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Cover photo: www.istock.com G20 GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR FINANCIAL INCLUSION i Table of Contents Acronyms ...................................................................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................................................................... iv Foreword ....................................................................................................................................................................................... v Executive Summary .................................................................................................................................................................... vii Large SME Market, Credit Gaps, and Opportunities .............................................................................................................. 1 The Rise of Digital SME Lending ................................................................................................................................................ 5 4.1 SME Marketplace Lenders ........................................................................................................................................................ 8 4.2 Technology, E-commerce, and Payment Giants ...............................................................................................................15 4.3 Supply Chain Finance Platforms ........................................................................................................................................... 18 4.4 Mobile Data-Based Lending Models ....................................................................................................................................20 Digital Lenders and Bank Convergence: The Future of SME Finance ..............................................................................23 5.1 Advantages and Challenges for Digital SME Lenders ....................................................................................................... 23 5.2 Advantages and Challenges for Banks ................................................................................................................................ 23 5.3 Collaborative Partnerships Gaining Momentum ............................................................................................................... 24 5.4 The Rise of the Digital SME Banker/Lender ........................................................................................................................28 Alternative Data Policy Issues and Challenges ..................................................................................................................... 31 6.1 Data Privacy and Consumer Protection Issues ..................................................................................................................31 6.2 Opt-in Models as Opposed to Opt-out Models ................................................................................................................31 6.3 Credit Reporting Service Providers ...................................................................................................................................... 32 6.4 Cyber Security .......................................................................................................................................................................... 32 6.5 Pricing Transparency ............................................................................................................................................................... 33 6.6 Balancing Integrity, Innovation, and a Competitive Marketplace ................................................................................. 33 Conclusions and Recommendations ......................................................................................................................................35 Endnotes ......................................................................................................................................................................................39 Annex 1 - Alternative SME Lender Business Profiles ............................................................................................................45 G20 GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR FINANCIAL INCLUSION iii Acronyms ACH Automated Clearing House MYOB Mind Your Own Business API Automated Programming Interface O2O Offline-to-online APR Annual Percentage Rate OECD Organisation for Economic B2B Business-to-business Co-operation and Development B2C Business-to-consumer OSHA Occupational Safety and Health B2G Business-to-government Administration CBA Commercial Bank of Africa P2B People-to-business CDR Call detail records P2P Peer-to-peer CRM Customer relationship management PAFI Payment Aspects of Financial CRF China Rapid Finance Inclusion EDC Electronic data capture POS Point-of-sale EFL Entrepreneurial Finance Lab ROA Returns on assets EFTPOS Electronic funds transfer at point of sale ROE Returns on equity FICO Fair, Isaac and Company RBS Royal Bank of Scotland FINRA Financial Industry Regulatory Authority RMB Renminbi GIS Geographic Information System SBI State Bank of India GPFI Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion SCF Supply chain finance GPS Global Positioning System SME Small and Medium Enterprise IFC International Finance Corporation SMS Short message service ICCR International Committee on Credit UK United Kingdom Reporting UPI Unified Payment Interface KCB Kenya Commercial Bank UPS United Parcel Service KYC Know Your Customer US United States MSME Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises VAT Value-added tax MVNO Mobile Virtual Network Operator WEF World Economic Forum iv ALTERNATIVE DATA TRANSFORMING SME FINANCE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report was co-written by John Owens and Lisa Wilhelm. World Bank Group, Finance and Markets Global Practice: It has benefited from the peer review of many experts. The authors, the Project Leads on behalf of the SME Finance Oscar Maddedu Forum, Matthew Gamser, CEO, and World Bank Group, Fabrizio Fraboni Ghada Teima, Lead Financial Sector Specialist, would Alban Pruthi like to thank the following individuals for their valuable Fredesvinda Fatima Montes contributions. Ghada Teima Tony Lythgoe Amy Millington, eBay Foundation Douglas Pearce Thomas Deluca, AMP Credit Technologies Antonio Desocio and Banca d’Italia SME Finance Forum: Andreas Kind, IBM Allison Baller, IBM Matthew Gamser David Snyder, Wells Fargo Bank Hourn Thy Ross Leckow, IMF Nadia Afrin Michael Turner, Patrick Walker, Chet Wiermanski, PERC Jeffrey Anderson Dawei Liu, Creditease Daniel Drummer, JP Morgan Finally, the authors, the SME Finance Forum and the World David Medine and CGAP Bank Group would like to thank Germany, the Silicon Valley Enrico Libbiani, Experian Community Foundation, and the Swiss State Secretariat for Marco Benvenuto, Experian Economic Affairs (SECO)