1. Mobile Money: What risks do customers perceive when using digital financial services and what are the consequences of those risks? A new brief explores these questions through the lens of lower-income customers in 16 markets around the world. CGAP
2. Financial Literacy: Most financial literacy programs are geared toward steady paycheck earners with long-term savings goals. But how can programs assist households that are struggling with volatile incomes and unpredictable expenses? Mediaplanet
3. Savings: A new survey raises the benchmark for emergency savings from 3 months to 6 months and unsurprisingly find few people meet the target. New research from the US Financial Diaries suggests that we're thinking about and measuring emergency savings the wrong way. Bankrate
4. M-Shwari: Is M-Shwari a revolutionary product or just a high-cost loan in disguise? CFI
5. Small Dollar Credit: A partnership in Jackson, MS is linking employers, banks, and educators to offer small loans and financial literacy courses to consumers as an alternative to payday loans. The Huffington Post
The photo above, by Rafael Hernandez, received an honorable mention in the 2014 CGAP Photo Contest. Entries are now open for the 2015 contest and can be submitted here.
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