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The rise of ‘fringetech’: Regulatory risks in earned-wage access

In the absence of regulatory guardrails, some earned wage access programs can perpetuate, and in some instances exacerbate, the very risks providers claim to eliminate when displacing short-term creditors like payday lenders. This article proposes a federal-level regulatory framework based…

Earned wage access and the end of payday lending

This article analyses the earned wage access market, assesses the likelihood that it will displace payday lending, and reveals some of the dangers lurking beneath the low-cost surface of these transactions. It argues that earned wage access products have the…

The impact of mobile money on poverty

This research brief outlines key findings on the impact of mobile money on poverty. It shares evidence from a range of studies about the effects of mobile money on individuals and households and about the user experience of payment transfers…

Fintech’s role in exacerbating or reducing the wealth gap

This article synthesizes research about the long-term costs of debt inequality on communities of colour in the United States of America, adding an in-depth analysis of several new advances in banking and lending, and proposing several key principles for reducing…