Improving Financial Inclusion Through Affordable Credit Access with Thor Abbasi

Access to affordable credit has been identified by the Federal Reserve and United Nations as a key driver of economic mobility and component of financial inclusion. Yet, countless individuals world wide do not have access to affordable credit. A third of American adults could not afford a $1,000 emergency expense. So, if their car breaks down for instance and they need it to go to work they may be forced into a position where they take out a high-interest loan. High-interest consumer loans are a $70 billion market in the United States alone. Within this market payday loans are particularly egregious with average interest rates of 390%. Despite these high-interest rates 12 million Americans on average will take one out every year. Congress in the past has attempted to regulate this market out of existence, but has failed to do so. It is clear a market solution is needed. Ethereum and other blockchains provide the perfect medium for building a solution to this high-interest lending crisis. They are highly transparent and accessible anywhere in the world. Furthermore, they can help solve some of the biggest issues that cause this market to exist such as information asymmetry. https://twitter.com/thorabbasi Thor Abbasi Co-Founder and Head of Operations Zivoe Finance I am part of the founding team of Zivoe Finance, a new decentralized credit protocol with ambitions of becoming the first fully automated, blockchain based lender focused on underserved consumer markets. While launching the protocol, I am also pursuing a Masters in Global Management with a concentration in data science from the Thunderbird School of Global Management. I am energetic, motivated and optimistic about the future of financial inclusivity and bring a fresh perspective, and innovative ideas driven by analytics and data, to a traditional financial services sector with a goal to disrupt non-prime consumer lending.