Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd will allow small U.S. businesses to sell on Alibaba.com, the company said on Tuesday, as it seeks to tap into the business-to-business e-commerce market and fend off rivals like Amazon.com Inc.
Supporting SMEs is a mantra of governments and banks alike, writes Brian Caplen from The Banker. But any new policies will need to take account of changes in the international economy.
China's banking industry has traditionally been dominated by state-owned financial institutions. Even the smaller banks have roots going back to provincial or municipal governments. In recent years, however, Beijing has started to issue banking licences to private players. A new kind of digital-first bank, sometimes referred to as a 'neobank' in the West, has quickly emerged in China. Yillion Bank is one of it and is the only one headquartered in Northeast China.
Finovate brings together the Asia's fintech community to feature demos of new fintech solutions, key insights from thought-leaders and influencers, and networking that delivers meaningful connections with fintech decision-makers.
SME Finance Forum members are entitled to receive a discount on registration. Please, contact us for more information.
This research, by The Mastercard Foundation Partnership for Finance in a Digital Africa, collected information from 27 micro-entrepreneurs in Kenya about how they use platforms (from social media sites to ecommerce marketplaces and online freelancing websites) in their day-to-day business. The platform practices these conversations revealed include: the prevalence of social media use, the intermingling of online and offline worlds, the adjustments made to tweak online credibility, and the unique approaches to upskilling. Platform product designers should build with these practices in mind.
The MSME sector is the backbone of Nigeria’s economy. Studies by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) show that approximately 96% of Nigerian businesses are Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). Thanks to digital technology, it is worth noting that ecommerce platforms have so far played a key role in boosting and accelerating MSMEs in the last seven years.
From agribusiness to capital markets, JD Digits has been a leading ecosystem player to bring automation, robotics and artificial intelligence to a wide range of industries. SME Finance Forum members had an opportunity to learn about JD Digits during the Forum's second immersion program to JD Finance, the company that manages the service, on June 10.
Do open APIs make sense for your company? Which ones? This blog outlines a structured approach, taken by a CGAP partner, which allowed the team to develop a deeper understanding of the API product’s value and requirements and to ultimately get the buy-in it needs to develop and release a successful product.
Washington, D.C. May 21, 2019 – PME Investimentos became the newest member of the SME Finance Forum, a global membership network that brings together financial institutions, technology companies, and development finance institutions to share knowledge, spur innovation, and promote the growth of SMEs.
In this EY has outlined a number of questions they believe firms need to ask themselves with respect to how they can really help the SME community, considering how they can provide additional insight, tools and services that will best serve their customers. Firms that answer these questions the best are likely to come out on top, not just in this funding contest, but in the ongoing battle of attracting and retaining SME customers.
