Deepening small business access to finance: the power of partnerships
How partnerships between fintechs, banks, NGOs, and governments expand small business access to finance and strengthen inclusive digital financial ecosystems.
Articles (19)
What Mastercard Strive is learning about digital solutions to improve access to finance for small businesses worldwide
Barbra Safar, an entrepreneur from Rawalpindi, Pakistan, has skillfully navigated the challenges of running two businesses.
How trust scales impact: The role of local partners in federal programs for small businesses
This article highlights key themes and moments from the second Strive USA Summit in Washington, DC, on April 17, 2024.
Exploring the evidence: The power of tailored digital financial services for small businesses
This post is part of a series on our findings from Mastercard Strives Small Business Digital Evidence Map.
Building bridges for small businesses: Highlights from the inaugural Strive USA Summit in New York
Participants at the first Mastercard Strive USA Summit spoke about how to access and leverage the once-in-a-generation investments being made by the federal government.
Partnerships, policy & platforms: How the community development finance sector is supporting historic entrepreneurship growth in the U.S.
New technologies, a surge in federal funding, and strategic partnerships are driving rapid growth of the community development finance sector and bolstering resilience.
Grants available to improve access to credit for European small businesses
Strive EU grants fund embedded finance solutions to expand credit access, unlock working capital, and close Europe’s growing small business financing gap.
Introducing CREDERE: A new solution using open data to improve the financial inclusion of small businesses in public procurement markets
This guest post is by Lindsey Marchessault and Oscar Hernandez from the Open Contracting Partnership.
How to achieve personalization at scale when delivering digital financial services
The following is a guest post written by Lucinda Revell from Boost Capital, a platform that enables small businesses to access financial services and learning through smartphones.
Building financial solutions for small businesses in public procurement: Lessons from Bogota
The following is a guest post written by Lindsey Marchessault and Oscar Hernandez from the Open Contracting Partnership.
Boosting the digital skills of women retailers in Nigeria
The following is a guest post co-written by Strive Community partner Boost and the Growing Businesses Foundation.
Chatty chatbots vs. approachable apps for financial education
The following is a guest post written by Lucinda Revell from Boost Capital.
Enabling small businesses to reach their potential by increasing their access to finance
A few weeks ago, we hosted a panel discussion during the 2022 Financial Inclusion Week on enabling small businesses to reach their potential.
Innovation to support digitalization of vulnerable small businesses in Brazilian favelas
Strive Community recently announced a program to support the digitalization of 500,000 small businesses across up to 5,000 favelas in Brazil.
Lessons on building digital supply chain finance solutions for small businesses in Africa
In this report, Accion shares lessons from three key African markets on how to enhance and scale digitally-enabled supply chain finance solutions.
The importance of segmenting small businesses to enable better finance
CGAP recently published a focus note that highlights the importance of segmentation to better meet the formal financial needs of small businesses.
New Global Findex data highlights the potential for digital merchant payments to deepen financial inclusion
New Global Findex data shows digital payments surged worldwide, creating major opportunities for small merchants to drive financial inclusion and growth.
Inflation sets a new frontier for digital financial services
Global inflation driven by the Ukraine war is raising costs for small businesses. Updated digital financial services could help stabilize cash flow and build resilience.
Supporting Kenyan small businesses to cross the digital divide
COVID-19 hit African micro-retailers hard. Mastercard Strive and Arifu are delivering SMS and WhatsApp training to help small businesses build digital skills and resilience.
