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From Informal Financial Intermediaries to MicroFinTech Valuation

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Abstract

This chapter goes beyond the traditional model of for-profit startups, showing how Microfinance Institutions—a good template for NGOs—can follow the typical startup patterns, with some adaptations. Microfinance is a renowned albeit controversial solution for giving financial access to the unbanked, even if micro-transactions increase costs, limiting outreach potential. The economic and financial sustainability of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) is a prerequisite for widening a potentially unlimited client base. Automation decreases costs, expanding the outreach potential, and improving transparency and efficiency. Technological solutions range from branchless mobile banking to geolocalization of customers, digital/social networking for group lending, blockchain validation, big data, and artificial intelligence, up to “MicroFinTech”–FinTech applications adapted to microfinance.

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Correspondence to Roberto Moro-Visconti .

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Moro-Visconti, R. (2021). From Informal Financial Intermediaries to MicroFinTech Valuation. In: Startup Valuation. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71608-0_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71608-0_11

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

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