David Porteous

David is the founder and director of Bankable Frontier Associates (www.bankablefrontier.com), a niche consulting firm based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. The firm specializes in three practice areas of the access to financial services sector: technology and access to financial services, housing finance and performance measurement for financial institutions. Clients include private telco and banking groups, bi-lateral and multi-lateral donors and private foundations.  In a previous capacity, David was involved in supporting innovative approaches to the extension of financial services in southern Africa, including several m-banking initiatives. Inter alia, he recently completed a DFID commissioned report on the “Enabling Environment for M-Banking in Africa.” This involved extensive interaction with providers and regulators to identify the potential for impact, as well as the required factors if m-banking is to have a major impact on access to financial services.  He is currently working with DFID-CGAP to assess the enabling environment for international remittances to developing countries. David has a B. Commerce (UCT), M. Phil. (Cambridge) and Ph.D. in economics (Yale). He is married to Rebecca and has two sons.

By David Porteous

Research

AML/CFT Regulation

Across the world, new measures are being introduced to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism. All financial service providers, including those working with low-income communities, are—or will be—affected by these measures. This paper summarizes the implications of the international framework for anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) for financial service providers working with low-income people.
Research

Commercial Banks and Microfinance: Evolving Models of Success

There is a vast potential market for retail financial services among low-income clients, and a growing number of commercial banks have successfully entered this market. These are the findings of recent research undertaken by CGAP, the global resource center for microfinance supported by a syndicate of 30 multilateral, bilateral, and private donors.
Research

Protecting Microfinance Borrowers

Around the world, the microfinance community is paying more attention to consumer protection. Controversial topics, such as high interest rates and the overindebtedness of borrowers, have raised public concern for poor consumers in countries far and wide, from Bolivia to Bangladesh to South Africa and beyond. Yet relatively little is known about how consumer protection might apply to financial services for the poor.