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Improving Access to Finance in Agriculture Through Warehouse Receipts Join us for an insightful discussion on the critical issue of access to finance in agriculture. Access to finance remains amongst the top constraints to agricultural growth, keeping farmers from investing to improve productivity and getting out of poverty. Less than 3% of credit from formal financial institutions in emerging markets goes to agriculture, making most farmers depend on informal credit to finance their operations, often at very high cost and lack of transparency. One of the main challenges that constrain credit from flowing to agriculture is the lack of collateral...Read more
Data Analytics
Uplinq is thrilled to unveil our latest collaboration with Visa . Together, we’ve released a groundbreaking case study titled "Transforming global small business underwriting with augmented data" —a deep dive into how AI-powered credit decisioning is reshaping small business lending worldwide. Leveraging sophisticated AI and machine learning models to augment existing underwriting processes, the case study found that Uplinq helps FIs approve more loans while driving significant time and cost savings. Key data in the case study reveals that on average, Financial Institutions using Uplinq’s technology have seen a: • 50% reduction in underwriting operating costs • 15x reduction in...Read more
Sustainable Finance
On 12 - 13 March 2025 , the SME Finance Forum is organizing an immersion program in Istanbul, Türkiye. The event is hosted by Akbank . Join our two-day Immersion program to discover how Akbank , a private commercial bank in Istanbul, is revolutionizing the banking industry. The two-day Immersion program will provide members gain exclusive access to AKBank’s expertise in investment banking, learning how the institution supports transformative projects and sustainable economic growth through innovative financing models. You’ll also dive into AKBank’s credit analytics and underwriting frameworks, which leverage advanced data insights to optimize risk management while expanding access...Read more
Sustainable Finance
In today’s fast-paced financial landscape, loan originators need asset-based financing from institutional investors to grow their portfolios. However, the traditional fundraising process and ongoing tasks associated with managing debt facilities are operationally intensive, error-prone, and slow. Cascade set out to change that by developing an Asset-Based Credit Diligence and Risk Mitigation platform, transforming how Originators handle data validation and analysis, bringing much-needed transparency and speed to the industry. Innovation in Asset-Based Finance Traditional processes in asset-based finance have often relied on labor-intensive manual data verification, which can be both time-consuming and...Read more
Supply & Value Chain Finance
The supply chain finance industry is evolving rapidly, driven by factors such as trade policy uncertainties and the need for Supply Chain Finance (SCF) solutions in a changing trade landscape. Efforts are underway to support SMEs through SCF, simplify processes, and increase awareness. Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations are gaining importance, with stakeholders agreeing on sustainability KPIs. Regulatory challenges, digitisation of international trade, technological innovations like AI and cloud technology, and collaborative approaches are shaping the industry’s future, indicating a dynamic and transformative landscape. The BCR will hold its Annual Supply Chain Finance Summit on January 29th and 30th...Read more
Supply & Value Chain Finance
REGIONAL CONFERENCE Supporting SMEs within the Financial Supply Chain through Traditional & Reverse Factoring 25-26 February 2025 | Coral Gables, Miami, USARead more
Digital Finance Developments offers insights into timely topics in digital finance. This edition examines new efforts to coordinate AI policy across jurisdictions and the creation of new venues for this work, as policymaker focus shifts toward international cooperation. This piece explores how: Governments and international organizations have recognized the urgency of streamlining their approaches to AI safety, reflected in recent joint communiques, prompting tangible efforts at international collaboration. AI safety institutes (AISIs) are becoming a crucial mechanism for harmonizing safety standards and building consensus around the definition of safe AI; a newly established network of institutes will be crucial to...Read more
Creative Industries (CI) use culture and creativity as the main inputs to produce functional outputs with commercial value. They have a multidimensional development impact and directly contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals. The global Creative Industries sector generates nearly $2.25 trillion/year (UNESCO) and represent up to 2-7% of GDP where they are most developed and provides employment to 29.5 million people globally, especially for youth and women (largest global industry employing youth). Creator economy is the driver of a new generation of innovators, redefining industries like fashion, finance, technology, entertainment, food, wellness, social good. Topics: The webinar will focus on...Read more
Digital Financial Services
Featuring Global SME Finance Awards Platinum Winners G ain I nsights from Three Awardees and G et R eady to A pply fo r the 2025 Awards ***************** The Global SME Finance Awards Since its launch in 2018, t he Awards recognize and celebrate the outstanding achievements of financial service providers in delivering exceptional products and services to scale SME finance in their respective markets. It provides an opportunity for institutions to highlight and share good practices, impact, knowledge, and be recognized amongst the global peer group of world leaders in SME finance and services. LEARN MORE ...Read more
Digital Financial Services
Welcome to our latest blog post where we delve into the fascinating world of SME banking. During our latest webinar on November 25, we invited Paolo Sironi to share some of the key findings from IBM's Institute for Business Value (IBV)’s recent study, which features contributions from the SME Finance Forum. Together with four banking executives from Nubank (Brasil), Starling Bank (UK), Wema Bank (Nigeria), and Intesa Sanpaolo (Italy) – invited to comment on IBV report’s results - we learned how banks need to understand and integrate into the SME ecosystem. IBV’s innovative research approach The study involved interviews with...Read more