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de mayo
20
SME FINANCE FORUM
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2020-05-19 20:00:00
2020-05-19 20:00:00
Open Webinar - African Innovations in SME Finance: Mobile Financial Services
The use of mobile financial services (MFS) has grown exponentially over the last 10 years, making sub-Saharan Africa a leader in MFS innovation, adoption, and usage. Banks and financial institutions are building digital financial services ecosystems and partnering with telcos and fintechs to provide financial services like online deposits and withdrawals, money transfers, merchant payments, loans and savings products amongst others to reach both the ‘last mile’ and scaling up to serve SMEs. By utilizing transactions and other data, mobile products offer affordable, simple and innovative solutions, increasing access to financial services for millions across the continent. According to the GSMA, West Africa is the 2nd largest region with mobile money accounts. In this webinar, we will hear from members EcoBank, Jumo, and the South African multinational mobile telecommunications company, MTN, who are leading MFS in this region.
Speakers
Arnold Kavaarpuo is the Country Director for Jumo in Ghana. Arnold is a financial inclusion evangelist, fintech enthusiast, and published author. In his role as Country Director of JUMO Ghana he set up the initial operation and has since grown the business to about US$1 billion in disbursements values. Arnold is passionate about driving game-changing financial services with a focus on new delivery channels, product design and value optimization. He has experience across a variety of channels including branch- and partnerships based with Mobile Network Operators, commercial banks and insurance companies. Prior to JUMO, Arnold headed up the Unsecured Lending Unit of afb Ghana Plc where he oversaw the development and growth of a 100% unsecured loan product for the informal sector and a direct-debit-only payday loan product. In 2011, he was a key member of the team that developed and launched the first bancassurance product in Ghana. Arnold holds a BA in Geography and Rural Development and an MBA in Global Business. He is currently studying towards a Doctor in Business Administration with a research focus on Inclusive Innovations.
Martin Vogdt is the Chief Product & Platform Officer at Jumo. Martin has considerable expertise in building rapidly scaling digital start-ups across Asia, Europe and Africa, with a focus on user experience and technology in large e-commerce companies in developing markets. Prior to joining JUMO, Martin held several positions at Rocket Internet and was an early team member at Lazada (now Alibaba Group) and Home24, followed by senior positions at Jumia Group, Africa’s biggest e-commerce venture.
Owureku Asare, Head, Digital Solutions, Group Commercial Banking at Ecobank with oversight of 33 Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Prior to his current role, he was the Regional Head, Consumer Distribution for Ecobank Anglophone West Africa. He also led digital financial services initiatives in more than 15 countries in Central, East and West Africa. He is a seasoned subject matter expert in financial services with over 17 years of experience in large-scale product management, Sales and Distribution, Credit Structuring, Structured Trade, Cash Management, and Relationship Management. He is a specialist in Digital Financial Services with a focus on Financial Inclusion, Payment innovation, Issuing and Acquiring. Owureku is an international speaker on Digital Financial Services with speaking engagements in Africa and Asia. He currently serves as a Board member of Diabetes Youth Care and a Member of Rotary Club of Accra La-East with an objective to serve above self. He also serves as a Director of Enovate Advertising, Impact Food Hub and Financial Inclusion Forum Africa.
William Danso-Abeam is the segment Head, Direct Banking for Ecobank Ghana Limited and leads the execution of the bank's strategy for the Mass Market, driving self-service through digital and convenient channels. With 13 years in Retail Banking, William started from retail banking operations and evolved into Direct Banking via Digital channels. As the segment Head, Direct Banking, he led Ecobank Ghana Ltd to launch the very first Digital lending offer within the Ecobank Group which has disbursed over 4.1m loans valued at $227m to over 1.2m customers within the first 10 months. Prior to joining Ecobank Ghana Ltd, William worked with the International Community School (ICS), Ghana, as the Resource and Finance Manager.
Registration for members is available on the member portal here.
For non-members, register below to join the online meeting from your computer.
Prior registration is required to attend the webinar.
Enter meeting number 471 823 173 if the registration form is not displayed.
For more information, please contact: Jessica Alfaro
WebEx
SME FINANCE FORUM
ronyg@panapps.co
America/New_York
public
de abril
20
SME FINANCE FORUM
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2020-04-21 20:00:00
2020-04-21 20:00:00
Open Webinar Launch of Financing SMEs and Entrepreneurs 2020 Report: An OECD Scoreboard
The SME Finance Forum is hosting a webinar to share insights from the new report Financing SMEs and Entrepreneurs 2020: An OECD Scoreboard.
Members and non-members are welcome to participate!
In today’s global economy, SMEs and entrepreneurs are at the heart of the search for inclusive growth in countries around the world. Ensuring that small firms can access external finance in the appropriate forms and volumes is a prerequisite for their development and growth. In times of crisis, such as the one the world is currently facing with the COVID-19 pandemic, financing becomes critical for SMEs to survive in the face of immediate and profound effects.
In the years following the global financial crisis in 2008, SME access to finance improved. Driven by economic recovery, interest rates reached historic lows, bank lending picked up again, and credit conditions for SMEs and entrepreneurs improved considerably. Today, SMEs are turning to alternative financing instruments, such as asset-based and online finance, like never before. This signals that they have taken a step forward in financial diversification.
In this webinar, we will discuss the latest trends in SME financing and share key insights from the new OECD report, Financing SMEs and Entrepreneurs 2020: An OECD Scoreboard. We will also talk about how governments are stepping in to foster SME financial resilience in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the biggest global crisis in more than a decade.
About the report: This OECD flagship publication, now in its ninth edition, tracks developments for 47 countries around the world. The OECD will present the report, followed by a discussion among SME finance experts.
With the special participation of
Angel Gurría has been the Secretary-General of the OECD since 2006. Under his leadership, the Organisation has established itself as a pillar of the global economic governance architecture including its active engagement with the G20, G7, APEC and other international fora. Mr. Gurría has advanced the OECD’s impact and relevance in several policy area, focusing on the promotion of better lives through inclusive growth and new approaches to economic challenges. He has also made the OECD more inclusive through new memberships, strengthening the link with key emerging economies and fostering its global outreach. Mr. Gurría came to the OECD following a distinguished career in public service in his native Mexico, including positions as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Finance and Public Credit in the 1990s.
About the Speakers
Miriam Koreen is the Senior Counsellor on SMEs at the Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions, and Cities of the Organisation for Economic Co‑operation and Development (OECD). From 2011 to 2018, she was Deputy Director and Head of the SME and Entrepreneurship Division. Ms. Koreen has worked at the OECD since 2000 when she joined the OECD Directorate for Science, Technology, and Industry conducting analysis on entrepreneurship and SME policies. From 2002-2007, she served as Counsellor to the Trade Directorate. From 2007-2009, Ms. Koreen worked as an Advisor in the Office of the Secretary-General. In 2009, Ms. Koreen was named the Senior Project Manager for the OECD Innovation Strategy. She also served as Chair of the OECD Procurement Board from 2011 to 2015. Ms. Koreen holds a M.Sc. in Development Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a BA in English and Modern Languages from Emory University.
Lucia Cusmano is Acting Head of the SME and Entrepreneurship Division at the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, Regions and Cities (CFE). Ms Cusmano has a PhD in Economics from the University of Pavia (Italy) and has completed a Master of Science in Economics at Warwick University (UK). Ms Cusmano has worked at the OECD since 2010, serving as Senior Economist and Executive Secretary for the OECD Working Party on SMEs and Entrepreneurship (WPSMEE). She has authored OECD works on SME financing, SME innovation, SME eco-innovation and green entrepreneurship, and benchmarking of SME and entrepreneurship policy. She has also published extensively in international journals on SMEs, entrepreneurship, innovation, structural change, institutions and economic development in advanced and developing regions.
Miriam Bruhn is a Senior Economist in the Finance and Private Sector Development Team of the Development Research Group at the World Bank. She joined the Bank as a Young Economist in September 2007. Her research interests include the effect of regulatory reform on entrepreneurial activity, the informal sector, micro and small enterprises, financial literacy, and the relationship between institutions and economic development. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from MIT and a B.A. in Economics from Yale University.
For more information, please contact: Jessica Alfaro
WebEx
SME FINANCE FORUM
ronyg@panapps.co
America/New_York
public
de marzo
20
SME FINANCE FORUM
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2020-03-24 20:00:00
2020-03-24 20:00:00
Open Webinar - Digital Banking Solutions Series on Automation - Part II
The SME Finance Forum is hosting a two-session webinar series on Digital Banking Solutions, the first on platforms and the second on automation.
Members and non-members are welcome to participate!
Digitalization has led to disruption in banking, challenging conventional practices, opening up many new partnership opportunities and making it possible for new entrants to provide innovative products and services at a lower cost to the customer. In this series, we will be looking at some of the most important new digital models and how banks and financial institutions can utilize data, analytics, and partnerships, to incorporate innovative SME finance products and redesign traditional business models.
Part Two: Automation
With rapid digitalization in the financial services ecosystem, banks are embracing automation and other innovations to improve SME lending processes. By using data, AI, and machine learning, banks are integrating paperless online applications and single platforms to process loan application, eliminating paperwork, and the slow and expensive processes to make lending decisions. These technologies enhance, not eliminate the role of loan officers and manual underwriters, and aggregate data for verification, analyze and monitor financial statements, allowing for quicker and in some cases, nearly instantaneous lending decisions.
In this webinar, we will hear from two SME lenders who are embracing these technologies. First, we will hear from the SME Credit Risk Strategy Team at member Garanti BBVA, who will discuss their credit automation pilot that they launched in 2018. We will also hear from OakNorth, a multi-billion-dollar digital bank focused on redefining lending to small and medium-sized businesses globally using its next-generation credit platform. OakNorth Bank, backed by SoftBank's Vision Fund has taken the top spot on the FT's annual list of the 1,000 fastest-growing companies in Europe.
These firms will discuss how they utilized these technologies to reduce manual processes, decrease the time for lending decisions and improve loan monitoring, making the end-to-end loan origination process more efficient and less risky.
Speakers
Sean Hunter is the Chief Information Officer at OakNorth, a multi-billion-dollar fintech firm focused on redefining lending to small and medium-sized businesses globally using its next-generation credit platform. Prior to joining OakNorth, Sean was one of the first commercial engineers at Palantir Technologies in Europe where he led trader oversight partnerships with large financial institutions, particularly Credit Suisse, which led to being co-head of the JV called Signac. Before Palantir, Sean was a strategist at Goldman Sachs for 8 years, working in a number of areas including equities, fixed income, and algorithmic trading.
Alper Eker is the Head of Retail Credit Risk at Garanti BBVA. He has with 20+ years of experience and background in process automation and corporate risk management in international corporations like General Electric and universal banks like BBVA and Garanti BBVA bank, started his career in GE Corporate R&D Center in NY, USA, as a technology expert, led different technology development projects in GE power systems, healthcare, and GE Capital. Shifting his career to finance with GE Capital in Connecticut, USA obtained a Black belt degree on Lean &Six Sigma Change management program, then, moving to GE Consumer Finance, founded GE Central Eastern Europe Region Risk Analytics Center of Excellence in Prague, Czech Republic. In 2008, moving to İstanbul, Turkey, led first, GE and then BBVA Representative Office Risk departments in Garanti Bank Turkey, focusing on integration framework for Corporate risk policies procedures and Commercial Credit Committee process until 2015 end. Since 2016, leading Retail Credit risk area for Consumer and SME loans in Garanti bank, responsible from wing to wing management of Underwriting to Monitoring areas for unsecured products i.e. personal loans, overdrafts, credit cards, as well as secured products such as Mortgage and Auto loans. In his role, Alper Eker has focused on optimized workflows and digitalization of credit circuits, lately in SME retail microcredit. Alper Eker, holds a Ph.D. degree in System Controls and Process Optimization from the University of Houston Chemical Engineering Department.
Read a recap of this webinar here.
The webinar recording is available for members only on the member portal here.
For more information, please contact: Jessica Alfaro
WebEx
SME FINANCE FORUM
ronyg@panapps.co
America/New_York
public
Feb
20
SME FINANCE FORUM
WebEx
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2020-02-18 19:00:00
2020-02-18 19:00:00
Members Only Webinar - Digital Banking Solutions Series on Platforms - Part I
The SME Finance Forum is hosting a two-session webinar series on Digital Banking Solutions, the first on platforms and the second on automation. Digitalization has led to disruption in banking, challenging conventional practices, opening up many new partnership opportunities and making it possible for new entrants to provide innovative products and services at a lower cost to the customer. In this series, we will be looking at some of the most important new digital models and how banks and financial institutions can utilize data, analytics, and partnerships, to incorporate innovative SME finance products and redesign traditional business models.
Part One: Platforms in SME Banking
Much hoopla is accompanying concepts such as "open banking" and "bank-fintech partnerships". What is less discussed is how difficult it is for many financial institutions to connect to fintechs and realize the potential of new solutions. Most banks still remain dependent on their IT departments and resources, which is why many banks fear that digitalization will lead to even greater dominance of the finance industry by a few large players. It is also why even smaller countries are fearful as their regulators have fewer resources to learn about and figure out how to govern financial technologies. Therefore, many are excited about platforms being created to facilitate bank-fintech interaction, providing a common utility that reduces costs of learning and testing.
In this session we will hear from AFIN and API Exchange (APIX), the world’s first cross-border, open architecture API marketplace and sandbox platform for collaboration between fintechs and financial institutions, and a partner bank that has successfully utilized these platforms, and from UnionBank of the Philippines. They will discuss the benefits of platform-based banking increased flexibility, increased personalization and cross-industry collaboration as well as some of risk surrounding data sharing and how to prevent unintended data sharing.
Speakers
Matthew Saal is the Head of Digital Finance, Financial Institutions Group at IFC. Previously, he was the Associate Director in the Local Currency and Capital Markets Development initiative of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). He previously covered banks, non-bank financial institutions, and equity funds as sector coordinator for financial institutions in the Office of the Chief Economist. Matthew contributed to initiatives on mobile money and SME finance as part of broader financial infrastructure and financial access investment programs, has advised the African Development Bank on initiatives and partnerships in digital financial services, and is involved in sourcing and vetting potential financial technology investments. Prior to joining EBRD in 2010, Matthew worked in emerging markets finance, private equity, venture capital, strategy and business development, consulting, and international economics. Matthew has had a longstanding focus on financial services and financial technology. Matthew has written on banking, macroeconomic policy, financial systems structure, trade, and monetary policy instruments. He holds an A.B. in Chemistry from Princeton and an M.Phil. in Economics from Oxford, where he studied as a Marshall Scholar.
Manish Diwaan is the Managing Director of ASEAN Financial Innovation Network - AFIN. He joined AFIN in July 2019 and is responsible for developing and implementing the overall strategy of AFIN. Manish has nearly 20 years of experience working in the Financial services industry in India and Vietnam. Starting from GE in the year 2000, to Western Union in 2007 to setting up India business of Vodafone mPesa in 2008 and Reliance ePay in 2013. In his last assignment in Vietnam, Manish was instrumental in setting a digital only bank. Manish has expertise in multiple aspects of new age digital business including Product Management, Strategy, Marketing and Business Development. Manish has completed his Executive Program in Management from Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay in 2011 and BA Degree from IIHM Aurangabad in 1999.
Pieter Franken is a Director at AFIN/AFIX. His career spans over 25 years in Financial Services, specializing in O&T, Fintech, innovation and large-scale transformations. He has held C-level and executive positions with industry leaders such as Citigroup, Shinsei Bank, Aplus, Monex Securities and Monex Group. His hallmark is pioneering innovative services by embracing bleeding edge technologies while minimizing time-to-market and dramatically reducing costs. Well versed in large scale IT transformation, bi-modal management, innovation, software development, datacenter operations, financial operations and FinTech. He’s a much looked after advisor and expert speaker on a wide range of topics and is known for providing deep insights pulling from is wide experience in IT, financial services, and innovation management. In Japan, Pieter is Advisor to Monex Group (a leading global, online financial services company) where he focuses on the Future of Financial Services, Global Fintech, and technology trends and is Vice-Chair of the Alternate Investments Committee (AIC) of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ). In Singapore, Pieter serves as a member of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) International Technology Advisory Panel (ITAP) where he contributes to the transformation of Singapore into a leading Fintech Hub and is a Director at AFIN, a MAS/ABA/IFC cofounded initiative to accelerate Financial Inclusion across Asia and the Middle East. In the startup space, Pieter is involved with ModuleQ.AI (a Silicon Valley AI startup), EmeradaCo.com (an Open Banking FinTech in Tokyo) among others In 2011, in the aftermath of the Fukushima Nuclear disaster, Pieter co-founded Safecast.org – a global volunteer initiative to collect citizen sourced environmental data. Safecast today is recognized by Nature Magazine, Poplar Mechanics and many global experts as the leading citizen science project. Pieter holds a MSc in Computer Science from Delft University (The Netherlands) and currently is an Affiliated Researcher with MIT Media Lab (US) and Guest Professor at Keio University (Japan) where he contributes to the advancement in IoT, Digital Currencies, Block-chain technologies, Medical Inclusion and Citizen Science.
Ricardo Jose "Dodge" V. Ronquillo is currently the Head of FinTech Synergies & Integrations in the FinTech team of UnionBank of the Philippines. He comes from a diverse background of both corporate and startup companies in gaming, HR tech, telco, and banking. In those companies, he has had over a decade of experience in various roles: Product Development, Product Management, QA Management, and Business Development and Partnerships. He has led partnerships that led to new product offerings to new markets and grew users for both partners. Dodge has a degree in Psychology from De La Salle-University but is adept in code and web design.
Read a recap of this webinar here.
For more information, please contact: Jessica Alfaro
WebEx
SME FINANCE FORUM
ronyg@panapps.co
America/New_York
public
Ene
20
SME FINANCE FORUM
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2020-01-28 19:00:00
2020-01-28 19:00:00
Members Only Webinar - Managing SME Banking in challenging conditions
In challenging economic conditions, SMEs are key to supporting livelihoods and creating jobs, and may even support efforts to address the root causes of the difficult conditions themselves. Although small businesses may be contributors to a country’s resilience, they’re often the first to be cut off when macro-conditions deteriorate and lending to SME may be even further constrained. In this webinar, we will hear from member FDI and Quds Bank who have been on the front lines of this challenge, drawing lessons from these their experiences on how to manage SME banking during these times. The speakers will discuss the specific challenges for serving SMEs in this setting, share tools for risk mitigation around lending to small enterprises, and other strategies for supporting and managing SME banking in fragile economic conditions.
Speakers
Vanessa Bastien Joseph
Born in the United States but raised in Haiti, Vanessa Bastien Joseph holds a Bachelor's degree in Languages from Florida International University and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) with a concentration in Finance from Colorado Technical University.
In 2010, she began her career at JPMorgan Chase Bank as a Personal Banker. Upon returning to her home country of Haiti in 2011, she has worked at Capital Bank and Banque de l'Union Haïtienne as a Senior Corporate Loan Officer. In 2018, she joined the Fonds de Développement Industriel (FDI), a division of Haiti’s Central Bank as an Assistant Director and Project Coordinator.
Vanessa Bastien Joseph is a rigorous professional with eight years of experience in the banking/finance industry. She always attends seminars in her field. To further her knowledge, she has enrolled in the Master of Professional Accounting Program at the University of Miami in January 2019.
Bartol Letica
Bartol is a Senior Financial Sector Specialist in the International Finance Corporation (IFC)’s Advisory Services team for Sub-Saharan Africa, leading a number of credit infrastructure projects in the region including in Kenya, Zambia, Ethiopia and Somalia. He is also the focal point for fragile and conflict countries in the Finance, Competitiveness, and Innovation Global Practice of the WBG, coordinating the team of regional counterparts and supporting the operational teams.
Bartol previously held a number of positions within IFC, working for the Public Private Partnership and Investment Climate Departments as well as the Special Assistant for the Vice-President for Advisory Services.
He holds B.A. from Yale University (international relations), M.A. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (international business), and Ph.D. from the Law School, University of Zagreb (corporate social responsibility).
Mohammad Shawar
Mohammad Shawar is the Vice President - Business Banking and Financial Institutions Head at Quds Bank in Palestine and is responsible for a facilities portfolio worth about USD 500 MM. He has over 13 years’ experience in the banking sector and vast knowledge of business and credit projects.
Prior to joining Quds Bank, he held several senior banking positions, including Corporate Credit Assistant Manager and Head of SMEs at Arab Bank. He has a B.S. in Finance and Banking and a MBA from Birzeit University - Palestine.
Albeir Habash
Albeir Habash is the Vice President - Credit Head at Quds Bank in Palestine. He has an MBA from Birzeit University - Palestine.
The webinar recording is available for members only on the member portal here.
For more information, please contact: Jessica Alfaro
WebEx
SME FINANCE FORUM
ronyg@panapps.co
America/New_York
public
Dic
19
SME FINANCE FORUM
Webinar
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2019-12-30 19:00:00
2019-12-30 19:00:00
Members Only Webinars for 2019
Each month the SME Finance Forum organizes webinars for its members. We invite industry experts from leading banks or innovative fintechs to talk about their approach to small business finance. Members can tune in to the webinars via WebEx or the phone. The webinars are designed to be interactive and we encourage members to ask questions and engage in a discussion with the speakers.
If you are interested in learning more about the webinars please contact Jessica Alfaro at jalfaro2@ifc.org
Jan. 31 - Credit Scorecards and Big Data
Feb. 27 - New Technology Changing Trade and Supply Chain Finance
Mar. 20 - Women’s Entrepreneurship Finance Initiative (We-Fi)
Apr. 10 - Banking as a Platform vs Digital Banking Competition in Emerging Markets
May 7 - Digital Non-Financial Services for SMEs and Women Entrepreneurs
June 19 - How to Build Successful Real and Financial Sector Partnerships for SME Financing
July 10 - De-risking: Innovations in ID, KYC, and AML
July 18 - FSB Evaluation of the Effects of Financial Regulatory Reforms on SME Financing
August 28 - SME Finance at the Cutting Edge: Going Beyond Finance
September 5 - Powering Prosperity: Financing Women Entrepreneurs in 2019
September 11 - Serving Informal and Very Small Enterprises
November 20 - SME Credit Rating
December 11 - SME Governance Gaps and Solutions
** Past webinar recordings are available to SME Finance Forum members on our Vimeo Channel and our Members App
Webinar
SME FINANCE FORUM
ronyg@panapps.co
America/New_York
public