in Los Cabos, Mexico, [...]

    257 days ago

  • Natalie Zuniga

    Álvaro Martín Enríquez from Analistas Financieros Internacionales also asks: There are important issues regarding dor [...]

    257 days ago

  • Marzena Zukowska

    Hello Leora, I'm on of the Community Mobilizers from Changemakers. Here is my question: The World Bank has one of the [...]

    257 days ago

  • Natalie Zuniga

    Álvaro Martín Enríquez from Analistas Financieros Internacionales asks: if you had to list the four dimensions of fin [...]

    257 days ago

  • Leora Klapper

    For example, we find that in developing economies 37% of women have an account, compared with 46% of men. Even after con [...]

    257 days ago

  • Leora Klapper

    Great question Vernica! The great benefit of asking questions on the indivdiual-level is that we can splice and study t [...]

    257 days ago

  • Natalie Zuniga

    Veronica Lopez from Fundacion Afi also says: When designing financial inclusion surveys, what would be more appropriate, [...]

    257 days ago

  • Leora Klapper

    Welcome everybody. It’s great to see the widespread interest in Global Findex data—and how the data can be used to e [...]

    257 days ago

  • Natalie Zuniga

    Veronica Lopez from Fundacion Afi says: If you had to design just one single indicator to measure financial inclusion (e [...]

    257 days ago

  • Natalie Zuniga

    Welcome everybody, it is 11am EST! And World Bank’s Lead Economist, Leora Klapper is here to answer your questions. [...]

    257 days ago

  • Victoria Pietroboni

    Desde PlaNet Finance Argentina estamos listos para comenzar la charla!! [...]

    257 days ago

  • Marzena Zukowska

    Hi Leora, thank you for being here and sharing your insights with us. I'm greatly looking forward to this conversation! [...]

    257 days ago

  • Victoria Emanuelli

    Hello everybody! I´m really eager to start the conversation! [...]

    257 days ago

  • Natalie Zuniga

    Welcome Vicente! Leora will be answering your questions in one hour using this discussion board. Thanks! [...]

    257 days ago

  • Vicente Fenoll-Algorta

    great, regards from kubo.financiero [...]

    257 days ago

  • Natalie Zuniga

    And yes, I think my last name is basque, although I'm originally from Peru ;) [...]

    257 days ago

  • Natalie Zuniga

    Hi Igor, thanks for your question about ways of collaborating to promote financial inclusion. [...]

    257 days ago

  • Natalie Zuniga

    Hello! Welcome to our discussion board with World Bank Lead Economist Leora Klapper. At 11am EST, Leora will be answerin [...]

    258 days ago

  • Igor Etxabe

    Good morning, Leora! I am a member of a research group called ECRI Ethics in Finance and Governance (the unique group [...]

    258 days ago

  • Dele Ojoniyi

    I don't know if I will be available on Thursday but can you please give me the how to access individual funding from Wor [...]

    259 days ago

  • Natalie Zuniga

    Leora, Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge about financial inclusion and for taking the time to discuss the insig [...]

    260 days ago

  • Mukit Rouf

    Really looking forward to it. [...]

    265 days ago
Join the dialog
Mary O'Keefe

Mary O'Keefe

Co-founder and Board Member of ProDevelopment: Finance and Microenterprise, Mexico’s Leading Network of Microfinance Institutions

During the week of August 27th, Mary O’Keffe will be sharing her experience working to advance financial inclusion. Join the conversation!

  • Mary O Keefe

    While we’ve come a long way in understanding the power of women’s financial decisions. While groups are good starti [...]

    264 days ago

  • Mary O Keefe

    Hi Dani! I’ll say 20 years ago, access to credit for women was innovative. Women in many Latin American countries need [...]

    264 days ago

  • Mary O Keefe

    Women’s products shouldn’t require constantly obtaining productive credit, when a women is about to give birth or ca [...]

    264 days ago

  • Mary O Keefe

    I’ll begin to answer in reverse order. Women’s needs as you stated, often relate to the multiple roles they play sim [...]

    264 days ago

  • Irma Cosico

    Thanks Mary for sharing your rich experience in the area of financial inclusion, I am working with the migrant workers [...]

    265 days ago

  • Natalie Zuniga

    Hi Mary, welcome to our Speak Up section! Thanks for sharing your expertise about the financial inclusion situation for [...]

    266 days ago

  • Dani Matielo

    Dear Mary, thank you for sharing your experience with us. Even though I have been working in the social field in Brazil [...]

    267 days ago
Join the dialog
Salomon Raydan

Salomon Raydan

Salomon Raydan is a specialist in alternative financial models, founder and president of the Foundation for Rural Finance (FUNDEFIR), and an Ashoka Fellow since 2001. Salomon holds a MA from the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is co-author of “The Other Microfinance” (2011) book.

During the week of July 25th – August 8th, Salomon Raydan will continue the discussion on the Future of Financial Inclusion Innovation

  • best site to buy electronic cigarettes

    Woman of Alien... Perfect function you may have finished, this site is admittedly interesting with gre [...]

    214 days ago

  • Salomon Raydan

    Jen, happy to hear you enjoyed reading the article and would like to know more about the book. In the book, we propose t [...]

    286 days ago

  • Salomon Raydan

    Hi Leandro, Thanks for your question. It raises a very important point. Both systems are complementary. Informal mechani [...]

    286 days ago

  • Jen Ko

    Hi Salomon! I really enjoyed your article! I had a few questions: What do you mean by the new vision proposed in your re [...]

    286 days ago

  • Salomon Raydan

    Hi Natalie! Thanks for the question. Of course I believe these mechanisms can be improved. Our method of Bankomunal (and [...]

    286 days ago

  • Leandro Asensos

    Hey Salomon, I just read your article, very interesting view about banking and informal financial mechanisms. I have a q [...]

    287 days ago

  • Natalie Zuniga

    Hi Salomon! Thanks so much for making yourself available for discussing your ideas with us! I have a question that was r [...]

    287 days ago

  • Natalie Zuniga Gogny

    We are having a #SocEntChat about Financial Inclusion in Latin America, right now! Join us! [...]

    287 days ago

  • Victoria Emanuelli

    Irma, we will have a follow up #SocEntChat in Spanish and Portuguese focus on Iberoamerica, where Salomón is also atten [...]

    293 days ago

  • Irma Cosico

    I missed the 1st SocChat and hope that the discussion on financial inclusion continues [...]

    300 days ago
Join the dialog

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