There are still three billion people around the world who are currently left out of the financial system. While many great organizations have done important work here there is so much more that needs to be done. And that was before the current crisis. The impact of the coronavirus will be felt more harshly in the developing world so the work being done in financial inclusion is more urgent than ever.

Our next guest on the Lend Academy Podcast is Mayada El-Zoghbi, the Managing Director at the Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI). Her organization, part of Accion, has responded to the crisis quickly.

In this podcast you will learn:
<ul>
 	<li>Mayada’s background in inclusive finance.</li>
 	<li>The work that she did on the Global Findex database.</li>
 	<li>Why she decided to take the job to be the head of CFI.</li>
 	<li>The mission of CFI today.</li>
 	<li>Why improving financial inclusion is about far more than technology.</li>
 	<li>The geographies they focus on and the types of demographics.</li>
 	<li>The relationship between CFI and Accion.</li>
 	<li>How COVID-19 has impacted the agenda for CFI.</li>
 	<li>The silver lining that could come out of this crisis.</li>
 	<li>How it will affect the gender gap.</li>
 	<li>What more fintech companies should be doing today in this area.</li>
 	<li>The priorities that CFI is focused on beyond the current crisis.</li>
</ul>
This episode of the Lend Academy Podcast is sponsored by <a href="http://www.lendit.com/usa/2020" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">LendIt Fintech USA 2020</a>, the world’s largest fintech event dedicated to lending and digital banking.

Lend Academy Podcast: Episode 245 with Mayada El-Zoghbi

For Financial Inclusion Week 2019, CFI sought out a small group of financial inclusion thought leaders to comment and take a position on this year’s theme, “Financial Inclusion: For What?” CFI Director of Communications Virginia Moore sat down with Bobbi Gray (Grameen Foundation), Till Bruett (DAI), and Shivani Siroya (Tala) to discuss the theme and evaluate our four proposed answers to it: financial health, sustainable development, equity, and the bottom line. They examine ways in which these answers complement or conflict with one another, and assess how the industry should measure its success, among other topics.

Financial Inclusion: For What? Podcast

For the final part of our Financial Inclusion Week 2018 podcast series, Tess Johnson, research associate at the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion, sat down with former CFI Fellow and Independent Consultant Alexis Beggs Olsen for a conversation highlighting a specific case study on getting inclusion right. This episode, based on our publication <a href="/uniting-tech-and-touch-why-centaur-products-are-better-for-consumers-and-providers-evidence-from-kenya">Uniting Tech and Touch: Why Centaur Products Are Better for Consumers and Providers</a> – Evidence from Kenya, explores both some remaining obstacles and concrete solutions to getting effective human touch right in Kenya’s digital financial landscape.

Podcast: Getting Inclusion Right Podcast with Alexis Beggs Olsen

For the second part of our Financial Inclusion Week 2018 podcast series, Tess Johnson, research associate at the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion, sat down with Accion in the U.S. CEO Gina Harman for a conversation highlighting the domestic U.S. perspective on getting inclusion right. Accion in the U.S. collaborates with all four Accion U.S.-based lending organizations to reach entrepreneurs on the ground and online with the latest innovations in mission-based small business lending.

Podcast: Getting Inclusion Right Podcast with Gina Harman

To kick off Financial Inclusion Week 2018, Tess Johnson, research associate at the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion, sat down with CreditMantri co-founder Gowri Mukherjee for a conversation highlighting the fintech perspective on getting inclusion right. CreditMantri is a fintech company based in Chennai, India that aims to reinvent the credit landscape by giving consumers access to responsible and transparent credit.

Podcast: Getting Inclusion Right Podcast with Gowri Mukherjee

To kick of Financial Inclusion Week 2017, Elisabeth Rhyne, Managing Director of The Center for Financial Inclusion will join Garance Wattez-Richard, Head of AXA Emerging Customers for a digital fireside chat. During the webinar, Rhyne and Wattez-Richard will discuss how new products and partnerships are opening up new potential in the financial inclusion space. They will take a specific look at how AXA is developing new products and partnerships to reach emerging customers.

Podcast: How are New Products and New Partnerships Unlocking Access to Insurance

We were excited to sit down with Jayshree Venkatesan, an independent financial inclusion consultant working in India and author of our recent landscape study of financial capability building practices India.

Disclaimer: In her answer to the second question Jayshree states the RBI has issued 23 new types of licenses to 3 new institutions. She has since corrected that to 3 new licenses granted to 23 institutions.

Podcast: Financial Capability Building Practices in India - A discussion with Jayshree Venkatesan

This is a discussion with Shameran Abed, Director of the BRAC Microfinance and Anne Hastings, Executive Director Microfinance CEO Working Group.

Hosted by Susy Cheston, Senior Advisor Financial Inclusion 2020

Podcast: Addressing the Financial Needs of the Ultra Poor

Within 15 years, there will be 1.3 billion people over age 60 in the world, a reality that presents challenges but also opportunities for financial inclusion. Recently, the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion and HelpAge International, with the support of the MetLife Foundation, released Aging and Financial Inclusion: An Opportunity, a report that examines the unmet financial needs of the global aging population. In this interview, Elisabeth Rhyne, Managing Director for the Center for Financial Inclusion; Eppu Mikkonen-Jeanneret, Head of Policy at HelpAge International; and Evelyn Stark, Assistant Vice President, Financial Inclusion lead at MetLife Foundation discuss this issue and research with Eric Zuehlke from the Center for Financial Inclusion.

Podcast: Aging And Financial Inclusion - An Interview on Unmet Financial Needs and Opportunities

Larry Reed, director of the Microcredit Summit Campaign, recently sat down with Susy Cheston, senior advisor to FI2020, and Anton Simanowitz, co-author of the new book <a href="http://www.thebusinessofdoinggood.co.uk/">The Business of Doing Good</a>, to discuss how organizations can do good work and turn a profit, particularly in the microfinance sector.

Podcast: The Business Of Doing Good - A Chat with Anton Simanowitz

Mayada El-Zoghbi

Tess Johnson

Alexis Beggs Olsen

Gina Harman

Elisabeth Rhyne

Garance Wattez-Richard

Kenya

Sub-Saharan Africa

North America

United States

India

South Asia

Digital Payments

Financial Health

Fintech

Savings

Underserved Groups

Women

Fintechs

Podcast

Virginia Moore

The majority of Kenyans have mobile money accounts; their activity demonstrates digital financial services’ potential. Accion helps Kenyan innovators harness emerging technologies to create new financial services.

India is a global leader in financial inclusion. For over a decade, Accion has worked with and learned from India’s innovators, investors, and policymakers to expand economic opportunity for its people and businesses.

The audacious vision of Financial Inclusion 2020 is that full financial inclusion for all is actually possible by 2020 if all stakeholders join together to address the gaps and seize the opportunities. Existing technologies stand as one of these great opportunities, and could make financial services available anytime, anyplace, reaching millions of people who were previously excluded. Yet there is a lot of work to be done before those technologies can realize their promise of bringing about financial inclusion.

In this podcast, Susy Cheston of the Center for Financial Inclusion is joined by Dr. Bejoy Das Gupta, Chief-Economist for the Asia-Pacific region at the Institute of International Finance, Ed Brandt, Executive Vice President for Government Services and Solutions at Mastercard Worldwide, and Paul Tregidgo, Managing Director at Credit Suisse. Together, they explore the importance of technology and innovative partnerships in making the vision of Financial Inclusion 2020 a reality, sharing key takeaways from a roundtable hosted jointly by the Center for Financial Inclusion and the Institute of International Finance.