Despite ongoing efforts to serve the world’s 450 million smallholder households—the largest client segment by livelihood of those living under $2 a day—little is known about their financial needs and desires.
That is why we believe that a human-…
Investing in recourse and complaints-handling systems that serve low-income consumers can advance and reinforce responsible financial inclusion, according to the CGAP report, "Making Recourse Work for Base of the Pyramid Financial Consumers." This…
This blog series coincides with the release of comparable cross-country demand-side data on how the world’s poor save, borrow, make payments, and manage risk. The World Bank’s Development Research Group, with a 10-year grant from the Bill…
At an estimated USD $8 trillion across the globe and USD $375 billion in low-and lower-middle-income countries alone, person-to-government (P2G) payments make up a significant part of the payments landscape. Digitizing these payments brings benefits…
In conjunction with the focus note "Serving Smallholder Farmers: Recent Developments in Digital Finance," CGAP asked experts who use digital channels to improve smallholder access to financial services for an inside look at how their work is…
The global health sector is beginning to experiment and see some success with the use of digital financial services. With the cost savings from more efficient payment mechanisms, for example, health providers can sustainably reach more people with…
In early 2014, CGAP published a brief, "Bitcoin versus Electronic Money," which concluded: “The current realities of Bitcoin mean it is still a long way off from reaching the unbanked.” It seemed that digital currencies such as Bitcoin were…
A growing number of countries are witnessing fast-paced advances in digital financial inclusion, including the emergence of innovative "deposit-like" stored-value products such as mobile money and pre-paid debit cards. This blog series raises…
Data generated by low-income consumers’ use of mobile phones and digital financial services can help expand financial inclusion, but its use can also result in the loss of privacy and other harm. These benefits and risks will be explored in this…
The series aims to explore the landscape of supply and demand-side data gathering efforts with the related goals of (i) identifying gaps in the data architecture; (ii) moving toward consensus – where it makes sense – on the correct indicators and…
In this blog series, we examine where and how a customer-centricity lens can spur new ideas and solutions that unblock the financial inclusion gateway in digital payment systems for the poor and vulnerable around the world.
After extensive external and internal consultations, the CGAP Board (ExCom) approved the next five-year strategic direction for CGAP at its annual meeting in Amsterdam. The strategic direction lays out five priority themes, desired outcomes, and…
This blog series on financial capability features guest posts that explore themes such as why financial capability matters, incentivizing new approaches to financial capability and building the evidence base for financial capability. The…
Despite leading global bodies recognizing that financial exclusion can undermine efforts to fight money laundering and terrorism financing, the high cost of complying with their requirements paradoxically makes it harder for financial services…
A new series in preparation for the XIV Inter-American Forum on Microenterprise (Foromic) in Costa Rica from 10-12 October. CGAP and the MIF are joining forces to argue about the key challenges in microfinance and distill the game-changing…
This is a special series that will help us reflect on the broader aid effectiveness initiatives, CGAP’s own work on effectiveness, and what this all means for access to finance today.
