Slum-dweller Krustin bin Juri lost everything when floodwaters swept through his home and shop on the banks of Jakarta’s filthy Ciliwung river two years ago. But when the next flood hits, and it will because Jakarta sees frequent floods in the rainy season, bin Juri may have a modicum of protection thanks to a low-cost insurance policy that he purchased this month. He is among millions of the world’s poor who are covered for natural disasters by cheap insurance, or microinsurance, as commercial firms recognise that insuring the poor is not just good public relations but also profitable.

Microfinance is a term for the practice of providing financial services, such as microcredit, microsavings or microinsurance to poor people. By helping them to accumulate usably large sums of money, this expands their choices and reduces the risks they face. Suggested by the name, most transactions involve small amounts of money, frequently less than US$100.

Silicon Valley company Bloom Energy revealed its heavily hyped and closely guarded solid oxide fuel cell on Wednesday, heralding the technology as a likely clean-tech game-changer. The system is already in use by companies like Google, eBay, FedEx, Staples and Wal-Mart.

Once upon a time, Sumitra used to roam the streets of the Indian city of Ahmedabad, collecting discarded caps which could be recycled and sold back to manufacturers such as Coca-Cola.

Clickatell, a vendor of messaging, is providing in-country SMS alert services to Satelite Microfinance Bank.

A permanent Calendar about the events of the FWA. The Financial Women’s Association brings together high achieving professionals from every sector of the financial world.

In reaction to the financial crisis, the U.S. banking industry and its regulators have been forced to seek new consumer protections that will put the industry on stronger ground. In marked contrast, one global subsector of the financial industry is moving proactively to ensure that client protection remains at the core of its business model. That subsector is microfinance, the provision of loans and other financial services to the poor worldwide.

Kiva President Premal Shah on the company's mission to fight poverty by lending to entrepreneurs. Video at Forbes.com

Ladi Smith, director, SIAO, in this interview with Daniel Obi, says Credit Awareness Nigeria Initiative is geared towards sensitising lenders on the need for credit information to avoid non-performing loans.

The ubiquity of the credit card and the impact of the recession mean the move to use a mobile phone to make payments and conduct banking is likely to be a slow and tortuous affair in Europe.

The summit will focus on urban poverty by bringing attendees to visit any of the seven leading microfinance organizations in Kenya.

A new microfinance bill that was recently introduced in the Indian Parliament would remove the cap on microloan interest rates. Although there would be no cap on interest rates, the regulatory body would “advise” microfinance institutions to keep rates low and would “closely monitor” them, according to government officials.

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been advised to shelve its proposed plan to conduct examination for all managing directors of registered microfinance banks across the country.

Will regulating the microfinance market in Egypt help breach a gap between supply and demand? Sherine Nasr seeks answers

MEPs gave the green light for EU funding to help Europe's unemployed start up small businesses. Credit will be made available to budding entrepreneurs through a "microfinance facility" funded partly from the existing Progress programme and partly from unallocated money in the EU budget.

Online sites like Babyloan or Kiva have taken the idea of lending small sums to help lift people out of poverty to create a direct personal link between lenders and borrowers.

The Microfinance Association (MA), an international membership organization for practitioners in the microfinance industry, has launched its Global Academy Program (GAP). The three-month program, developed by MA and Marconi University of Italy, is aimed at graduates seeking to develop a professional career in microfinance or international development.

In Mongolia, a microfinance system supported by The World Bank and its international partners helps create business opportunities in poor rural areas through the Mongolia Microfinance Development Fund and brings development to remote areas that have been severely affected by the global economic downturn.

Angel Acquisition Corp. ("Angel Acquisition Corp." or the "Company") (OTCBB: AGEL) announced today that the Company has signed a financing agreement with a Private Investor to partner with Angel's new micro financing, micro banking and micro lending network www.angelsinaction.tv

Bankers without Borders, a nonprofit that recruits finance executives to volunteer their time and expertise at microfinance projects in developing countries, has secured a $3m grant from JPMorgan Chase to expand the programme.

Microfinance, perhaps best known as a means of helping small business owners in developing countries move out of poverty, is one source already in place in the United States. These organizations make small loans and other financial services available to low- and moderate-income businesses.

Shah Mohammad Mir is the director of the Helmand Islamic Investment and Finance Corporation (HIIFC), an Islamic credit union, which makes microloans to farmers and other microentrepreneurs. Some farmers that previously grew poppies with Taliban-provided inputs have used loans to buy their own seeds and other supplies to grow wheat and other food crops. To comply with Shariah, Islamic law, loans do not bear interest but instead are repaid with a 2 percent administrative fee. Mr Mir says that the loans, normally for no more than USD 2,000 each, have enabled over 30 people to leave the Taliban. As a result, Mr Mir has received threatening phone calls and had guns fired outside his home. He left town for a short while, but has returned to operate HIIFC’s three branches, which have lent USD 1 million to 1,441 people since late 2007. Regarding the unrest in his country, Mr Mir says: “If we can get rid of the unemployment that should bring security.”

Poverty certainly emerged as the single most problem that lies at the heart of modern day crisis. It quite recently has assumed alarming proportions. Many efforts were made in the past but they could not wholly succeed. Among significant tools, the microfinance was also used for getting rid of poverty which quite recently plagued the whole world. There is always a room for innovation to be introduced to already existing structures. Though microfinance made some gains in alleviating it but with sufficient services the amount invested lie in the danger of being spent on the items of daily use owing to extreme poverty.

The Governor State Bank Syed Salim Raza said Islamic banking will be launched in microfinance sector.

NAMIBIA's first micro-finance bank is a reality after the Bank of Namibia (BoN) yesterday granted Fides Bank Namibia a permanent banking licence.

Microfinance: Trading bread for briquettes—MFIs are a new type of charity. Just because the holidays are over doesn’t mean you have to give up on giving. While supporting traditional environmental charities is a wonderful way to make a difference, you might also want to consider giving to eco-oriented microfinance institutions (MFIs). An MFI differs from a traditional aid program in that it lends, rather than donates, money at a low interest rate, which allows people to invest in small scale entrepreneurial projects of their own choosing.

MicroRate is the first rating agency dedicated to measuring the performance of microfinance institutions ("MFIs"). MicroRate's rating teams visit MFIs and "kick their tires". Statement of Damian von Stauffenberg Chairman and Founder MicroRate. Committee on House Financial Services Subcommittee on International Monetary Policy and Trade.

M&I Marshall & Ilsley Bank is adding to its mobile banking capabilities by launching an iPhone application for retail banking customers.

USAA is offering mobile banking to customers that have Google’s Android-powered smart phones. USAA launched its Deposit@Mobile application for the Apple iPhone last year. Since then, USAA customers have deposited more than $300 million worth of deposits using their iPhones.

Khula Enterprise Finance (KEF) of South Africa provides funding to financial institutions to be channeled to socially-oriented causes.

"The relief effort is intense right now, and we know that Haiti needs food, water and medicine immediately, but Haiti will also need foundational support for it's economy"

Bill and Melinda Gates announced plans Friday to invest $10 billion in the fight against a number of illnesses including AIDS and said the record donation could save nearly nine million lives. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, they said the 10-year program will focus on vaccines for AIDS, tuberculosis, rota virus and pneumonia.

Microfinance leaders from 35 countries have already registered for the Africa-Middle East Regional Microcredit Summit to be held April 7-10, 2010 in Nairobi, Kenya. The Summit will be the largest microfinance gathering ever held in Africa and the Middle East. Her Royal Highness Princess Máxima of The Netherlands, one of the keynote speakers, will join Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus, BRAC Chair Fazle Abed, CARE CEO Helene Gayle, and Kenya’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Mr. Uhuru Kenyatta at the Summit in Nairobi.

Chairman of FirstBank Plc, Mr. Oba Otudeko recentlyaddressed the board and management of the bank. In the address, Otudeko who was recently elevated to the chairman of the board, pointed the way forward for the bank.

Is Mobile Banking Safe: Redefining Mobile Security through App Verification Author: Eric Everson, Founder MyMobiSafe.com

A pilot program in Pakistan has demonstrated the effectiveness of pushing mass literacy through the use of cell phone text messaging capability. The five-month experiment, initiated by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), targeted 250 females aged 15 to 24 years old in three districts of Pakistan's Punjab province.

Women’s empowerment is one of the subjects included in the bilateral discussions between India and the United States, said Andrew T. Simkin, U.S. Consul General in Chennai, here on Friday.

At the fourth Microfinance Conference in Abuja, Nigeria, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, announced that all microfinance bank CEOs would be required to pass a CBN administered exam in order to continue managing their banks. A training program will be held during the first quarter of this year, with certificates being issued at the end of the exercise. Any bank that does not comply with the rules will have its license withdrawn.

Time to market has been a well-worn mantra of the electronics industry. Unfortunately it’s been elevated to the level of panacea – and it’s not. Don’t get me wrong. Getting to market early is a good thing. It’s just not the stepping stone to success that it used to be. Today it’s just part of a much more complex equation. Electronics companies and designers need to solve the whole equation in order to survive and remain competitive as a new generation of electronics products begs for creation.

The Board and Management of Savannah Bank are taking bold steps to ensure that the bank opens its doors to customers within the 18 months period given by the Appeal Court, in February this year. The Court of Appeal had on February 5, in the case of Savannah Bank of Nigeria Plc vs Central Bank of Nigeria et al ordered the apex bank to restore the licence of Savannah. The court, however, put a caveat that Savannah Bank had to recapitalise to the tune of N25 billion and meet other regulatory conditions within the specified period, before it could commence operations...

The aim of the European Year of Creativity and Innovation is to promote creative and innovative approaches in different sectors of human activity and contribute to better equip the European Union for the challenges ahead in a globalised world. During this Year, a series of seven Brussels debates are jointly organised by the European Commission and the EPC in Brussels.

China’s ambitious wind and solar plans represent a direct challenge to Europe’s claims of world leadership on cutting carbon emissions. China is planning a vast increase in its use of wind and solar power over the next ­decade and believes it can match Europe by 2020, producing a fifth of its energy needs from renewable sources.

Kiva.org -- the world's first person-to-person micro-lending website -- has launched a pilot expansion in the United States, allowing individuals anywhere to make small loans to U.S. entrepreneurs through the Kiva.org website.

Jewish & Palestinian Students Unite to Answer Obama’s Call to Action in Cairo by Launching Lending Site to Empower Entrepreneurs in the Middle East.

There is a banker who is still feted across the world, collecting accolades and honours wherever he goes. The institution he founded more than 20 years ago is unscathed by the current financial crisis, and his opinion is more sought after than ever before as politicians and economists desperately try to fix our bankrupt system. Muhammad Yunus is to economic development what Nelson Mandela is to world peace.

Founder of an international nonprofit, a speaker before the World Bank, Presidential Scholar, a veteran in microfinance, participant in a discussion with the Dalai Lama — the graduating senior from San Jose's Notre Dame High School has packed more into her slender years than most people do into a lifetime. And she's not yet 18.

Jacqueline Novogratz interviewed by David Serchuk (Forbes). Jacqueline Novogratz is the founder and chief executive officer of Acumen Fund, a nonprofit global venture fund that uses entrepreneurial approaches to combat global poverty.

Be sure to read Founder, Dana Dakin’s Story of how she traveled to Ghana in 2003 on the occasion of her sixtieth birthday to find a village and start a microlending program.

The urgency with which the Obama administration, members of Congress, and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke have been working to keep credit available reminds us how critical credit is to the economy. These folks know that without widely available credit, our economy would descend into a debilitating depression.

Kingsolver, the bestselling author writes of a visit to the rural countryside of Orissa in northeastern India, where she interacted with the Akandalamuni Women's Club, which has 15 members. "Like millions of women in South Asia, they started their own microcredit group. Attending twice-monthly meetings and putting two rupees per month (about four cents) into a joint savings account qualified them for small loans, collateralized by group guarantee. This year they borrowed enough to rent a five-acre plot for growing sugar cane, from which they share the proceeds."