Alternative Financial Services: An Essential Tool for Informal Entrepreneurs

2013 ◽  
pp. 101-114
Keyword(s):  
Financial Services ◽  
Essential Tool ◽  
Alternative Financial Services

How positive service experiences contribute to service captivity

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Constantino Stavros ◽  
Kate Westberg ◽  
Roslyn Russell ◽  
Marcus Banks
Keyword(s):  
Financial Services ◽  
Financial Vulnerability ◽  
Socially Responsible ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Welfare Policies ◽  
Regulatory Frameworks ◽  
Alternative Financial Services ◽  
Service Experiences ◽  
Service Relationship ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose Service captivity is described as the experience of constrained choice whereby a consumer has no power and feels unable to exit a service relationship. This study aims to explore how positive service experiences can contribute to service captivity in the alternative financial services (AFS) sector for consumers experiencing financial vulnerability. Design/methodology/approach A total of 31 interviews were undertaken with Australian consumers of payday loans and/or consumer leases. Findings The authors reveal a typology of consumers based on their financial vulnerability and their experience with AFS providers. Then they present three themes relating to how the marketing practices of these providers create a positive service experience, and, in doing so, can contribute to service captivity for consumers experiencing financial vulnerability. Research limitations/implications The benefits derived from positive service experiences, including accessible solutions, self-esteem, and a sense of control over their financial situation, contribute to the service captivity of some consumers, rendering alternative avenues less attractive. Practical implications AFS providers must ensure a socially responsible approach to their marketing practices to minimize potentially harmful outcomes for consumers. However, a systems-level approach is needed to tackle the wider issue of financial precarity. Policymakers need to address the marketplace gaps, regulatory frameworks and social welfare policies that contribute to both vulnerability and captivity. Originality/value This research extends the understanding of service captivity by demonstrating how positive service experiences can perpetuate this situation. Further, specific solutions are proposed at each level of the service system to address service captivity in the AFS sector.

Unbanked status and use of alternative financial services among minority populations

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Helena Barcellos ◽  
Gema Zamarro
Keyword(s):  
Financial Literacy ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Large Fraction ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Wealth Accumulation ◽  
Alternative Financial Services ◽  
Underlying Causes ◽  
Racial Ethnic

AbstractA large number of Americans do not have bank accounts (the ‘unbanked’) or rely on costly alternative financial services (AFS) such as payday loans (the ‘underbanked’), with implications for wealth accumulation and retirement preparedness. Using primary data, we document large racial/ethnic differences in unbanked and in frequent AFS usage rates. We study the role of socio-economic status (SES), financial literacy, trust in financial institutions, networks, and time preferences in explaining these gaps. While these variables explain a large fraction of the white-minority gaps in unbanked status the same is not true for gaps in AFS use. A Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition confirms these patterns: gaps in unbanked status are mostly explained by differences in endowments across groups, for AFS gaps differences in returns to endowments have the largest explanatory power. Our findings suggest that, while related, unbanked and underbanked are distinct concepts with different underlying causes that may require different policy responses.

Financial relations small business energy complex

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalya Morozko ◽  
Valyentina Didyenko
Keyword(s):  
Small Business ◽  
Financial Planning ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
Small Businesses ◽  
Energy Sector ◽  
Small Organizations ◽  
Developed Economies ◽  
Energy Complex ◽  
Financial Condition ◽  
Alternative Financial Services

The paper deals with the peculiarities of small organizations in the energy sector, taking into account the principles of effective financial cooperation of small businesses with a variety of large and medium-sized structures. We studied the experience of the financial relations of countries with developed economies on a set of market tools and in business management in the energy sector. The analysis of the financial condition of small organizations and energy sector. Defined financial planning tools of organizations that allow to carry out the relationship of financial planning practices with the main objectives of a small organization. Reasoned application of the tax policy in the system of financial relations for small and large businesses and energy complex. The conditions for the use of alternative financial services market lending small business operations using efficient technologies.

scholarly journals Access to Banking and the Role of Inequality and the Financial Crisis

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mauro Caselli ◽  
Babak Somekh
Keyword(s):  
Interest Rate ◽  
Financial Crisis ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
Income Disparities ◽  
Consumer Population ◽  
Alternative Financial Services ◽  
The 2008 Financial Crisis ◽  
The Interest Rate ◽  
Distribution Of Income

Abstract We study access to banking and how it is related to banks’ rate of return on investments and the distribution of income. We develop our empirical framework through a theoretical supply-side model of bank deposit services with a consumer population heterogeneous in income. We use this model to show how decreases in the interest rate margin and higher income disparities lead to an increase in the proportion of unbanked. Using localized US household data from 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015 we find strong empirical evidence for the predictions of the model. We then structurally estimate our model to estimate the value of having a checking account relative to alternative financial services and to quantify the effects of actual changes in the interest rate margin and the distribution of income that occurred in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis.

Integrated and Transactional Platforms

2018 ◽  
pp. 146-166
Keyword(s):  
Financial Services ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Existing Problems ◽  
Alternative Financial Services ◽  
New Ideas ◽  
Platform Comparison ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
To Receive

In recent years, crowdsourcing has increased in popularity as a method for gathering ideas for new innovations and providing solutions to existing problems. In this chapter, crowdsourcing intermediaries and business models are analyzed. How intermediaries' providers are managing interactions between different groups of platform actors (contributors) in order to receive new ideas, feedback, and solutions for improving consumers products and services is studied. Crowdfunding platforms are discussed based on crowdsourcing open innovation vision. Hence, research focuses on crowdfunding innovations for alternative financial services. The chapter aims to collect and analyze quality data regarding the current status and prospective evolution of crowdfunding. The study offers classification and examination of the current status of crowdfunding and proposes a definition of the crowdfunding multi-sided platform, develops research framework for crowdfunding platform comparison and business model analysis. The results of this chapter reveal benefits but also practical challenges to overcome before innovation crowdsourcing and crowdfunding intermediaries can be effectively utilized.

Blind and Delusional

2020 ◽  
pp. 132-152
Author(s):  
Cathy A. Small ◽  
Jason Kordosky ◽  
Ross Moore
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Medical Care ◽  
Economic System ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
Homeless People ◽  
The United States ◽  
Poor People ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Alternative Financial Services

This chapter argues that when it comes to homeless people, the American public is blind and delusional. It reflects on how the economic policies in the United States have resulted in much greater gains for those with more than for those with less, while those in the bottom tier of the economic system have recently been losing ground not just relatively but absolutely. As a result, poor people are less well positioned than ever before in recent history to be able to afford basic needs, especially housing. What has happened to the country's poorest is that a growing percentage are “severely rent burdened.” This often makes it difficult to afford food, clothing, transportation, and medical care. Moreover, it leaves many in the vulnerable place where there is no way to save money and no way to weather even a small storm. Any misfortune can leave one short or late with their rent, often leading to eviction. All of this is why so many Americans live on the edge of homelessness. The chapter then considers “the high cost of being poor,” explaining how the poor depend on alternative financial services.

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