News/Events

A series of articles on the many successes and occasional setbacks in the inclusive finance space has been compiled into an e-book published by NextBillion Financial Health, a blog and news resource that is part of NextBillion, the WDI-affiliated platform focused on entrepreneurship and venture development in emerging markets.

The e-book, “Insights and Innovations in Financial Health,” features 20 articles that highlight the impact and insights of MetLife Foundation, which sponsored the NextBillion Financial Health blog for the past year, and its many partner organizations. It is filled with in-depth research, business experiences and other practical insights from those working to advance financial health. (A PDF of the e-book can be downloaded here.) Gretchen Wheeler, WDI’s graphic and web design specialist, designed the e-book.

Launched in 2013 as NextBillion Financial Innovation, the site originally covered the “financial inclusion movement’s efforts to spread access to financial services to underserved clients. But the sector’s focus evolved over the years, with many advocating that inclusion by itself wasn’t enough.

The NextBillion Financial Health site has reflected this evolving thinking, with articles that explore how the financial services industry can help low-income clients to balance income and expenses, accrue savings, handle debts and weather financial storms. Though the MetLife Foundation partnership has ended, the site continues to provide a platform for sharing research, innovations and analysis focused on how financial tools can improve the lives of low-income clients.

“We’re grateful to MetLife Foundation for their generous support of the site, and for the frank and insightful articles they contributed to it,” said James Militzer, editor of NextBillion. “The thought leadership the Foundation and its partners have provided has further solidified the inclusive finance sector’s movement toward a deeper understanding of the power – and limitations – of financial tools in addressing the challenges of poverty.”

NextBillion Financial Health remains one of the more popular areas of the NextBillion site overall: Finance-themed articles consistently rank among its most read and shared content.

WDI recently launched its Financial Sector Development (FSD) initiative, which identifies and implements ways for financial institutions to profitably lower the cost of capital available to SMEs in emerging economies. FSD’s current research focuses on using remittances to lower the cost of capital for small- and medium-sized enterprises.