Francesc Sanz

Francesc Prior has 23 years of international experience in the financial services industry and in academia specialized in Digital Financial Services, new Financial Technologies applied to MSME Finance, Mobile Money Regulation, Financial Inclusion Policies; Retail Payments and Remittances, Venture Financing and Private Equity both as a financial sector practitioner and as researcher. As a development financial consultant and researcher specialized in Digital Financial Services he has undertaken numerous technical assistance and research projects for a vast number of donors worldwide (Union For the Mediterranean Secretariat, FSD Kenya, European Investment Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and development, World Bank, Inter American Development Bank, International Finance Corporation, Europe Aid, MCC, SIDA, ..), in the MENA region, Africa, Latin America, Eastern and Western Europe, Asia and the USA. As an executive within the banking industry (BBVA), he was director of the Cards and Remittances Units and also had other managerial positions in retail banking in Spain and Latin America. Prior to this he was financial consultant at a major financial services firm (Arthur Andersen). Lately, he has also been advising new FINTECH ventures such as Madhmoon or undertaking research projects with Microfinance Institutions aiming at using Digital Financial Services such as ENDA (Tunisia), and Attawfiq (Morocco). In academia, he has extensive experience as a professor of banking/finance and as a researcher specialized in Digital Financial Services. From 2005 to 2008, he was the Director of the Financial Inclusiveness Research and Training Program at Florida International University (Miami), and Principal Researcher in the “Banking the unbanked program” at IESE Business School (Barcelona) from 2006 to 2011. Later he served as Professor of Banking and Finance at UIC Barcelona leading the Venture Financing Initiative from 2009 to 2018. Currently, he serves as Professor of Finance at IQS School of Management in Barcelona. He has also taught courses at Universities in various countries of Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa.

Education

• PhD In Economics: Economic Integration and Development: Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (2003 — 2006)
• Masters in Politics of the World Economy The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) (2000 — 2001)
• Bachelor in Business Administration and Master in Business Administration ESADE Business & Law School

Companies

• Professor of Finance/ MAUCG Coordinator IQS Barcelona (2018)
• Financial strategy and Fintech consultant DIGITAL FINANCIAL SERVICES CONSULTING (2007)
• Finance Professor and Director of Master Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital and Private Equity Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (2009 — 2018)
• Researcher in Digital Financial Services & Access to finance IESE Business School - University of Navarra (2006 — 2009)
• Senior Engagement Manager . Development Financial Consultant DFC SA (2008 — 2009)
• Director Financial Inclusiveness Program Summit of the Americas Center at Florida International University (FIU) (2005 — 2008)
• Coordinador medios de pago América Latina y particulares España BBVA (2001 — 2004)
• Senior Consultant Financial Services Arthur Andersen and Co. (1996 — 2000)

RESEARCH LINES * Venture Financing and Private Equity * Microfinance and MSME Finance * Digital Financial Services * Mobile Money * Financial Inclusion * Retail Payments and Remittances

PUBLICATIONS * Prior F; Mora, Toni, .2019. "Quantitative study on the impact of branchless banking on microfinance institutions", Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics. * Mora T., Prior F. 2018. “The impact of mobile financial services’ usage on microfinance delinquency”. Applied Economics. * Prior, F. 2014. ”Mobile Financial Services in Mediterranean Partner Countries”. Papers IEmed. * Prior F., De Lima P. 2013. “The uptake of mobile financial services in the MENA Region”. Journal of Enterprise Development and Microfinance. * Prior F., Abdelmoumni. F. 2012. “ Partnerships in mobile financial services. The case of Morocco”. Journal of Payments Strategy & Systems. * Prior, F.; Santomá J. 2011. ” Seeing Profitability Through a Banking Lens Opportunities Ahoy!”. IESE Insight. * Prior F. 2010. “Modelo de servicios microfinancieros propuesto para resolver el problema de la falta de acceso a los servicios financieros en los países en desarrollo”. Estudios Gerenciales. * Prior F., Santomá. 2009. J.” Access to Financial Services in the countries of the Maghreb”.International Journal of Euro-Mediterranean Studies. * Prior F., Santomá J. 2009. “Banking the unbanked using prepaid platforms and mobile telephones in the USA”. Lydian Payments Journal. * Prior F., Argandoña A. 2009.“Credit accessibility and corporate social responsibility in financial institutions: the case of microfinance”. in Business Ethics: A European Review. * Prior F.; Argandoña A. 2009. “Best Practices in Credit Accessibility and Corporate Social Responsibility in Financial Institutions”. Journal of Business Ethics. * Prior F., 2008. “Solving the access problem”. ESR Review. (formerly the Journal of Microfinance). * Prior F. 2007. “La bancarización de las remesas y la creación de sinergias financieras”. Harvard Deusto Finanzas y Contabilidad.