Events
Dic
21
SME FINANCE FORUM
Online
Add to Calendar
2021-12-07 19:00:00
2021-12-07 19:00:00
2021 SME Finance Forum Members’ Meeting
Registration for the 2021 Members' Meeting of SME Finance Forum will be opening soon.
This years' Members' Meeting will be held on December 8th, from 8:00 to 10:00 AM EDT.
Kindly save the date and register on Member Portal.
The SME Finance Forum Team
Online
SME FINANCE FORUM
ronyg@panapps.co
America/New_York
public
Dic
21
SME FINANCE FORUM
Online
Add to Calendar
2021-12-06 19:00:00
2021-12-06 19:00:00
Marketplace Sessions
The “SME Finance Virtual Marketplace” is an online match-making platform that promotes partnership and collaboration between members of the SME Finance Forum, especially financial institutions, fintech companies and development finance institutions/ investors. The virtual Marketplace is powered by GlobalLinker, an AI powered ‘Digital Ecosystem’ offering SMEs a range of services to build digital presence including e-commerce.
How does the Marketplace operate?
To participate in the marketplace session, each member of the SME Finance Forum must have 1) an institutional profile (company profile) and personal profiles (individuals representing the companies) set up on the marketplace. Institutional profile shall also include products/services being offered by the members. With institutional profile and personal profile, representatives of member institutions will be able to explore different offerings by other members such as investment products, advisory services, technology solutions...etc. The virtual platform will enable members to reach out to one another to discuss potential collaboration and partnership at their own convenience.
Marketplace Sessions
The marketplace sessions are scheduled monthly and feature a series of institutions (DFIs, fintechs, investors, etc.) who present their products/services. Following the presentations, participants have opportunities to reach out directly to the presenting institutions to make inquiries or explore partnership opportunities based on their interests.
Click below on each session to learn more.
2022
Sixth Session with Investors - Summary | Video
Seventh Session with Fintechs -Summary To be posted | Video
Eight Session with Investors and Fintech -Summary To be posted | Video
Ninth Session with Fintech -Summary To be posted | Video
2021
First Session with DFIs - Summary | Video
Second Session with Fintechs - Summary | Video
Third Session with Fintechs - Summary | Video
Fourth Session with Fintechs - Summary | Video
Fifth Session with Fintechs - Summary | Video
Online
SME FINANCE FORUM
ronyg@panapps.co
America/New_York
public
Nov
21
SME FINANCE FORUM
Online
Add to Calendar
2021-11-10 19:00:00
2021-11-10 19:00:00
SME Finance Virtual Marketplace - Fifth Session - Fintechs
The “SME Finance Virtual Marketplace” is an online match-making platform that promotes partnership and collaboration between members of the SME Finance Forum, especially financial institutions, fintech companies and development finance institutions/ investors. The virtual Marketplace is powered by GlobalLinker, an AI powered ‘Digital Ecosystem’ offering SMEs a range of services to build digital presence including e-commerce.
How does the Marketplace operate?
To participate in the marketplace session, each member of the SME Finance Forum must have 1) an institutional profile (company profile) and personal profiles (individuals representing the companies) set up on the marketplace. Institutional profile shall also include products/services being offered by the members. With institutional profile and personal profile, representatives of member institutions will be able to explore different offerings by other members such as investment products, advisory services, technology solutions...etc. The virtual platform will enable members to reach out to one another to discuss potential collaboration and partnership at their own convenience.
Fifth Marketplace Session
This fifth marketplace session, scheduled on Thursday, November 11th from 8 am - 9:00 EDT, will feature a series of fintechs who will present their products/services. Following the presentations, participants will have the opportunities to reach out directly to the presenting fintech to make inquiries or explore partnership opportunities based on their interests.
Meet the Fintech Presenters
lnddo
Adham Azzam is the Co-Founder and COO of LNDDO Digital Lending Limited. Adham Azzam is a highly experienced and personable leader who boasts over 20 years’ experience in financing and investment. Fluent in Arabic, French, German, and English, his career has seen him work across Europe and the MENA region. Prior to launching LNDDO with his partner Ashraf Ghazaly, he spent a number of successful years working as a Senior Investment Officer at the International Finance Cooperation (IFC) in Egypt. This saw him advise governments across the region on structuring and implementing PPP projects, and soon after he also launched his own renewable energy company, EgySolar. Meanwhile, he started his illustrious career by spending 15 years’ working across various prosperous European corporations, and he holds degrees in Engineering from the respected French educational institution INSA, and an MBA from INSEAD business school. Described by his colleagues as a team player who brings strong leadership and analytic skills, plus creativity, natural enthusiasm and energy, he is now pouring all his passion and knowledge into helping SMEs across the region grow and prosper with the support of LNDDO’s digital lending solutions.
Inbonis
Alberto García is a Research and Operations Analyst at Inbonis Rating. He has a strong formation in international economics, with experience both in the academic world (researcher at the University of Sevilla) and the business environment (economic analyst at the Spanish Embassy in the United States). He holds a double degree in Law and Economics from the University of Sevilla and a Master’s in International Business Administration from ICEX-CECO School of Business.
Marco
Jacob Shoihet is Co-Founder and CEO of Marco - the first tech-enabled trade finance platform designed to provide working capital to SME exporters across LatAm. Since founding Marco in 2020 Jacob has raised in excess of $100MM in funding across debt/equity and grown Marco to 30 full-time employees across offices in Miami, New York, and Montevideo. Year-to-day Marco has processed over $50MM of GMV across thousands of trade receivables. Prior to Marco Jacob had over 9 years of Enterprise Sales, Strategic Business Development, and Management experience. He was one of the first 40 employees at Yelp’s New York Office and was a Sales & BD leader at public companies Yelp, Groupon, and tech unicorn Taboola. Jacob has executed strategic enterprise partnerships with companies such as CBS Interactive, The Atlantic, The Economist, News Corp, The Enthusiast Network, Time Inc/Meredith, Index Exchange, Outbrain and others. Led North America/Latin America publisher sales team driving ~$80MM in revenue for Series C computer vision AI technology company GumGum.
Jacob holds a Hon. B.Mus in Classical Music Performance from the University of Toronto.
Talino Labs
Winston Damarillo is the Founder and CEO of Talino Venture Labs, a global venture studio of inclusive fintech that bridges the financial inclusion gap for underserved, underrepresented groups around the world. He is also the CEO of Talino’s portfolio startups that include BayaniPay, a cross-border financial platform for global professionals; Saphron, an award-winning startup that makes insurance radically accessible to drive financial inclusion; Asenso, another award-winning startup that accelerates economic recovery for small business in the United States; NeoTech, a pioneering SME lending platform for the Middle East; and UNAWA, a pioneering and award-winning regulatory tech (regtech) startup unlocking ease of doing business in the Philippines. He is also the Executive Chairman of Amihan Global Strategies, a leader in digital transformation in Southeast Asia, as well as Founder of DEVCON Philippines, the largest community of tech professionals in the Philippines. Winston is a Silicon Valley veteran with three successful startup exits, a venture capitalist, and a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum (WEF), and a member of the Board of Governors of the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC).
Ycash
Muammar Saleh is the General Manager Assistant for Operation at National Cash Transfer. He holds a Bachelor degree holder , bilingual, worked in microfinance bank one of his positions was Senior projects manager to manage nationwide projects related to vulnerable people assistants (poor people – IDPS) in all the Yemeni regions including the very remote rural areas, duties including participating in proposals writing , developing the implementation plan , recruiting the required staff in all the regions , training the staff ,coordinating the relations with the partners, following up the activities achievement level monitoring the performance and ensuring the quality and the criteria awareness , resolving the problems and facilitate the challenges, providing the required advices, and recommendations, reporting and led the steering committees, representing the entity in the official arrangements, motivating the team, time controlling, prompt responding to the partner inquiries and requests, managing the data flow among the teams (office and field teams) .
Ysys
Fares Al Najjar is a business development expert, holds bachelor degree in English Language and Literature, pre-master business development courses, and the publisher of Chaos Oriented Management academic paper. Fares have over 13 years experiences business development, project management, humanitarian responses management, programs development and quality. Business Development Director at YSys and head of business development committee YCASH Group. Previous War Child UK Programs Manager, and Save the Children Advisor of Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning. Progressio Organization short terms expert and development advisor of Capacities building and good governance. International expert in the humanitarian responses management (including Iraq and Syria responses). With High level expertise and long experiences in businesses development, start-up MSMEs, community development, partnerships and international relationships, Fares is currently the Business Development Director at YSys for FinTech and Smart Humanitarian Solutions, and a founder of YSys. In the current position, I drive more on the sustainable financial growth of YSys by boosting sales and building strong relationships with clients and partners. I lead the development of strategies, exploration of partnerships, products development, assessment of investment opportunities. and researches and studies.
Relive the event here>
Relive the previous session here>
For more information, please contact us at smefinanceforum@ifc.org
By registering to this event, you agree to the SME Finance Forum/IFC Event Privacy Notice.
**
Core Features & Capabilities of the SME Finance Marketplace
Access the Marketplace Platform: As representatives from member institutions, you can access the Marketplace via your personal LinkedIn or Google accounts or simply by signing up via your work email address here> smeff-marketplace.globallinker.com/
Onboarding: Once the personal account is created, you will be guided through an onboarding process to set up the company profile.
Overview: Company Name, selecting head office from Google Maps, selecting member type, uploading logo.
Company Profile: to have a rich company profile, it’s recommended that you provide a brief description about the company. It’d be helpful to indicate what your company offers or what it’s looking for from potential partner institutions. It’s advisable to add digital addresses like website, company’s LinkedIn profile or FB business page links if available.
Marketplace Offerings/Listings: Creating service listings across 8 categories, adding a brochure, video links, cover image etc., if available.
Individual User Profile: as representatives of your institution, you shall have your personal profiles on the marketplace platform to enhance networking opportunities. It’s important to add your designation, job role/designation, time zone to schedule meetings, digital addresses like personal LinkedIn profile, profile photo etc. *Company profile set up is a one-time exercise and any colleague joining from the same company thereafter can simply select the company name and all the details will be prepopulated.
Marketplace: All listings on the marketplace are classified under 8 categories. You can choose to view all listings, or a particular category based on your interests/needs. You could send enquiries directly to companies that you’re interested in or schedule meetings with the key contacts/representatives of the company
Enquiries: Interested members can send enquiries directly to the company by clicking on the "Send Enquiry" button on the listing and the enquiry is sent via direct message and an email notification.
Member Directory: You can browse through the member directory to learn about their work or products/services they offer. You can filter members by their types, review offerings & requirements, visit company profiles, user profiles or listings pages to know more about the company.
Schedule meetings: You can send request for meetings on the platform by selecting the participants you wish to invite. You can upload attachments if helpful.
Messages: Members can send instant messages to other members on the platform to network or explore opportunities. If a specific member is online, their profiles will be carrying a green "Online" tag.
Invite Colleagues: you could invite your colleagues to create their profiles so to expand your company’s presence on the marketplace. While creating their profiles, they have to simply select the company they belong to and all the details set up by you will be pre-filled.
If you have any questions or to learn more, read the User Manual in this link.
Feel free to let us know should you have any questions or need any assistance to smefinanceforum@ifc.org.
Online
SME FINANCE FORUM
ronyg@panapps.co
America/New_York
public
Sep
21
SME FINANCE FORUM
Online
Add to Calendar
2021-09-29 20:00:00
2021-09-29 20:00:00
Sneak Preview of the World Development Report 2022: Finance for an Equitable Recovery
by invitation only
The World Bank Group is inviting members of the SME Finance Forum to an exclusive “sneak preview” of their upcoming 2022 World Development Report (WDR). It aims to be a practical guide—grounded in research and real world experience—for low-and-middle-income countries to develop strategies to strengthen financial markets for a more equitable recovery from the COVID-19 economic crisis. Through analysis, frameworks, and case studies, the report assesses the financial and economic impacts of COVID-19 on households, businesses, banks, and governments, and will provide recommendations for addressing financial fragilities as nations rebuild.
On September 30th 8:00 am EDT, WDR Director Leora Klapper and Lead Author Martin Holtmann will make a special advance presentation of the report, with findings about the impact of COVID-19 on economies, next steps for governments and lenders to deal with the anticipated rise in debt defaults, debt restructuring, and insolvency, and there will be a special focus on how technology and data, along with tech-enabled product design and delivery, can foster continued access to finance for households and businesses as economies recover.
What you will learn
The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on households and firms, and the interlinkages with pre-existing debt loads and economic fragilities.
Present and anticipated state of debt distress and the prospects for business solvency
Priorities for governments and lenders to manage rising levels of non-performing loans as borrowers supports are wound down
Reform priorities to improve insolvency frameworks and create a orderly process for restructuring
The impacts of the crisis on credit risk and the ability of lenders to provide adequate financing to businesses and households in the context of high economic uncertainty
How innovations in the use of technology and data, and in tech-enabled product design and delivery, can increase visibility into a borrower’s future ability to repay, and improve recourse in the event of nonpayment
Regulatory and supervisory frameworks for technology-enabled financial innovation
About the World Development Report (WDR)
The WDR is a flagship publication of the World Bank Group. Previous WDRs have examined how technology is changing the nature of work, trade and development in the age of global value chains, and how the changing data landscape is creatin opportunities as well as challenges. This year the WDR is focusing on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on financial markets, and how participants and policy makers can build back better for a resilient and equitable recovery. The report will examine the financial impact of the pandemic on household, firms, and governments, as well as the policy responses and consequent fiscal implications for government budgets and broader sovereign and private credit markets. As the economic disruptions to firms and households due to the pandemic echo in non-performing loans and defaults, proactive approaches to managing credit market disruptions will be important to recover. The report will present resolution strategies for lenders and debt restructuring approaches for households and firms, including in-court and out-of-court options to reduce debt burdens and pave the way for recovery. Of particular interest to SMEFF members, the report will examine how lenders can respond to the increased risk and reduced visibility of the pandemic lending environment, and how policy makers can foster innovations in lending alongside well-designed government support programs.
Speakers
Leora Klapper is the WDR2022 Director and a Lead Economist in the Finance and Private Sector Research Team of the Development Research Group at the World Bank. Her publications focus on corporate and household finance, banking, entrepreneurship, and risk management. Her current research studies the impact of digital financial services, especially for women. She is a founder of the Global Findex database, which measures how adults around the world save, borrow, make payments, and manage risk. Previously, she worked at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and Salomon Smith Barney. She holds a Ph.D. in Financial Economics from New York University Stern School of Business.
Martin Holtmann is the WDR2022 Lead Author and Global Sector Manager for Financial Inclusion, MSME Finance, and Digital Finance at IFC. Martin started in banking with Deutsche Bank in Buenos Aires. As Project Manager and Managing Director, he spent twelve years with IPC, an access to finance and bank management consulting firm. From 1995 until 2001 he was the resident Manager of the EBRD Russia Small Business Fund. Prior to joining IFC, Martin was Lead Financial Specialist at CGAP, where he managed the Technology Team and also headed the “Retail Advisory Service”. As a faculty member of the Boulder Microfinance Training Program since 1996, Martin has helped to train more than 4000 banking executives and microfinance professionals. Martin is a graduate of the L.B. Pearson UWC in Victoria, B.C., Canada, and holds Master’s degrees from Trier University (Business Economics) and Harvard University (Public Administration).
Members access recording on Member Portal>
A summary of the event will be posted soon.
By registering to this event, you agree to the SME Finance Forum/IFC Event Privacy Notice.
For more information, please contact us at smefinanceforum@ifc.org.
Online
SME FINANCE FORUM
ronyg@panapps.co
America/New_York
public
Sep
21
SME FINANCE FORUM
Online
Add to Calendar
2021-09-21 20:00:00
2021-09-21 20:00:00
SME Finance Virtual Marketplace - Fourth Session - Fintechs
The “SME Finance Virtual Marketplace” is an online match-making platform that promotes partnership and collaboration between members of the SME Finance Forum, especially financial institutions, fintech companies and development finance institutions/ investors. The virtual Marketplace is powered by GlobalLinker, an AI powered ‘Digital Ecosystem’ offering SMEs a range of services to build digital presence including e-commerce.
How does the Marketplace operate?
To participate in the marketplace session, each member of the SME Finance Forum must have 1) an institutional profile (company profile) and personal profiles (individuals representing the companies) set up on the marketplace. Institutional profile shall also include products/services being offered by the members. With institutional profile and personal profile, representatives of member institutions will be able to explore different offerings by other members such as investment products, advisory services, technology solutions...etc. The virtual platform will enable members to reach out to one another to discuss potential collaboration and partnership at their own convenience.
Fourth Marketplace Session
This fourth marketplace session, scheduled on Wednesday, September 22nd from 8 am - 9:00 EDT, will feature a series of fintechs who will present their products/services. Following the presentations, participants will have the opportunities to reach out directly to the presenting fintech to make inquiries or explore partnership opportunities based on their interests.
Meet the Fintech Presenters
Bloom Impact
Carol Caruso is an innovative leader with 20 years global business development, inclusive finance and digital technology experience. Currently the CEO and Co-Founder of Bloom Impact, a social impact, Fintech startup, Carol has extensive experience and passion in driving social impact, innovation and inclusive finance through the use of innovative technology such as mobile apps/payments, online platforms, biometrics, remittances and agent networks. She has worked on a wide variety of digital inclusive finance initiatives and collaborated with partners such as leading Telcos (Safaricom, Airtel, MTN, Tigo), Fintech vendors, payment companies (Visa, Mastercard), Central Banks, Social Impact investors and private companies. Carol has held prior positions as SVP Digital Channels & Tech at Accion International, Managing Director of Triple Jump Advisory Services – a Dutch responsible investment manager, Financial Inclusion Expert at Kiva and EMEA Director at Broadvision. Carol brings a unique combination of experience from having worked in Europe, US, Africa, Asia, and LATAM within both private and public sectors. She is a board member and advisor for several social impact startups in Africa and the US, and a mentor and judge for the UC Berkeley BigIdeas startup competition and MIT’s Inclusive Innovation Challenge and $100K Entrepreneurship Competition. During the 2017-18 academic year, Caruso joined Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government as a joint Visiting Social Innovator (VSI) at the Social Innovation and Change Initiative and Visiting Hauser Leader at the Center for Public Leadership. She continues to serve as a Beck VSI at SICI.
Bnkability
Emem Usanga is the CEO and Founder of Bnkability, a technology company that ensures African trade transactions are creditworthy and investment ready unlocking capital for SMEs whilst derisking dealflow for financial institutions. Through this solution, Bnkability is aiming to contribute to moving the needle on Sub-Saharan Africa’s economic development. With a business development career spanning over 15 years in advertising, she has worked for startups as well as corporates including Glow, Haymarket Publishing and WPP’s 24/7 Real Media. In her spare time, Emem has been London Local Lead for the Interaction Design Foundation, Adas List Strategy Committee member and member of the UK Africa Fintech Investment Group (a DFID & DiT partnership). She is Co-Lead of TLA Africa.
CashDirector
Patrycja Strzelecka is the co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer at CashDirector. CashDirector’s Digital CFO solution for SMEs helps banks provide financial management services to small businesses at an affordable price. The platform allows SMEs to save time through automated daily finance management, understand their cash-flow needs in real-time, and interact online with their bank to balance short-term deficits or get funding. At the same time, through integration with their online banking platform, banks are able to obtain valuable information crucial for better risk assessment and to offer personalized on-demand products in an automated and efficient way. Patrycja's expertise include Fintech, finance and accounting management, outsourcing. Prior to CashDirector she was Managing Director at TMF Group and Head of Marketing at Raiffeisen Bank in Poland. Alumni of Barclays TechStars PwC Raise and DBS SuperCharger Accelerators Patrycja understand the dynamics of scaling companies as well as partnering with banks. She graduated from the International Silesian Business School in Poland and holds an MBA from Université du Québec à Montréal
Dymamic Resources (CashNow)
Moazzam Ahmed is a co-founder at Dynamic Resources – a Fintech startup focused on addressing SMEs cashflow challenges. This is the first Supply Chain Finance portal operating in Pakistan, under the trademark CashNow™ which is focused on the B2B segment of the economy. The company became operational in March 2021 and has processed over PKR 200mn in transactions. This company is focused on digitizing the SME eco-system, to improve transparency and efficiency. Before embarking on this project, Moazzam was as a Senior Country Officer in Pakistan for the International Finance Corporation (IFC), World Bank Group for over 14 years. Prior to IFC, Moazzam was a consultant with Cap Gemini Ernst and Young for over 10 years.
Vector ML Analytics
Sadeq Safarini is the CEO and founder of Vector ML Analytics, the founder of Global Structured Finance ( and former senior director of Dealnet Capital, a publicly traded Canadian firm with over 500 employees He was responsible for building the treasury and securitization function in addition to being involved in the design and implementation of the business plan. His expertise in treasury, securitization, and credit risk helped the company grow its book from 50 M to 200 M by the end of 2018. Sadeq has extensive financial experience in major banks, trusts, public companies, fintech, and credit rating agencies He has held multiple consulting positions in both London and Toronto, where he was able to turn complex financial data into simple value added information to examine business plans and strategically steer businesses in the right direction. His areas of expertise include machine learning, data science, automation, credit rating, structured finance, securitization, Asset Backed Securities ( Mortgage Backed Securities ( Asset Liability Management ( liquidity planning forecasting, debt capital markets, risk management, stress testing, financial modeling, business valuation, investor reporting, capital planning analysis, compliance, and cross functional leadership.
Relive the session here>
For more information, please contact us at smefinanceforum@ifc.org
By registering to this event, you agree to the SME Finance Forum/IFC Event Privacy Notice.
**
Core Features & Capabilities of the SME Finance Marketplace
Access the Marketplace Platform: As representatives from member institutions, you can access the Marketplace via your personal LinkedIn or Google accounts or simply by signing up via your work email address here> smeff-marketplace.globallinker.com/
Onboarding: Once the personal account is created, you will be guided through an onboarding process to set up the company profile.
Overview: Company Name, selecting head office from Google Maps, selecting member type, uploading logo.
Company Profile: to have a rich company profile, it’s recommended that you provide a brief description about the company. It’d be helpful to indicate what your company offers or what it’s looking for from potential partner institutions. It’s advisable to add digital addresses like website, company’s LinkedIn profile or FB business page links if available.
Marketplace Offerings/Listings: Creating service listings across 8 categories, adding a brochure, video links, cover image etc., if available.
Individual User Profile: as representatives of your institution, you shall have your personal profiles on the marketplace platform to enhance networking opportunities. It’s important to add your designation, job role/designation, time zone to schedule meetings, digital addresses like personal LinkedIn profile, profile photo etc. *Company profile set up is a one-time exercise and any colleague joining from the same company thereafter can simply select the company name and all the details will be prepopulated.
Marketplace: All listings on the marketplace are classified under 8 categories. You can choose to view all listings, or a particular category based on your interests/needs. You could send enquiries directly to companies that you’re interested in or schedule meetings with the key contacts/representatives of the company
Enquiries: Interested members can send enquiries directly to the company by clicking on the "Send Enquiry" button on the listing and the enquiry is sent via direct message and an email notification.
Member Directory: You can browse through the member directory to learn about their work or products/services they offer. You can filter members by their types, review offerings & requirements, visit company profiles, user profiles or listings pages to know more about the company.
Schedule meetings: You can send request for meetings on the platform by selecting the participants you wish to invite. You can upload attachments if helpful.
Messages: Members can send instant messages to other members on the platform to network or explore opportunities. If a specific member is online, their profiles will be carrying a green "Online" tag.
Invite Colleagues: you could invite your colleagues to create their profiles so to expand your company’s presence on the marketplace. While creating their profiles, they have to simply select the company they belong to and all the details set up by you will be pre-filled.
If you have any questions or to learn more, read the User Manual in this link.
Feel free to let us know should you have any questions or need any assistance to smefinanceforum@ifc.org.
Online
SME FINANCE FORUM
ronyg@panapps.co
America/New_York
public
Sep
21
SME FINANCE FORUM
Online
Add to Calendar
2021-08-31 20:00:00
2021-08-31 20:00:00
Open Webinar: Making Digital Financial Services Work for Women – A Focus on Digital Adoption
In 2019, Women’s World Banking conducted research in India and Indonesia on an emerging business model known as social commerce entrepreneurship with enterprises blending social media, e-commerce, payments and delivery platforms. One of the findings of the study is that, despite adopting digital platforms, women are not yet fully utilizing them. “Digital adoption means achieving a state in which users gain the ability to use digital tools as they are intended and to the fullest extent.”
The topic of digital adoption is especially relevant as the world moves towards a digital future with the economy driven by digital commerce and enabled by digital finance. We aim to raise awareness on what prevents the adoption of DFS; and, what FSPs can do to drive adoption, especially as they actively leverage digital finance for women’s financial inclusion. On September 1st, 2021 at 8:00 AM EDT, Women’s World Banking (WWB) and its project partners, will share learnings from their work in wage digitization and digital account activation highlighting digital adoption insights from Wing Bank (Cambodia) Plc, Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited (DBBL) Bangladesh and DANA Indonesia, as well as from WWB’s research in a joint effort with the ILO, published in March 2021.
What you will learn
• What trends are we seeing in the ecosystem that hinder or facilitate digital adoption
• What the challenges and barriers are both Financial Service Providers (FSPs) and their women customers face with digital adoption
• What the solution components in digital financial services (DFS) are that drive adoption and usage among women customers
• What role MSMEs can play in supporting adoption of digital financial services, e.g., digital payments
Host
Matthew Gamser, CEO, SME Finance Forum
Speakers
Manu Rajan is the Division CEO at Wing Businesses that includes Wing Bank (Cambodia) Plc. He brings over two decades of hands-on learning across an interestingly diverse blend of advertising, analytics, telecom, and consumer finance & fintech. He has been passionately consolidating all that learning to drive financial inclusion in developing markets across geographies including Africa, Asia & the Pacific. He has been a techno-marketer over 22 years and had worked with companies in the USA, Asia, Pacific and Africa that blended technology and finance that are relevant to the poor. Manu has an MBA in Marketing from the Cochin University of Science and Technology.
Md. Abedur Rahman Sikder is the Deputy Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer at Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited (DBBL) Bangladesh. He has been with DBBL for almost 5 years now. He had been Chief Retail Banking Officer before his new assignment as COO this January 2021. Prior to joining DBBL, he was EVP at BRAC Bank in Bangladesh and prior to that, CEO at BRAC Lanka Finance in Sri Lanka. Sikder has a Master’s Degree in Governance Studies from the University of Dhaka and has two Post Graduate Diplomas, one in International Relations and the second in Business Management, Marketing and Related Support Services.
Agustina Samara is the Chief People and Corporate Strategy Officer at DANA in Indonesia. She has been with DANA since July 2018. Tina has 24 years of working experience in multinational and local companies playing various roles as banker, executive of a conglomerate company, owner of a consultant firm and executive of a start-up. At DANA, her passion is to find great talents to develop digital money and build a cashless society for Indonesia. She earned an Industrial Engineering degree from the Universitas Trisakti and deepened her leadership skills through INSEAD Leadership Executive Program. She is a certified international trainer and coach.
Elwyn Panggabean is the Director for Advisory Services at Women’s World Banking. With 14 years of experience working in financial industry and development sector, Elwyn leads the advisory projects, research and business development in Southeast Asia. He was a senior banker at one of the largest state-owned Banks in Indonesia. Prior to joining Women’s World Banking, Elwyn was a Manager at a consulting firm that focuses in financial inclusions, to assist the development of digital financial and socio-economic inclusion in Indonesia. His areas of expertise and interest include research, strategy, business development, and evidence-based policy analysis. Elwyn holds an MA in Development Studies from the International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Nithyasri Sharma is a Manager for Strategy at Women’s World Banking. She is a seasoned strategy professional focused on inclusive finance, fintech strategy, and digital innovation. She currently leads the strategy function at Women’s World Banking where she is responsible for driving the development and implementation of the organization’s strategic plan to reach 100 million women, as well as country strategies in each of the organization’s key priority markets. She also has expertise in human-centered research and product design for inclusive finance institutions from banks to fintechs, across digital credit, savings, and mobile payments. Nithyasri received her BA in Economics and English Literature from Dartmouth College, her MBA from the Yale School of Management, and her MA in International and Development Economics from Yale University.
About
Wing Bank (Cambodia) Plc is the bank for every Cambodian. Since introducing instant, secure, and convenient fund transfers in August 2008, Wing Bank has revolutionized the way Cambodians access mobile financial services. Wing Bank serves the entire Cambodian population through our innovative Wing Money App, nearly 10,000 Wing Cash Xpress agents, over 55,000 participating merchants, and partnerships with industry giants. Wing Bank provides an array of advanced financial products (loans, deposits, micro savings, credit referral services, money transfers, utility and insurance payments, phone top-ups) both for individual and corporate customers. In addition, Wing offers retail payments via “WingPay”, and has the “WingMall” e-commerce platform. Small and large companies alike are also using Wing’s payroll and disbursement services. Wing Bank is committed to improving financial inclusion for the unbanked and the under-banked, allowing every Cambodian to enjoy convenience and security when it comes to financial services.
Dutch-Bangla Bank is Bangladesh's first joint venture bank between local shareholders spearheaded by M Sahabuddin Ahmed (founder chairperson) and the Dutch company FMO. From the onset, the focus of the bank has been financing high-growth manufacturing industries that exports Bangladeshi products worldwide. The bank has also won numerous international awards because of its unique approach as a socially conscious bank. Dutch Bangla Bank was the first bank in Bangladesh to be fully automated. The Electronic-Banking Division established in 2002 undertook rapid automation and bring modern banking services into this field. It now provides unrivaled banking technology offerings to all its customers.
DANA is a technology company that supports one of the pillars of a digital economy in Indonesia. As a Fintech, it aims to bring inclusive financial services to empower people for a better way of life by enabling the society to transact seamlessly. It offers a highly secured and scalable payment service platform that connects everyone based on world-class technology. DANA’s goal is to provide Indonesia with a trustworthy and convenient mobile payment system that caters to the needs of their customers, and that is a sustainable and profitable business for their stakeholders. They want to build Indonesia as a cashless society.
Women’s World Banking designs and invests in the financial solutions, institutions and policy environments in emerging markets to create greater economic stability and prosperity for women, their families, and their communities. With a global reach of 56 partners in 31 countries serving more than 70 million women clients, Women’s World Banking drives impact through its scalable, market-driven solutions; gender-lens private equity fund; and leadership and diversity programs.
Relive the session here>
For more information, please contact us at smefinanceforum@ifc.org
By registering to this event, you agree to the SME Finance Forum/IFC Event Privacy Notice.
Online
SME FINANCE FORUM
ronyg@panapps.co
America/New_York
public