Staff Directory

Stefan Staschen

Senior Financial Sector Specialist

Based in Berlin, Stefan Staschen led CGAP's Digital Financial Services Regulation and Supervision project. He has more than 20 years of experience working on financial inclusion, focusing on policy and regulatory issues in microfinance and digital financial services. He has worked with numerous regulators and supervisors primarily in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, but also in Central and Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, and Arab countries.

Before joining CGAP in 2016, Stefan worked for 15 years as an independent consultant on inclusive financial policy and lived for several years each in the United Kingdom, Kenya, and Turkey.

Stefan has a Doctorate degree from the London School of Economics and a Master’s degree in Economics from the Free University of Berlin.

By Stefan Staschen

Blog

Why Digital Finance Supervisors Should Automate Data Collection

Today’s technology has made it possible for supervisors to collect massive amounts of granular data from financial services providers – but should they? Yes, but only if they automate data collection.
Research

Data Collection by Supervisors of Digital Financial Services

Digital financial services have grown considerably in emerging markets and developing economies, where they are instrumental for financial inclusion. DFS supervision needs to ensure that this expansion ensures sustained, healthy financial inclusion.
Research

Applying the RIA Lite Methodology: An Example from Pakistan

This study looks at Pakistan’s nearly decade-old experience with regulating digital financial services (referred in the local context as branchless banking) as a test case for the RIA Lite methodology,
Blog

Is the Unbundling of Payments from Banking Regulation Imminent?

The unbundling of payments from banking is well underway in countries like India. Is the unbundling of payments from banking regulation soon to follow?
Blog

Unlocking Financial Inclusion Using Biometrically Verified SIMs

In 2015, Pakistan became the first country to leverage biometric SIM verification for remote mobile wallet account opening. We talked to members of the Banking Policy and Regulation Department at the State Bank of Pakistan to learn more about these developments and the exciting implications for financial inclusion.