Microfinance institutions have sent a distress call to markets regulator seeking to instruct credit rating agencies to delay the ratings on microlenders whose operations have been disrupted by the impact of COVID-19.

Financiers across the spectrum are struggling to trace low-ticket borrowers, about a fifth of their customers, through virtual means.

COVID-19 has closed bank and credit union (CU) branches across the United States, sending the demand for digital banking solutions soaring as consumers hop online to manage their finances from home.

To help financial institutions during this coronavirus crisis, fintechs stepped up to help with contactless person-to-person mobile payments.

As contactless payments become the norm amid the worldwide pandemic response, China rolled out its digital currency this month in four cities, setting it up to become the world’s first cashless society.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin E. Diokno championed the use of e-payments amid the Luzon-wide, enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) to minimize face-to-face transactions and prevent the spread of COVID-19.

In this worldwide 'lockdown' situation enforced for preventing COVID-19, expatriate Bangladeshis are relying on online-to-wallet money transfer service to send remittance to their loved ones back home.

The World Bank projected global remittances to plunge almost 20 percent in 2020 due to issues related to the COVID-19.

A roundup of the most relevant coronavirus-related news, resources and events from the past week, carefully curated by FinDev editors for the microfinance and financial inclusion community.

Consumer use of mobile finance, banking and insurance apps jumped 71 percent in 2019. In 2020, however, they’ve gone from nice-to-have to essential.