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The Connected Society programme works with the mobile industry, tech companies, the development community and governments to increase access to and adoption of the mobile internet, focusing on underserved population groups in developing markets. One of their key activities is to generate and disseminate insights and learnings on the mobile internet coverage and usage gap.

By driving significant gains in financial inclusion in recent years we have opened up access, but access alone isn’t enough. Emerging new evidence shines a spotlight on the potential benefits from accessible upskilling to drive more meaningful engagement of financial services and digital platforms across the underserved segments that fuel the economic engines of less-developed…

Women’s economic empowerment will be essential for a global economic recovery. Given pre-existing gender gaps, there are concerns about exclusion for many of the social assistance programs already being rolled out around the world. Social protection systems that ignore gender inequality will likely fail to mitigate the risks of COVID-19 for women, and, at worst,…

FINCA Forward implemented a four-month proof-of-concept (POC) of the Salutat solution in Guatemala to explore if their features could deliver a rich, modernized, and personalized customer experience in which individual needs are known and satisfied. The POC proved that Salutat’s solution had the potential to strengthen engagement with customers.

The GSMA Assistive Tech team, together with Urban Emerge, conducted a landscape study to identify digital solutions emerging from Africa and Asia that are addressing the needs of people with disabilities.

CFI spoke with the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) about the explosive growth of digital remittances in recent months, the drive to lower transaction fees, support for scaling digital innovation, and more. This is the second in an occasional series of interviews with professionals from development finance institutions, international financial institutions, and donor agencies…

A decade after the launch of Aadhaar, what’s working and what’s not? In this webinar we present a resident’s perspective on India’s national digital ID – in what ways has Aadhaar empowered or excluded them? To what extent do they trust and use the identification system? In which aspects is it serving them well or…

DFI organise désormais chaque mois un webinaire en Français dans le but de se rapprocher davantage de sa communauté francophone. Le premier de cette série nous amène à la découverte des banques digitales et néo banques en Afrique. Nos éminents panélistes nous entretiendront sur les apports des néo-banques et des banques digitales dans l’amélioration de…

Il ne faut pas opposer les mots ‘banque digitale’ et ‘néo-banque’ car dans le fond, la frontière est assez mince par endroits. Les néo-banques, en effet, se définissent très souvent comme des banques 100% digitales. Il suffit de visiter les sites web de Revolut (Royaume-Uni), N26 (Allemagne) (1), Orange Bank Africa (Côte d’Ivoire) (2) ou…

This webinar organised by Digital Finance Professionals Ghana, discussed global trends in the DFS space and highlight strides that Ghana has chalked in growing its DFS market. Panelists for the webinar were: Derek B. Layrea – Head, Research and Communications, of Telecoms Chamber David Porteous – Chairman of Digital Frontiers and CEO of BFA Global…

Bonne nouvelle pour les francophones passionnés de finance digitale ! DFI lance une série d’activités qui lui permettront d’interagir plus régulièrement avec sa communauté francophone. Partage de connaissances, discussions, retours d’expériences sont au programme à travers des activités telles que : des webinaires mensuels en français sur des thèmes d’actualité ; des publications d’articles sur des thèmes…

The Financial Inclusion Compass was launched by European Microfinance Platform in 2018. The publication is based on a sector-wide mixed-methodology survey of various stakeholders, giving the chance for practitioners, investors, donors, academics and support service providers, among others to present their thoughts on the trends, future areas of focus, challenges and opportunities for inclusive finance…

In the spotlight this month is CDFP gradutate, COP Facilitator and President of the Digital Finance Practitioners Ghana – Ophelia Ama Oni. In our interview we share with you Ophelia’s CDFP journey, how it impacted her career and also about her role in leading the formation of an association for digital finance professionals in Ghana.…

The 2020 CSAF State of the Sector Report reflects on the present and future impacts of COVID-19 across the agriculture sector. CSAF’s data partner  analyzed 2019 data from CSAF’s alliance of 15 lenders, which shows that lending volumes to agricultural small and medium enterprises are nowhere near what’s needed to achieve the sector’s impact potential.

Women’s economic empowerment will be essential for a global economic recovery. Given pre-existing gender gaps, there are concerns about exclusion for many of the social assistance programs already being rolled out around the world. Social protection systems that ignore gender inequality will likely fail to mitigate the risks of COVID-19 for women, and, at worst,…

For financial services providers looking to open APIs, the right combination of people, processes, and technology is essential. Too often, however, business leaders do not engage on key technology considerations, and business strategy is kept separate from technology strategy. This can lead to technically unreliable solutions that require intensive, ongoing technical support and create financial…

This highlights deck from CGAP aims to drive awareness and use of APIs. It seeks to help DFS providers understand the differing needs of third parties across different segments, identify engagement activities that can address those needs, and start to think about an engagement strategy that is aligned with internal priorities and capacity. It will…

This webinar will share CGAP's takeaways from its experience working with five DFS providers to open APIs over the last three years. It will include insights on the nature of the opportunity, how to get started on this journey, and some of the challenges that will need to be overcome. The webinar will be led…

Living on Little, by Julie Zollmann, illuminates the many deep and overlooked ways that scarcity shapes the lives of ordinary Kenyans. Drawing on four years of systematic research with nearly 300 low-income families, this book offers readers a new and intimate perspective on poverty. Living on very little money doesn’t just mean that you worry…

Digital identity is essential for the sustainable digital transformation of society, the public sector and the economy. One question arises: Under what circumstances can digital identification be a tool for inclusion or pose a risk to the rights of individuals? Amid this dilemma comes the global Good ID movement, which seeks to recognize and promote the…

The Global State of Small Business Report, based on the Future of Business Survey, is an ongoing research collaboration by Facebook, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the World Bank to survey small and medium-sized businesses around the world over a six-month period in the context of COVID-19. The aim of these…

The Garment Worker Diaries collect regular, credible data on the work hours, income, expenses, and financial tool use of workers in the global apparel and textile supply chain in producing countries. The objective of the project is to have the data inform: government policy decisions, collective bargaining, and factory and brand initiatives related to improving…

Technology undoubtedly has the potential to improve the access, quality and relevance of financial services for underserved customers around the world. Dynamic tech startups lie at the forefront of innovation in this space, harnessing technology, data and lean operating models to design more affordable, accessible and appropriate products that meet the unique needs of underserved…

Le mois de juillet marque le cinquième anniversaire de Digital Frontiers Institute. Notre mission reste la même : développer le capital humain dans les pays à revenu faible et intermédiaire dans des secteurs en ligne avec les objectifs de développement durable. Mais bien que nous nous nous soyons lancés dans la finance inclusive pour tous,…

This site features the long-distance journeys of dispossessed people — refugees, migrants and asylum seekers who have traveled far to escape persecution and grinding poverty. We examine their stories though a financial lens to better understand the costs and strategies involved in their journeys as well as the economic approaches they use when putting down roots…

Bundling and partnership-based approaches have enabled agricultural insurance services to grow. This has improved smallholder farmers’ climate resilience and provided them with a safety net against crop losses. However, poor weather data availability, inadequate government support and distribution difficulties remain barriers to scale. This webinar, run in partnership with GSMA, explored how mobile technology and…

Development funders are increasingly embracing the potential of digital financial services (DFS) to promote financial inclusion. As these funders – bilaterals, multilaterals, development finance institutions and private foundations – continue to look for ways to respond to emerging crises and opportunities, the support for digital finance and the ecosystem around it is increasing in prominence.…

Within the field of impact investing, the emergence of Gender-Smart Investing (GSI) carries major significance. The growth of this investment lens has been rapid and the amounts invested are noteworthy. In 2018, 496 institutional asset owners reported that they applied gender lens criteria to $868 billion in assets; more than double the $397 billion identified…

Emerging technology is driving optimism about building a more inclusive digital economy. Will one innovation—a digital asset known as stablecoins—expand access to financial services among the poor and unbanked? Success may depend on innovators’ answers to five questions—and how regulators and consumers respond. This note by F. Christopher Calabia encourages further study of these questions…

The Innovative Agri-Finance Challenge Fund Playbook is a collaborative effort to assist challenge fund managers, implementers, technical assistance providers, donors and other stakeholders in managing challenge funds effectively and improving the design and implementation of future challenge fund mechanisms.

Although in early stages, the upcoming National Financial Inclusion Strategy of Benin will help increase opportunities for FinTechs in Benin, especially if they spend time to understand the market and understand how they can add value to it by working with incumbents. The key success factors for FinTechs to stimulate financial inclusion in Benin are…

Over the past decade, India’s investments in its digital financial infrastructure—known as “India Stack”—have sped up the large-scale digitization of people’s financial lives. As more and more people begin to conduct transactions online, questions have emerged about how to provide millions of customers adequate data protection and privacy while allowing their data to flow throughout…

Digital financial services have expanded opportunities for millions of women across the globe. More than 240 million more women now have an account with a financial institution or mobile money service, compared to 2014. Through this increased engagement in the formal economy, women’s resilience to financial, economic and health shocks is improving. However, there remains…

The G20 has made enhancing cross-border payments a priority during the 2020 Saudi Arabian Presidency. Faster, cheaper, more transparent and more inclusive cross-border payment services would deliver widespread benefits for citizens and economies worldwide, supporting economic growth, international trade, global development and financial inclusion. This CPMI report, and its accompanying technical background report, represent the output…

Microsave’s latest research on the impact of the COVID 19 on CICO agents in Kenya provides a comprehensive overview of the challenges that CICO agents currently face and their coping strategies. The report provides recommendations for policymakers and financial service providers to support them. The report highlights that the CICO agents face severe health risks…

It is estimated that approximately one billion people across the world do not have access to an officially recognizable identity. The accurate verification of identity is integral to the Know Your Customer (KYC) processes necessary for compliance with Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regulation. The inability of financial institutions to properly verify…

The focus on youth reflects the fact that almost half of the world’s 1.2bn young people aged between 15-24 remain unbanked. This report examines the factors that contribute to youth financial inclusion and the role of digital financial services in meeting young people’s financial needs. It then explores opportunities and challenges relating to advancing youth…

AI is changing the face of the banking industry. How can banks meet the governance challenges and take advantage of this game-changing technology? To answer this crucial question, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and Temenos have produced this new report, Overseeing AI: Governing Artificial Intelligence in Banking Key findings in the report include: 77% of banking…

The Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures and the World Bank Group have issued the final report on Payment aspects of financial inclusion. This builds on an earlier version of the report that underwent public consultation in late 2015 and seeks to tackle barriers to the adoption and usage of transaction accounts, which sit at the…

This overview from Microsave gives a unique glimpse of the FinTech ecosystem of Côte d’Ivoire, how it has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and what measures and guidelines are being proposed and implemented by the government and regulators of the country. It can also be accessed in French here.

Data systems to register and identify recipients of transfers underpin everything in a targeted distribution system in terms of who is eligible, who is not, why, for what and for how long. Data collection for these systems is often the first contact point between crisis-affected populations and responders. This research on this topic explores the…

The global pandemic COVID-19 and the ensuing emergencies have reinforced the urgency of using Digital Financial Services (DFS) to preserve the functioning of financial systems and the security of people during the period of declining demand, reduced supplies, and tightening credit terms. Digital payments, particularly when accompanied by digital financial Infrastructure and enabling regulations, help…

The Global Fintech Index launched the world’s first real-time ranking of fintech ecosystems and fintech companies globally. It ranks over 60 countries and 230 cities according to the strength of their Fintech ecosystem.

Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are one of the strongest drivers of economic development, innovation and employment. Access to finance is frequently identified as a critical barrier to growth for MSMEs. Creating opportunities for MSMEs in emerging markets is a key way to advance economic development and reduce poverty. The private and public sector…

Countries in the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region have been on a development curve in setting up effective Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) regulatory responses that meet the international Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards. This toolkit is the first of its kind and benefits from extensive comments and reviews from FATF as…

Over the past five years, UNCDF has been working to stimulate private sector engagement in rural areas of Uganda through digital bulk payment projects across the following five agricultural value chains; coffee, dairy, maize, seed oil and tea. The digitization of these value chains brought about significant benefits and opportunities to agribusinesses in the developing…

This guidance outlines the security profiles of biometric recognition technologies, and how to build secure authentication systems which incorporate them. This document is concerned with biometric systems for the verification of individuals, and will cover only those modalities which are commercially available, and appropriate to the field of cyber security. These are: fingerprint, face, iris, vein pattern, and speaker recognition.

Digital platforms, also known as multi-sided marketplaces, are seamlessly matching customers to suppliers of goods and services in e-commerce and other emerging industries, thereby creating new pathways for individuals to participate in the digital economy. At the heart of the rapid rise of Africa’s digital platforms are the payment methods and channels that facilitate and…

In Ghana, cash is the primary payment method used to purchase cocoa, with over 90% of farmer-level transactions (more than GHS 7 billion, or USD 1.26 billion) conducted using cash every year. As the cocoa sector considers its transition to digital payments, this report seeks to determine the overall costs and risks of using cash,…

Did you know that you can now access your DFI courses on your smartphone? You need to download the Moodle Mobile app which is available from the iOS App Store or Android Google Play Store.  Once you have downloaded the Moodle Mobile app simply following these steps to connect to DFI’s campus:    Select I’m a learner  In the site address field type in: https://campus.digitalfrontiersinstitute.org/learn and…

Mobile money taxation is a controversial subject. On the one hand mobile money has been something of a development success story in those countries where it has taken hold. On the other, developing countries face a range of issues when it comes to raising sufficient revenue to fund public services. This paper from the GSMA takes a fresh…

The SEEP Network defines digital savings groups (DSGs) as “technologies and systems that digitize savings group records, procedures or transactions.” What is most exciting about the growing range of DSG solutions is their potential for scale – creating new incentives for market actors, reducing the cost of training, and dramatically increasing the potential for outreach.…

This webinar looked fundamentals of interoperability and approaches within Africa with a special focus on Mozambique and Malawi. Panelists for the webinar were Gertrude Kadumbo, Chief Executive Officer at National Switch Limited, Malawi and Joao Gasper, experienced DFS Consultant and Founder of PayTek.  Interoperability is the ability for different systems to connect with one another. In…

Introducing you all to Alfred Ikemon Biaou, who is a professional in the banking industry and specialises in electronic banking products and services. He has over 10 years’ experience in the field at UBA Bank and currently at Coris Bank International where he leads the e-banking & remittances unit. He’s always been passionate about solving…

Innovations of all kinds contribute to greater economic growth, and tech innovations, in particular, can increase digital inclusion for individuals. But this doesn’t happen in a vacuum. For an innovation ecosystem to flourish, you need tech-savvy entrepreneurs, access to finance and a balanced network of connectors, plus an enabling environment. These ecosystems consist of, among…

The spread of Covid-19 and ‘stay at home’ measures in response to it are dramatically reshaping global societies and economies. This report from the European Commission contributes to understanding the potential economic implications of the Covid-19 crisis by focusing on its implications for migrant remittances in Africa. Large declines in remittance inflows could affect the…

Achieving fully interoperable mobile money services that fulfil the needs of customers remains a goal for both the industry and the financial inclusion community. Emerging evidence from six markets sheds light on why this is the case. As more countries consider and implement a mobile money interoperability solution, this report from GSMA builds the evidence base…

‘It’s our fifth birthday – my how we’ve grown”  This July marks five years since Arjuna Costa at Omidyar saw something in David, Ignacio and I wanting to solve for the human capital gaps preventing global development initiatives from reaching their true potential. Omidyar seeded our start-up and led the charge to bring in funding from MasterCard…

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 1, 2020 – Gateway Academy, the digital learning platform for financial inclusion incubated by the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), is merging with Digital Frontiers, a globally recognized non-profit that focuses on capacity building for the development community. The merger will help strengthen financial inclusion training, widen the markets served,…

Humanitarian aid has increasingly moved from cash to digital over the last decade, but the vast majority of assistance still remains in-kind or commodity transfers, rather than unconditional cash. The reasons behind this are vast, but primarily stem from the challenges of delivering to the last mile. Coming from a payments perspective, the fundamentals of…

In this webinar three financial service providers (FSPs) that serve refugees discuss solutions to some of the problems created by the COVID-19 crisis and how they have adapted their operations. Although focused on Uganda, there are many lessons which can be adapted to other locations. DFI partnered with PHB Development and Opportunity International on the…

The webinar led by Sandy Rheeder, Chief Information Officer, takes you on Mukuru’s digital journey from a simple online offering of petrol coupons from the UK to Zimbabwe in the late 2000’s, to a remittances company today which operates across SADC and the sub-continent, offering customers multiple channels on which to access remittance and other…

Financial health is a potentially powerful concept that is attracting interest around the world. The citizen, the politician and the policymaker know that effectively managing one’s financial resources – being financially healthy – is central to the success of both individuals and broad populations. If financial health is to be a useful construct, it is…

Financial regulators are challenged to respond to the innovation opportunities presented by financial technology (fintech). Current rules are not necessarily sufficient or effective to adequately regulate new business models and new products relating to innovations such as crypto assets or digital financial services. Regulators that fail to respond in a timely manner may drive innovation…

We’re launching a new way for our community to discuss, share their thoughts and create industry best practice, called ‘The Pop-up Discussion’. These sessions will focus one topic and discuss various aspects over 72 hours. There is no set time commitment and it is not a course, but somewhere to discuss and share. The discussion…

This paper draws on mobile application data from 74 countries to document the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the adoption of digital finance and fintech. It estimates that the spread of COVID-19 and related government lockdowns have led to between a 24-32% increase in the relative rate of daily downloads of finance mobile applications…

Mozambique faces high levels of financial exclusion, particularly among the two thirds of the population living in rural areas. Access to insurance is low and awareness and knowledge is low. NBC Mozambique was founded in 2014 and is currently the only licensed microinsurer in Mozambique. This Case Brief showcases their approaches to securing partnerships to…

Globally, less than 20 per cent of smallholder farmers have insurance. Low awareness of insurance products and the high cost of premiums have restricted farmer uptake of indemnity-based insurance services. Insurance providers have largely overlooked smallholders due to the cost of acquiring and serving rural customers. Index insurance offers ways of overcoming some of the…

This webinar discussed findings from the recent GSMA Mobile for Humanitarian Innovation report, Partnering During Crisis, on how mobile network operators (MNOs) and humanitarian organisations can partner for impactful delivery of aid and services, and share perspectives. Guest Speakers shared their lessons on how partnerships with humanitarian organisations can be designed for success, including during…

Everyone has a role to play to improve financial consumer protection, including clients. This report explores lessons learned from three CFI initiatives in Ghana, Benin, and Uganda to raise consumer awareness of their rights and responsibilities when accessing financial services.

Communities of Practice (COP) were established in 2016 to support students on two of DFI’s global online courses. Over the years tried and tested approaches were used to engage students and help them contextualise the content to their local context. They also enabled students to connect and network together and collaborate on initiatives. Students met…

Ghana became the first country to launch a digital financial services (DFS) policy. While the policy has been years in the making, the government hopes the policy will support various measures it is taking to leverage DFS in its COVID-19 response. Developed with technical support from CGAP and funding from the Swiss State Secretariat for…

This Fintech Report is the first of its kind to be written in Mozambique in a collaboration between FSDMoç and the Mozambican Fintech Association. Fintechs are companies, in most cases startups, that develop innovative technologies in the financial sector, creating disruptive services for the final consumer. In an industry strongly linked to systems, processes, paradigms and…

The pandemic’s effect on the flow of global remittances sent by migrants back home to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is projected to be one of sharp decline – a fall by about one fifth this year. The estimated 20 per cent slump represents US$ 109 billion in 2020. The hardship of COVID-19 felt by migrants…

This narrative is a composite of experiences shared with the Caribou Digital research team, including direct quotes, presented in three short vignettes to highlight critical elements of how refugees engage with the identification systems of UNHCR and other humanitarian organisations.

This brief from Care International includes examples of mitigating measures being put in place by VSLA members and CARE to lessen the impact of the pandemic on VSLA groups and their members. The brief also shares experiences of how VSLAs have adapted and delivered support through past epidemics and crises.

Financial policymakers and regulators in emerging and developing countries are mindful of the potential that FinTech holds for financial inclusion. While there is an increasing global convergence on the debate about and  implementation of regulatory and supervisory responses to these business model innovations, knowledge on how to deal with the risks of fast-moving technologies remains…

We’ve shared many covid-19 related resources and blogs via our League of Digital Finance Professionals group on LinkedIn and also included some papers and case studies in our cultivated knowledge bank. We thought we’d collate some of the popular sites, hubs and portals of information about covid-19 in this blog post to help you keep…

Farouq is experiencing an illustrious career within banking. He began his career as a Teller with Stanbic Bank, where he received several promotions due to his performance, and now is a Relationship Manager of Electronic Channels at Bank of Africa, Uganda.  He has completed both the Certificate in Digital Money (CIDM) and Leading Digital Money…

In this webinar, Emrys Schoemaker discusses some of the trends in digital identification, drawing from research conducted in national ID schemes, identification for refugees and approaches that map identity ecosystems.     Caribou Digital’s research has resulted in the development of a holistic approach that looks beyond just the ID itself but to the wider…

Digitizing social welfare payments can be a win-win for all stakeholders involved when done right; the recipients of welfare receive their payments in a more convenient and cost-effective way, the government can streamline services to make them more efficient and reduce illegitimate payment, and the service provider gains more customers. It was this thinking that…

he ubiquity and scale of mobile networks has made mobile an attractive delivery channel for many types of humanitarian assistance, and recent evidence shows that humanitarian stakeholders and the private sector are recognising the potential to offer essential products and services in an emerging digital humanitarian ecosystem. However, there is little available evidence of the…

UNCDF organized this webinar to discuss how fast-tracking digital payments at a time of crisis can be crucial in delivering aid and in post-crisis recovery. Three speakers from the UNCDF Inclusive Digital Economies team, Ali Akram, Sabine Mensah and Jaspreet Singh, were invited to share their experience and expertise. The objective of the webinar was to…

The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified the importance of the insurance sectors’ role in development, and in the economic resilience of businesses and individuals. As of April 9, a third of the global population was in lockdown to slow the spread of the virus. Lockdown restrictions across the world have led to insurers across the continent…

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about unprecedented challenges for the global economy. It has affected global health systems, affected peoples’ livelihoods and will, invariably, leave long lasting economic effects. Many countries have adopted partial or total ‘lock downs’, restricting movement in a bid to “flatten the curve” and to limit the spread of the virus.…

Microsave’s ongoing research uncovered a set of unique challenges that cash-in/cash-out (CICO) agents currently face in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This report looks at the experience and behaviors of CICO agents across eight countries and explores ways to support them through favorable policies, even as the disease rages on around the world.

The Toolkit for the Digitisation of Agricultural Value Chains is a collection of resources that illustrate how digital technologies can address pain points for farmers and value chain actors, such as agribusinesses and cooperatives, in the agricultural last mile. These resources support the use of digital technologies for digital procurement, by enabling the transition from…

This paper from Asian Development Bank examines digital financial services and products—powered by financial technology—as well as low technology solutions that can boost digital financial inclusion for women in remote and rural areas. New and innovative digital approaches that facilitate access to finance can effectively support the socioeconomic empowerment of women in Asia and the…

There has never been a better time to achieve impact with data. More and more data is available, computing power is ever increasing, and mathematical techniques and the so-called data science are getting more and more advanced. What’s more, “digital” and “data” have become the talk of the town. Yet while talking about data as…

David Porteous has led many scenario exercises over the years which seek to identify different possible outcomes as the basis for building robust strategies. As the Covid-19 crisis has grown, he has become involved with BFA clients in various countries, applying scenario logic to this situation. In this webinar, he shares some emerging general insights,…

For the past three years in Tanzania, UNCDF and its partners have been developing and delivering financial education through a wide range of mechanisms, such as SMS (Arifu), tablet-based apps (Jijenge), videos (Noa Ubongo, Shamba Shape-Up), campaigns (Saving is Love), in-person trainings, and using savings groups as inclusive and supportive platforms for learning. This year, UNCDF…

Savings at the Frontier (SatF) was set up in 2015 to promote formal financial service provision to savings groups and savings collectors (informal savings mechanisms (ISMs). It has partnered with nine financial service providers (FSPs) in Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia to explore viable business models for reaching “the financial access frontier.” This focus note describes…

On an ordinary day, Lusaka, Zambia’s capital city, is laden with agents on almost every corner of popular shopping malls, streets and communities. These agents contribute to the din in the city and offer various digital financial services to passersby and loyal returning clients. The agents are usually ready to offer money transfers, cash in…

This webinar led by Emma Lindley, co-founder of Women in Identity and Chief Commercial Officer for Truststamp, explored biases and ideas for bringing diversity to the digital identity industry. As humans we all have bias and there are different types of bias such as observer bias – where we see what we expect to see,…

In Bangladesh, a mother can now receive her child’s education scholarship through her mobile phone account instead of having to stand in long lines at the school on a prearranged day for a cash handout. Not only does this save her time and effort and provide accurate and documented payment, it also relieves school officials…

The emergence of blockchain technology holds great promise for supply chain organizations. However, concerns around blockchain interoperability can serve as an obstacle to deployment. The World Economic Forum (Forum) and Deloitte examined the challenges and potential solutions for interoperability in the context of supply chain, global trade and the fourth industrial revolution. Read the report…

This document from UNHCR is a snapshot of the many innovative field practices emerging in light of COVID-19. UNHCR preparedness and response to COVID-19 is comprehensive including cash assistance as a quick and efficient means of getting assistance to people fast, empowering families to deal with the crisis and meet their basic needs, mitigating some…

This is a summary of the key points from rsources being shared on CVA and COVID-19. It is a living document and we  be updated as new resources are added. It is intended to help organisations understand and prepare for likely impacts of COVID-19 on their work, consider whether CVA is right for the contexts…

In this podcast from Care International, Holly Radice talks about how people have limited bandwidth to adopt new things in crisis, and how cash transfers in Ebola failed at digital solutions because of unrealistic expectations. Her recommendations: do everything you can to adapt and expand existing systems to push out cash safely, examine your context very carefully and…

This brief from Arab Women’s Enterprise Fund highlights two regional case studies: the female agents, DFS Learning Program and other learnings from the MENA region that had an impact on how digital financial services can be used to accelerate women’s economic empowerment . The brief on making digital finance work for women in the MENA…

In this webinar, our panelists discuss the impact of COVID19 on capacity building and the role of online learning in mitigating the effects of the pandemic. Panelists were: Lutz Ziob, Founder & CEO of Ziob Consulting; Esselina Macome, CEO of FSD Mozambique and Professor at Eduardo Mondlane University; Thom Sinclair, CEO of Gateway Academy; and…

Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan receive more than one quarter of their humanitarian assistance in the form of cash and vouchers. Leveraging this aid delivery to connect refugees to the formal financial system requires the host country to have widespread digital financial ecosystem in place and coordination among governments, aid agencies, and financial service…

Citizens, politicians and policymakers know that effectively managing one’s financial resources – being financially healthy – is central to the success of both individuals and broad populations. If financial health is to be a useful construct, it is important to be clear about what it means, how it is measured, and how it can be…

This third edition of The Mobile Gender Gap Report will consider how women’s mobile access and use are changing, and how efforts to reach women with technology should evolve alongside. This report provides: Updated figures on gender gaps in mobile ownership and mobile internet use in LMICs and how these are changing For the first…

This study, the Contribution of Fintechs for MSME Finance was produced by Helder Buvana as part of his journey to become a Certified Digital Finance Practitioner. It looks at how innovation, mainly technological innovation, is contributing to change the traditional way financial services are delivered to customers and how these new waves can reduce the…

This webinar, the first of a 2-part series looking at the impact of COVID-19, was focused on its effect on financial health. The webinar was moderated by Cenfri technical director and insight2impact programme lead Hennie Bester and featured the following panelists: Elisabeth Rhyne, Former Managing Director, Centre for Financial Inclusion, Amolo Ng’weno, CEO of BFA…

In this webinar Ignacio Mas asks us to raise our ambition levels when it comes to user interfaces. User interfaces for banking apps tend to be extremely boring; essentially a digital version of the old paper forms. If you could print off the user interface screens, you’d get the old paper forms. What could more…

The GSMA Inclusive Tech Lab has released its Interoperability Test Platform, the first joint test environment including two key technologies, the GSMA Mobile Money API and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Mojaloop. With this test platform, the GSMA provides the industry with an open-source and secure environment, enabling ecosystem participants to test their systems…

2019 marked a major milestone for the mobile money industry: the number of registered mobile money accounts surpassed one billion. Reaching the one billion mark is a tremendous achievement for an industry that is just over a decade old. The mobile money industry of today has a host of seasoned providers with a broad set…

In Ghana, Tanager has been complementing the development of agribusiness markets by linking agribusinesses with ecosystems for cashless banking as a bridge between rural communities and brick-and-mortar banking services. In order to roll out mobile payment platforms across supply chains, and provide last-mile financial services to rural farmers, Tanager partners with agribusinesses, producers, and mobile…

Mobile networks and connectivity have become increasingly necessary in times of crisis. They allow us to connect with loved ones, whether they are down the street or on the other side of the world. They fill not only a very human need to connect during times of hardship, but they also allow the coordination of…

We have some great webinars coming up during April and May – as always places are limited to 100 so sign up to avoid disappointment.   This webinar explores how we may be unknowingly and unwittingly influenced by our own biases. By having people with differing points of view on our teams, we can avoid…

This webinar, the first of a 3-part series looking at the impact of COVID-19, was focused on the impact on remittances in Africa and potential responses from governments, development partners and the private sector, and globally to understand how fast countries typically take to recover after a crisis or disaster. The webinar was moderated by…

We received the sad news yesterday of the passing of Ann Muhangi. Ann was our COP facilitator in Uganda and the driving force behind the establishment of their professional association, Digital Frontiers Association (DFA). Ann was passionate about financial literacy and improving lives. She was an educator, coach, mentor, motivational speaker, and pioneer of savings…

The Insur;Hack (focusing specifically on insurtech) was a collaborative effort designed to provide competing teams with sector-specific training and mentorship, as well as the chance to win financial and physical resources that enable them to ideate, prototype and build digital products that can help to disrupt the insurance industry. The event sought to pioneer innovation in…

This case study by the Fund for Rural Prosperity looks at the lessons learned from Ibero Uganda’s approach to financially including coffee farming families.

APIs are often viewed as potential solutions for traditional financial institutions, particularly small and midsize banks, to partner with upstart financial technology companies (fintechs) to offer innovate products, especially to low-income customers. In practice, however, due to the maturity of the fintech market, fear of losing competitive advantage, and a variety of strategic errors in planning…

The world’s refugee population is growing. Although mobile connectivity is not an antidote to the challenges refugees face, evidence shows that access to connectivity improves the lives of refugees in a variety of ways. Proof of identity is often required for individuals to activate mobile-enabled services in their own name, but many refugees do not have…

This webinar, featuring Belinda Baah and Zoe Hamilton from the GSMA’s Mobile for Humanitarian Programme and Elizabeth Tromans from International Rescue Committee, discusses IRC’s experience with shifting to digital humanitarian assistance. There are benefits for both the humanitarian organisation and the client by using digital humanitarian assistance. For the organisation it offers scalability, security, speed,…

New technologies and business models are upending long-established markets across virtually every major sector, including the financial services sector. Traditional retail banks are joined by a growing number of digital partners and other competitors. One example are digital banks – firms that adopt new technologies to offer more effective banking services. This slide deck from…

The 4th Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence report has been published on fintech, regtech and the role of compliance in 2020. It explores the adoption and use of technology and its implications for compliance. The report also highlights the shifting role of the regulator and concerns about best or better practice approaches to tackle the rise…

In this webinar recording FinEquity’s Social Norms lead , Nisha Singh facilitated a conversation with the Anne Maftei and Clara Colina from the Rural and Agricultural Finance Learning Lab on the recently published Pathways to Prosperity report and the associated gender deep dive. The authors highlighted the novel approach to customer segmentation proposed in the report. Based…

This report from Cenfri reveals the findings from their qualitative and quantitative research with remittance senders who live in the United Kingdom and send remittances to either Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria or Uganda. Remittances act as key sources of financial support for households: They reduce the likelihood of impoverishment, contribute to improved health and education, and provide…

Despite rapid urbanisation in recent years, agriculture dominates Myanmar’s rural economy. Sectoral challenges, like farmers’ limited access to credit and associated low levels of financial inclusion, affect farmer livelihoods and limit opportunities for growth. Recently, innovative agritech companies have been testing the use of digital technologies to mitigate some of these challenges. This report from…

More people have been forced to flee their homes than at the height of World War II. The scale of these humanitarian crises are challenging, and sometimes outpacing, the capacity of institutions created to respond to them. Yet, the approaches available to reach populations in need have also advanced. In particular, the trend towards distributing…

Investment capital is flowing into fintech startups, yet it is still challenging to get capital to many fintechs addressing last-mile challenges. Evidence suggests this is driven in large part by a lack of information. Using data collected to test an initial set of Data Standards for Inclusive Fintech, this report from MIX presents insights into…

Often an open API initiative starts when a digital financial services (DFS) provider sees the potential for scaling the exposure of services, such as payments, to partners and third parties. However, internal resistance can squelch the initiative, as management grapples with potential security, data privacy and brand reputation risks. While these concerns are valid, if…

This research was conducted by Caribou Space for the International Partnership Programme, a five-year, £30 million per year initiative run by the UK Space Agency. This report outlines why and how the space industry has a role to play in addressing challenges within the finance sector in developing countries. It is part of a series…

Authentication is the cornerstone of secure digital transformation for platform businesses, and beyond that, a pillar of the Fourth Industrial Revolution: from internet of things (IoT) devices that need authentication for machine-to-machine communication, to artificial intelligence (AI) that will be used both to secure and bypass authentication systems, and even blockchain, for which trustworthy authentication…

The Identities research project explores user experiences of identity technology, brought to you by Caribou Digital, Omidyar Network and the International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore (IIITB). The need for user-centered research in “digital identity” arose out of concerns around top-down identity systems and lack of insights on how these are being understood and used,…

The efficient implementation of social protection systems – and particularly social cash transfers – requires new digital tools that facilitate the efficient selection and enrollment of beneficiaries and the targeted and transparent delivery of funds. Effective methods of verifying beneficiary identities are essential to these processes; however, several issues are likely to hinder this. This…

In 2017, a group of development partners, international organizations, government agencies, and NGOs actively working to design and support identification (ID) systems came together organically to develop a set of shared principles essential for maximizing the benefits of identification for development while mitigating the risks. These Principles on Identification for Sustainable Development have now been endorsed by…

The 15th edition of the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report is published as critical risks are manifesting. The global economy is facing an increased risk of stagnation, climate change is striking harder and more rapidly than expected, and fragmented cyberspace threatens the full potential of next-generation technologies — all while citizens worldwide protest political and economic…

This segmentation study identifies Kenyans whose financial needs are not adequately met by the solutions available in the financial market, as well as the untapped opportunities they offer to financial service providers. The study was conducted by FSD Kenya and CGAP using data from FinAccess 2019. Over the past two decades, Kenya has made significant…

This report by Women’s World Banking explores the answers to three key questions: Which value chains in Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam represent priority opportunities to develop increased credit offerings for women-owned MSMEs (micro-, small- & medium-sized enterprises) through value chain digitization? What forms of value chain digitization would be best suited to women-owned…

With the rise of digital technologies, the use of personal data by private companies is growing rapidly. But how do we know they will use this data responsibly and in consumers’ best interests? In emerging and developing markets, the question is particularly acute because the predominant model rests upon obtaining consumer consent to use their…

Research and experimentation on central bank digital currencies continue to fuel discussion and debate. This BIS paper updates an earlier survey that asked central banks how their plans in this area are developing. The latest responses show emerging market economies reporting stronger motivations and a higher likelihood that they will issue digital currencies, with central…

This blog post and video interview on Next Billion features Roshaneh Zafar discusing how Kashf Foundation handles the challenges of serving women customers in Pakistan, why its services go far beyond microcredit, and where the development sector’s investments in women are still falling short.

The CGAP Customer-Centric Guide is a collection of hands-on toolkits and experiments that help with the design and delivery of effective financial services for low-income customers.

This research report from Microsave Consulting explores the real problems restricting women’s access to, and usage of, formal financial services in India, and recommends the use of introducing different categories of women so that use, uptake and design of products can be improved.    

The Digital ID Tracker®, produced in collaboration with PYMNTS.com and Jumio, is a monthly resource for updates on trends and changes in the digital ID industry.    

The Dhaka Community of Practice (COP) started in April 2018, and was DFI’s first Asian COP. Through discussions with Bangladesh Bank, ten staff was awarded a scholarship for the Certificate in Digital Money (CIDM) course and one of the key driving forces behind this, Mohammad Rashed, became the group’s COP facilitator. The COP meetings were…

This report from the GSMA explores the potential revenue opportunity of digitising agricultural payments for mobile money providers. Two types of payment are ripe for digitisation: B2B payments; procurement payments from agribusinesses to smallholder farmers in formal value chains and G2P payments; subsidies paid out by governments to smallholder farmers. These opportunities offer mobile money…

The banking sector is experiencing a major shift globally, as Challenger Banks are becoming increasingly formidable competitors to traditional banks and have begun to capture significant market share. Furthermore, the lines between banks and other consumer financial services providers are blurring, with several alternative lenders and robo-advisors beginning to offer banking products to their customers.…

In 2016, the initial hypotheses was that: 1) financial services providers (FSPs) addressing financial inclusion had little understanding of the customers they were serving; 2) FSPs could learn distribution solutions from fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies that seemed to be able to reach all parts of Nigeria; 3) the operating business models, resources and…

This study of informal savings mechanisms (ISMs) and their users was conducted in three provinces of Zambia in 2019. Commissioned by the Savings at the Frontier (SatF) programme (a partnership between Mastercard Foundation and Oxford Policy Management) and Financial Sector Deepening Zambia (FSDZ) it was conducted by Oxford Policy Management in collaboration with Paul Rippey…

A common theme that arises in agricultural lending is the topic of collateral. There is shared acknowledgement that collateral requirements by most financial institutions and regulatory systems in low-income countries inhibit access to credit for smallholder farmers and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the agriculture sector, particularly for those led by women. Conventional…

This Do No Harm framework is meant to guide project/product/service design, implementation, monitoring and project exit with a focus on “doing no harm while doing good” for the women and families Grameen Foundation and its partners serve. Social norms shape how people behave and expect others to behave. They define what women’s and men’s roles…

This is the second Compass survey. The 2018 edition started with a blank page – and was well received. The paper that came out of that survey touched on many of these issues: where does the obligation to protect clients start and end; what response is due to sector entrants that threaten incumbents and lack…

As digital commerce gains traction in Hong Kong and Macau, cashless payments become more ubiquitous in our everyday life. We have seen the emergence of challenger banks and fintechs, more innovation from incumbents, and advancement into open data. This is a perfect storm of innovation. What exactly do consumers think about recent developments in mobile…

Digital finance is an emergent and disruptive field. It is important for those working in the field to remain up-to-date and to apply what they learn. Peer engagement and interaction helps facilitate this continual development and growth of a profession. DFI students benefit from being part of a global, moderated peer-network called The League of…

This short article from GSMA explains the concept of decentralised identity.

Foreword from Gavin Krugel The importance of measurement and impact of initiatives and meeting customer needs are topics which feature in DFI’s courses.  Over the last four years DFI tracked its own value as a capacity-building institution by monitoring and measuring impact. Our scope for measuring our impact is on the places and the people…

Providing mobile banking services allows banks to significantly enhance the convenience, flexibility, accessibility, and affordability of their banking services. Money has been moving to the digital ecosystem for the last 25 years, with the arrival of internet banking, banking applications, and even digital money. Banks need to create a digital and mobile extension to their existing service…

Real-time instant payments have become a hallmark of the digital economy and financial system. As part of Cenfri’s growing work in payment ecosystems, this report clarifies and investigates proxy and addressing services as a critical lever for adoption of instant or near instant payments as part of the evolution of payment systems in sub-Saharan Africa.

This diagnostic study by Cenfri explores Zambia’s payments landscape and provides insight and key learnings as Zambia’s 2018 – 2022 payment strategy to modernise the payment system and promote a cash-light society. This report outlines salient features of the Zambian economic context and political economy with a bearing on the National Payment System. It provides a…

This annual report looks back at the last ten years of the UNSGSA and the progress made within inclusive finance. It highlights the journey of change featuring specific sections on Jordan, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, and Argentina. It also looks at the road ahead and priorities for the next ten years.

On 30th November the Association Digital Frontiers Senegal (ADF-SN) was launched. DFI alumni along with digital finance professionals were invited to the General Assembly (GA) to elect the board, appoint auditors and to decide on the vision and mission of the association. The Digital Frontiers Senegal Association aims to promote digital transformation and contribute to…

This playbook is a guide for financial service providers to use behavioral design to increase engagement with digital tools. All of the strategies are rooted in behavioral science—the study of how people act and make decisions in the real world. It outlines design principles for common barriers to adoption that take into account how people process…

Given the Grand Bargain commitments to increase the use of cash and voucher assistance (CVA) where appropriate, it is critical that these commitments unfold hand in hand with commitments also made to gender equality in humanitarian settings. Recent research has shown, without adequate gender analysis and targeting, cash and voucher assistance can fail to reach…

This white paper from ONOW Myanmar discusses their efforts to build capabilities in digital financial capabilities. The paper encompasses efforts in digital and financial literacy, tied to real world uptake and use of DFS.

This working paper from UN Women is based on initial discussions with and between Task Force members, technical experts, practitioners, innovators, and other stakeholders, as well as on a review of available literature. The paper provides a basis to review the barriers, risks, and opportunities related to gender and the accessibility and utilization of digital…

Cash, also termed fiat currency, has always been a medium of exchange for trading and exchange of value. It is in this regard that we see some economies going through a lot of turbulences when this value is disturbed. In Zimbabwe, we note that the country went through this turbulence from early 2000 to date,…

In 2014, Mastercard Foundation and UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) formed a partnership to try to replicate and scale a model that had found success in the Pacific region – taking a market development approach to increasing digital financial inclusion. Through the partnership, UNCDF was able to expand the Mobile Money for the Poor programme (MM4P)…

This e-book on micro pensions will introduce seven strategies for designing successful micro pensions and its aim is for readers to have a better understanding of how micro pensions can benefit their organization and country.

This is the first index designed to rank fintech activity globally, to understand the scale and scope of fintech activity in different regions of the world.

This document aims to set the scene with a definition of FinTech and an overview of FinTech in Ireland and Globally – setting out key investment statistics which demonstrate the significant growth in FinTech which has taken place. It then examines the key success factors or attributes of a well-functioning FinTech eco-system and analyse Ireland…

The ability to send and receive fast, transparent and trackable cross-border payments is a key driver to success in global business and trade. The correspondent banking community has made giant leaps forward to meet the requirements of global companies in 2019. This ebook from SWIFT explores how cross-border payments have progressed and utilising the following advancements:…

The objective of this case study is to understand the International Rescue Commitees’s (IRC) motivation and experience shifting from in-kind to cash assistance – with a focus on digital cash – at both the headquarter (HQ) and country level. It explores the drivers and lessons learned in leveraging digital payment modalities, specifically mobile money. It…

For years, digital financial services providers have tried and failed to seize a multi-trillion-dollar opportunity: the large-scale digitization of retail payments in emerging markets.What must providers do differently to make digital payments work better than cash for merchants and their customers? CGAP Senior Financial Sector Specialist Peter Zetterli’s search for an answer led him to a…

Microfinance has an intrinsic social mission: it is generally described as a system which makes it possible to provide financial services to those who are vulnerable and have very few resources, and it has been developed to fill a need and to position itself as an alternative solution to the traditional banking and financial services,…

Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) provide a range of financial and non-financial services to low-income households around the globe as it is costly for financial institutions to provide the same services. MFIs have been offering these services to the unserved and underserved population but they are also struggling to balance outreach with costs. Use of technology,…

World Bank rated Ant Financial as the most valuable fintech company worldwide in  their 2019 World Development Report. Its valuation is approximately $160 billion. Ant Financial is growing rapidly and outperforming financial institutions, both the innovation capability of is financial business adn the technical output capability serving third-party financial and non-financial institutions are indispensable consideration…

Digital Frontiers Institute established the Certified Digital Finance Practitioner (CDFP) program, in 2017, to support the growing need for a professional certification in digital financial services. Now, three years later, we celebrate the first ever graduating class from this one-of-a-kind course. Featuring students from across the world, including ones from Zambia, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Pakistan, Rwanda and the…

The purpose of this paper is to study the use of financial technologies by women in the financial market of Tajikistan, to identify existing barriers and drivers for expanding opportunities through financial technologies to increase the level of financial inclusion of women in the Republic of Tajikistan. The main method of research is a sociological…

Women constitute the majority of remittance recipients globally and remittances have an impact on both women’s actual income as well as on social norms. This article from GSMA explores the patterns of remittances and why it has a gendered appeal.

The consumer insights research series is designed to inspire providers, regulators and other financial market facilitators to design financial services and markets that respond to the aspirations of low-to-moderate income (LMI) people and improve their financial health. Why financial health? Financial health matters because our research shows that financial pressures prevent LMI people from having a…

Mohammad Rashed is our fifth CDFP graduate. We conducted an interview with him so we could learn more about his experience and CDFP journey. Mohammad Rashed has been serving Bangladesh Bank (central bank) since 2006 and is currently in the position of Joint Director. He was responsible for AML/CFT related supervision of Money Remittance as well…

Conceived as an ambitious project to provide universal identity to more than one billion Indians, Aadhaar is unparalleled in its reach and aspiration. An important objective of the project has been to improve the ability of the Indian state to provide efficient, transparent and targeted delivery of welfare services to a large number of residents…

The microfinance institutions of the future will not know every client personally. They will acquire and service customers through a variety of partnerships, products, and channels, as some providers are already demonstrating. This publication from CGAP traces the journey of two global microfinance groups, Baobab and FINCA, that have worked with their “sister” pay-as-you-go (PAYGo) solar subsidiaries…

At nearly USD 150 billion, the gap in smallholder financing remains wide, and financial institutions by and large continue to find smallholder farmers a difficult and costly segment to serve. The result is that far too many smallholders remain without access to the finance – particularly credit – they need to obtain critical inputs, make…

The Human Account is a public information resource and tool aimed at enabling better design of products and policies to help people live a healthier financial life.  Around the world, whether rich or poor, we all share similar goals for our financial lives: security and the opportunity to create a better future for ourselves and…

In many emerging economies, digital financial services markets are limited to one or two major providers, reducing innovation, customer choice and potentially facilitating monopolistic or cartelistic behavior. Why are DFS markets prone to concentration? Is this a problem? This paper from CGAP applies a framework to help answer these questions and demonstrate how regulation can…

Most digital financial services users around the world live in cash-based societies, and they require a cheap and easy way to switch between the worlds of cash and digital currency. Agent networks that provide this service tend to cluster around urban and peri-urban areas and larger rural towns. However, global evidence shows that emerging agent network…

DFI together with Access to Finance Rwanda (AFR) organised an event for DFI alumni and DFS professionals in Kigali on 1st November 2019. The topic for discussion was ‘The Power of Digital Platforms – Transforming Lives and Business.’   They keynote speaker was Shirley Mburu, associate from Bankable Frontiers Associates, a global consulting firm leveraging…

This document from UNCDF presents the final analysis of data collected through desk research, interviews, focus group discussions, and surveys on women and girls’ financial inclusion in The Gambia. It provides the overall context of financial inclusion, demand-side analysis of women and girls’ financial needs, an outlook on financial service provision to women and girls,…

This study encourages a shift in focus from examining access to finance to understanding actual usage of financial products. The study demonstrates the potential of Big Data analytics to generate granular sex- and youth-disaggregated information on the use of financial services, and to apply insights to inform product development and policy making.

The World Bank’s Agriculture and Food resource gives an insight into the innovation, infrastructure and resources they are delivering into the food and agriculture sector. There are sections on data and also reports on impact and achievement.

Farmer-level data collected from digital channels can be used to evaluate and rank potential borrowers in order of their likelihood to repay a loan. Such credit scoring models could help increase the scale and scope of lending to small holder farmers and augment existing value chain finance programs and informal lending. Several concurrent industry trends…

Taxation on mobile phone-based transactions and on airtime has been introduced in Kenya and is spreading to other African countries. Some countries in sub-Saharan Africa view mobile phones as a booming subsector easy to tax due to the increasing turnover of transactions and the formal nature of such transactions by both formal and informal enterprises.…

Major takeaways from this publication from Women’s World Banking  include: How to develop a successful digital savings product for women, how to create sustainable financial products for youth and their families, must haves for credit programs focused on women-owned businesses, and best practices for creating leadership programs to drive change.

This paper from the ABDI Institute showcases the growth as well as the challenging factors for fintech development in Indonesia. As the eighth-biggest economy in terms of gross domestic product, and with an internet participation ratio of more than 50% and more than 50 million micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), the country shows huge…

For women and girls, the digital revolution represents one of the biggest opportunities and threats to gender equality. In recognition of this critical dichotomy, the UNSG Task Force on Digital Financing for the SDGs has selected gender as one of the main themes of its work. This working paper provides a basis to review the…

IDEO.org is a two-year initiative to surface the complex realities that keep women excluded from financial services and build solutions that unlock new opportunities to include women. In research was conducted in six contexts: Tanzania, Bangladesh, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, and India culminating in a report that illuminates global insights and opportunities for design. You can…

This report by UNCDF provides findings and proposed recommendations from an assessment of the fintech landscape in Rwanda. The report looks at four ecosystem attributes: 1) availability of talent, (2) demand for products and services, (3) availability of capital for start-ups and innovators, and (4) government policies and regulations regarding innovation.

A case study on Malawi features as part of DFI’s Leading Digital Money Markets course, but over the last four years significant changes and successes have been achieved. This webinar, featuring Chikhu Mphatso, General Manager of TMN Mpamba, gives an overview of the developments and ecosystem.   Changes that have occurred in Malawi since the…

The Doing Business 2020 study shows that developing economies are catching up with developed economies in ease of doing business. Still, the gap remains wide. An entrepreneur in a low-income economy typically spends around 50 percent of the country’s per-capita income to launch a company, compared with just 4.2 percent for an entrepreneur in a…

Gender equality is a critical component of economic growth. Women are half of the world’s population and we have our role to play in creating a more prosperous world. But we won’t succeed in playing it if the laws are holding us back. To develop a better understanding of how women’s employment and entrepreneurship are…

Part of the mandate of BFA’s Catalyst Fund is to share insights and lessons learned from their experience accelerating 25 inclusive fintech companies in emerging markets globally. This article discusses best practices in designing solutions for low-income populations, around the idea of Conscious coupling: how to ensure tech innovation does not undermine inclusion.

The last three years have seen a rapid acceleration in technology-driven innovation, which has powered changes in existing rural finance models, enabled providers to develop new service delivery models, and facilitated the bundling of services in new ways. It has also brought a more diverse influx of service and capital providers, which has reshaped the…

This report from GSMA brings together existing evidence to explore the ways in which mobile money is contributing to the digitalisation of finance to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The insights presented here illustrate the potential of mobile money to help achieve the 2030 targets by driving sustainable and inclusive growth, and providing solutions…

The excitement around fintech in India is palpable. This enthusiasm can be attributed to fintech’s potential as a market-led solution to the policy objective of financial inclusion. Fintech can expand the reach of formal finance by offering users personalized financial products in an economically viable manner. Unsurprisingly then, regulation of fintech is central to financial…

This is the most recent report from the Remittance Prices Worldwide website. The September 2019 report analyses global, regional and country specific trends in the cost of international remittances.

This document provides key principles and best practices that will offer guidance to assist regulatory and supervisory authorities in devising tools for the financial sector to deal with cybersecurity risks. The Cybersecurity Guide is also useful for financial service providers to help them strengthen their cyber-risk management in the provision of financial services that target…

In July and August 2019, members of the United Nations Capital Development Fund visited more than 30 different savings groups in the North-Western region of Kigoma, Tanzania, in order to conduct a socio-economic health assessment and explore what are the best practices that are used by different groups in refugee camps and host communities. These…

AFI network’s knowledge and experience in applying various e-Money policies and regulatory approaches have had a significant impact in advancing financial inclusion. It has helped create enabling environments for the deployment of innovative financial services by building resilience in the financial systems and protecting clients in this spectrum of electronic money services. The E-Money Policy…

Tavonga Edson Masendeken was our fourth CDFP graduate. We had the pleasure of getting to know him during this process and we wanted to share with our community more about his journey into this exclusive CDFP membership club!   Tavonga is a digital transformation and fintech expert, with over 8 years’ experience in the field.…

With support from Standard Chartered and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Women’s World Banking conducted research in India and Indonesia to investigate the potential of social commerce to advance women entrepreneurs’ financial inclusion.

Microfinance Opportunities, in collaboration with the Social Performance Task Force, conducted research to understand the experiences of garment workers in Bangladesh whose employers changed from paying them in cash to paying them digitally, either into a bank or a mobile money account. The purpose of this research is to identify ways in which an awareness…

This Gateway Guide was written to help microfinance institutions (MFIs) on their pathway to digital transformation. It sums up the latest research and practical lessons, along with useful links and resources.  

in the context of policies on anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT), advancing financial inclusion poses special challenges. Regulation must protect the integrity of financial systems and, at the same time, put the least burden on outreach to poor people and the unbanked. Achieving this balance requires a risk-based system of customer…

Driving financial inclusion necessitates that we introduce changes in the very architecture of the financial sector of an economy, particularly with respect to outreach. This transformation requires as a first step, understanding the characteristics of the target segment, using extensive data collection, analysis and inference to help FSPs develop financial products suited to the former’s…

Seven years since the launch of the first digital credit offering in Kenya, this analysis from the Smart Campaign and microsave gives observations, insights and an understanding of digital credit and users in Kenya.

Agricultural transformation is a priority in the policy agenda of African governments in their quest to meet the challenges of food and nutrition insecurity, climate change, youth unemployment and overall economic growth. With the right policies, innovation and investment, the continent’s agriculture could be transformed into a powerhouse not only to feed a growing population…

There are an estimated 500 million smallholder farmers in low- and middle-income countries. And, despite some improvement in their access to general financial services, relatively little progress has been made in financial services specific to their agricultural activities. This paper from CGAP examines the challenge of providing financial services that support the multiple goals of…

This podcast from PYMENTS explores the trends and developments expected for 2020 and what disruptions are anticipated in the digital finance space.

Gambling has been around for centuries, from black jack to poker, through to the roulette wheel and one-armed bandit. It is nothing new in many parts of the world, but the history of gambling is much less documented in East Africa, but now it is familiar past time for many. Sports betting used to be…

From the time gambling was introduced in East Africa it was a niche activity enjoyed by a few participants in society mostly foreigners and specific groups. It was not a main stream activity but mainly confined to casinos with expatriates and elites making up the bulk of their customers (1). There were also national lotteries…

This research paper by Robinson Mbae and Edmond Machengete explores the relationship of sports betting with digital credit, looking at how these have prevailed, the common consumer and amounts bet and borrowed. It also explores the role of regulation and education, and why its impact on financial inclusion and exclusion. You can also watch a recording…

Responsible financial inclusion is being fully transparent in the pricing, terms and conditions of all financial products. Responsible financial inclusion is working with clients so they do not borrow more money than they can repay or use products that they do not need. Responsible financial inclusion employs respectful collection practices and adopts high ethical standards…

With an emerging consensus around the importance of responsible digital credit, demand is rising for a shared set of criteria to assess the practices of digital lenders. Investors and regulators want a way to evaluate consumer protection practices among the financial service providers they invest in or regulate. Digital financial service providers also want guidance to…

As digital technologies transform financial inclusion, with new providers, products, and delivery channels reaching out to the financially excluded, the need increases for effective legal and regulatory frameworks to protect low-income consumers. A sound legal framework for consumer financial protection will support financial inclusion and innovation, allow new products and services to responsibly reach previously…

Ekata’s e-book, The Value of Pre-Authorization Screening in the Payments Ecosystem of Today, highlights essential ways pre-authorization screening solves payment challenges. Learn not only about the difficulties in the transactions space, but how to create a layered identity verification approach that will solve PSD2 and fraud headaches.

The CGAP Smallholder Families Data Hub provides interactive dashboards which give easy access to more than 300,000 data points on smallholder families’ financial lives, drawn from nationally representative household surveys across six countries: Bangladesh Côte d’Ivoire Mozambique Nigeria Tanzania Uganda

Regulators play a significant role in catalyzing or impeding a country’s progress toward financial inclusion. By evaluating five domains of the regulatory environments in 55 countries (i.e., government and policy support, stability and integrity, products and outlets, consumer protection and infrastructure), the Global Microscope identifies each country’s current policies and regulations and notes which are…

Digitizing merchant payments represents a major opportunity for financial services providers in developing economies because small retailers around the world accept trillions of dollars in cash payments every year. The value of the data generated by digitizing those transactions is considerable and could be an even more compelling incentive to pursue merchant payments than direct…

This podcast explores developments in the industry relating to the Internet of Things, data, AI and Machine Learning. It discusses what is fiction and what is possible and what we should be looking for in the future.

This article provides a discussion on some issues associated with digital finance – an area which has not been critically addressed in the literature. Digital finance and financial inclusion has several benefits to financial services users, digital finance providers, governments and the economy; notwithstanding, a number of issues still persist which if addressed can make…

The World FinTech Report 2019 from Capgemini and Efma explores how the future is moving to a shared marketplace where banks must think beyond open banking and transition to an impending phase called Open X. This is a shift from: Product to experience Ownership to shared access Assets to data Building/buying to partnerships

As new risks are impacting the insurance landscape, the World Insurance Report 2019 from Capgemini and Efma explores the opportunity for insurers to develop new, technologically-advanced products to provide comprehensive risk coverage and better manage shifting customer expectations.

This paper from ONOW Myanmar covers the results from a six-month pilot which was conducted in early 2019 through our digital platform Build3, which utilizes chatbot technology. For the pilot, ONOW partnered with USAID, Visa Myanmar, Yoma Bank and Ayeyarwaddy Farmers Bank to reach more than 160,000 users. The paper covers the methodology and insights…

The past two decades have seen a phenomenal change in the adoption of mobile and digital technology in emerging markets. As a result, the sector predicts that the number of unique mobile subscribers will reach 5.9 billion by 2025, equivalent to 71 percent of the world’s population; yet, a more significant opportunity lies in mobile…

How do financial services impact the lives of poor people? Though the global development community has debated this question for decades, we seem to be no closer to an answer today than we were when we started. A growing number of rigorous studies meant to clarify the impact debate have instead produced mixed — seemingly…

The Resilience in Action Series aims to bring development practitioners one step closer to bridging the gap between theory and practice for integrating a resilience lens in programming, answering questions such as: How does a resilience lens change the design of interventions in key sectors? How do we shift design and implementation of interventions to…

For Financial Inclusion Week 2019, CFI sought out a small group of financial inclusion thought leaders to comment and take a position on this year’s theme, “Financial Inclusion: For What?” CFI Director of Communications Virginia Moore sat down with Bobbi Gray (Grameen Foundation), Till Bruett (DAI), and Shivani Siroya (Tala) to discuss the theme and…

Banking Circle is committed to continually investigating where the current banking offering is failing businesses and providing real solutions that FinTechs and PSPs can offer to real businesses. As such, the banking infrastructure provider regularly carries out detailed research, which it shares with the industry to encourage conversation and collaboration to find solutions. The latest…

The second half of 2019 saw four new Communities of Practice (COP) being established and another re-established. China held its first COP meeting in Shanghai, which was attended by 70 students, 50 from the current CIDM course and 20 alumni. It was also fantastic to see the Lagos COP return thanks to a large group…

When Desire Nindjin joined MTN Cote d’Ivoire in 2006 after a six-year stint at EY as Financial Auditor, the world of digital financial services was still in its infancy (M-Pesa first launched in Kenya a year later).

Charity Chikumbe was at a United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) conference in Johannesburg when she attended a presentation by Digital Frontiers Institute CEO, Gavin Krugel.

In this report by Clearhaus, nine industry experts share their experience and give insights into how payments in Europe will change and become more digitalised.

This paper by the IMF offers empirical evidence that greater financial inclusion of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can promote higher economic growth and employment, especially in the Middle East and Central Asia regions. Firstly the report shows that countries with higher SME financial inclusion exhibit more effective monetary policy transmission and tax collection. Secondly,…

This paper from IMF marks the launch of a new IMF series, Fintech Notes. Building on years of IMF staff work, it will explore pressing topics in the digital economy and be issued periodically. The series will carry work by IMF staff and will seek to provide insight into the intersection of technology and the…

During the past several years, market participants, regulators and policy makers have increasingly focused their attention on issues concerning sustainable finance in its many forms. These issues are particularly relevant for growth and emerging markets as they seek to develop capital markets in their jurisdictions. Accordingly, in late 2017, IOSCO’s Growth and Emerging Markets Committee…

Recent advances in digital technology and big data have allowed FinTech (financial technology) lending to emerge as a potentially promising solution to reduce the cost of credit and increase financial inclusion. However, machine learning (ML) methods that lie at the heart of FinTech credit have remained largely a black box for the nontechnical audience. This…

Will the 21st century see the rise of a cashless society? The introduction of credit cards, digital wallets and cryptocurrencies have led experts over the past decade to speculate on the progressive demise of physical money, with stakeholders such as banks, consumers and governments seemingly gaining from the change. If the world went cashless tomorrow,…

FinTechs in Europe, North America and Asia have caught the attention of many financial institutions and investors in recent years: the trends and effects of FinTechs in these markets have consequently been thoroughly analyzed. This report from EY aims to shed light on a market that exhibits tremendous potential for FinTech investments, but which has…

The World Payments Report 2019 from Capgemini is the leading source for data, trends and insights on global and regional non-cash payments, the key regulatory and industry initiatives (KRIIs), and today’s dynamic payments environment. This 15th edition analyzes the digital transformation across the global payments market as new market participants like BigTechs, emerging technologies, and…

World InsurTech Report 2019 The World InsurTech Report (WITR) 2019 from Capgemini and Efma explores the Insurance marketplace of the future and offers insights into how established insurers and InsurTechs can remain competitive in a dynamic business environment.

In recent years, governments across sub-Saharan Africa have deepened their engagement with savings groups, recognising the potential of the community-based microfinance model to contribute to national development agendas. This report, based on an extensive desk review and interviews with 46 government representatives from 22 countries, identifies and describes 74 government initiatives related to policies, regulation…

The internet has made communication quicker and easier, information more easily available, businesses more efficient, and education, entertainment and public services more accessible than ever before. According to the ITU, more than half of the world’s population is now connected to the internet. Internet connectivity is not, however, equitable and the gender gap persists. For…

Named ‘the most advanced digital society in the world’ by Wired, ingenious Estonians are pathfinders, who have built an efficient, secure and transparent ecosystem that saves time and money. e-Estonia invites you to follow the digital journey. The website provides information and solutions they have implemented and their impact.

Data innovation is challenging the traditional role of insurance regulators. Two major dilemmas emerge that insurance regulators and indeed all financial sector regulators face when confronted with how to regulate consumer data: 1. They must tread the balance to achieve positive consumer outcomes, by both enabling data-driven innovation but still protecting consumers from the risks…

There are many different development languages being used by Fintechs. This blog post explores the differences between Java and Python, and their application within digital finance. This second article advocates more for python for Fintechs. This third article explores the advantages of Kotlin for mobile applications and apps.

This webinar looks at the emergence and development of insurtechs and their impact. They have been hailed as disruptors in the insurance market and are attracting billions of dollars in venture capital globally. Pieter Frederik Janse van Vuuren discusses the work of Cenfri to update their  Insurtech Tracker . The tracker is a downloadable database with…

AgriFin is leveraging the power, convenience, and prevalence of mobile phones to help smallholder farmers boost their harvests and incomes. AgriFin employs a market facilitation model to drive scalable, commercial product innovation for SHF with agricultural ecosystem partners who include mobile network operators, financial institutions, service providers, farmer networks, technology innovators, agriculture value chain players,…

The Inclusive Fintech 50 initiative, funded by MetLife Foundation and Visa, with support from Accion and IFC, aims to make early-stage fintechs more visible to investors and others who can help them scale and reach more underserved people. Launched earlier this year and implemented by MIX, the competition attracted eligible applications from 400 early-stage fintechs…

Low-income households around the world are particularly vulnerable to shocks, but also the least prepared when a shock hits. The effects of climate change, including floods, droughts, and other weather-related disasters, are adding another layer of risk for already vulnerable households. In this context, it is increasingly important that poor households build resilience—that they strengthen…

Thee third edition of the Digital Finance Evidence Gap Map (EGM) has been launched by the FiDA Partnership . While the first edition contained 40 studies, two years on the EGM has almost doubled . Each year, as studies amass, we inch closer to understanding the impact of various digital finance products on low-income users. The updated…

Much progress has been made towards measuring the success of financial inclusion. Since the Alliance for Financial Inclusion’s Financial Inclusion Data (FID) Working Group was created, it has established a core set of financial inclusion indicators to standardize how access and usage of financial services are measured. As well as creating a common framework for measuring and using data to inform policymaking, FID also provides a…

In recent years the platform economy has rapidly transformed various economic sectors such as hospitality, ecommerce and transportation. One of the most important subsectors of the platform economy is e-hailing. E-hailing platforms connect passengers and drivers of cars, taxis or any other form of transportation using virtual devices such as a computer or mobile device.…

This focus note from Cenfri aims to equip regulators with a decision framework that illustrates the available tools required to regulate for innovation. Digital innovation is changing the nature of financial markets. Innovation can create opportunities, enhance efficiencies, increase competition, drive scale, and improve the reach and value of financial products and services to consumers.…

What are the benefits of DFS ecosystem partnerships and to what extend can they impact on financial inclusion? To enhance our financial services and in order to reach the marginalised, it is imperative that we make an effort to create a digital financial services partnership ecosystem which will include stakeholders such as the identity authority (Registrar-General),…

More than a third of the world’s adult population makes little or no use of formal financial services, let alone access to credit. Accenture estimates that bringing unbanked adults and small micro-businesses into the formal banking sector could generate about $380 billion in new net revenues globally by 2020. Are traditional lenders i.e. banks and…

Agricultural development is one of the most powerful tools to end extreme poverty. Agriculture accounts for nearly one-third of global gross domestic product (GDP), and the majority of the world’s poor live in rural areas and make a living through agriculture. To end extreme poverty by 2030, most of the income gains will need to…

Digital identification systems, integrated with civil registration, can play a transformational role across many development areas, such as financial inclusion, expanding access to services and social safety nets, and effective humanitarian response. But while the opportunity is great, so are the risks. One set of risks results from collecting, using, and managing personal data, which…

In Peru, a public–private initiative uses the country’s national ID system to verify users of a cellphone money platform – allowing small traders to do business simply, securely and without cash. In this case study you will meet Maria – she’s a small business owner who was initially hesitant in signing up to Peru’s e-wallet app, BIM.…

 This guide from USAID explores the intersections between development programmes and broader ID systems. Targeted at development practitioners – including donors, programme managers, and monitoring and evaluation specialists – this report from USAID explores the intersections between ID systems and development aims. In the first section of the report, the authors highlight the impact of…

In light of the insurtech trends, Cenfri wanted to understand to what extent insurtechs in emerging markets are able to better serve the customer and provide more value to both the insurer and the end-user The initial work considered insurtech in microinsurance, types of insurtechs which are prevalent in emerging markets and the challenges they were…

This paper examines the intersection of blockchain and the law. Our analysis begins with an overview of legal issues as they pertain to blockchain technology per se, and in particular issues that arise due to the decentralised nature of many blockchain-based platforms. We follow this with a look at the legal implications of different kinds of smart contracts. These include smart…

There are few things more central to a functioning society and economy than identity. Without a way to identify each other and our possessions we would hardly be able to build large nations or create global markets. Unfortunately, there are persistent – and increasingly serious – problems with the way digital identity works. For historical and other reasons, the digital…

Agricultural transformation is a priority in the policy agenda of African governments in their quest to meet the challenges of food and nutrition insecurity, climate change, youth unemployment and overall economic growth. With the right policies, innovation and investment, the continent’s agriculture could be transformed into a powerhouse not only to feed a growing population…

UNCDF Senegal is supporting the fintech InTouch in an agent network expansion project to address the low penetration of digital financial services in rural areas of Senegal. The project which is one of UNCDF intervention strategies in Senegal, intends to promote prototypes that demonstrate the existing opportunities for digital finance in the country. Through an…

The promise — and potential — of blockchain to drive social impact is massive. From financial services, through supply chains, land and identity registries, blockchain is set to become the next transformative technology in development and humanitarian relief. Some of the initial blockchain use cases also showcase potential for how it can drive women’s economic empowerment – by enabling…

In October 2018, Vodafone Idea Ltd launched Sakhi, a service to address key barriers women face to accessing and using mobile in India, as well as women’s concerns about personal safety – both the safety issues and threats that may arise from owning a mobile and general safety concerns that women experience that mobile could help…

The vision that digital finance can achieve universal financial inclusion is premised on the rarely questioned assumption that the world is rapidly moving towards universal literacy and numeracy. In fact, text and arithmetic notation shape the relationship between formal finance and about a billion of the world’s poorest adults. This ‘oral’ population, stranded outside the…

Fintech investment is booming. In 2018, a record USD 111.8 billion was invested in fintech, and the sector garnered extensive media coverage and interest. But despite fintech’s growing profile—and even though it can help unlock trillions of dollars in value by reaching financially underserved households and businesses—fintech solutions have yet to reach the majority of…

Machine learning (ML) provides institutions with predictive analytics that leverage large amounts of both historical and continually-generated data to obtain actionable insights. These insights, in turn, allow institutions to design and deploy interventions to increase revenue, lower costs, and compete in a dynamic marketplace by providing more customer-centric products and services. However, few understand or…

Research can open doors for more gender equitable futures. Gender analysis is built on an understanding of the differences and inequalities in the interrelated lives of women, men, and members of other gender diverse groups, often shaped by unequal power relations and norms that dictate what roles, attitudes and behaviours are considered normal or appropriate.…

Goalkeepers is the annual report from the Gates Foundation on the world’s progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 17 ambitious goals the member states of the United Nations committed to reaching by 2030, yet many of these projects are going to miss the targets that were agreed. Inequality due to both geography and gender…

During the 63rd United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, BNY Mellon and Data2X’s Women’s Financial Inclusion Data (WFID) partnership, including the Global Banking Alliance for Women, convened senior representatives from global financial institutions for a dialogue on a central question: how can financial institutions best serve women clients, and how can data guide these efforts? The roundtable discussion generated thoughtful insights and concrete examples…

This framework from afi provides guidance to regulators and policymakers of the AFI network and beyond, in leveraging DFS to advance women’s financial inclusion. The policy framework is a result of in-depth secondary research and extensive consultation with AFI member countries, stakeholders (including various regulators across the globe), key bilateral and multilateral bodies, research agencies…

The full potential of FinTech for financial inclusion may be realized with a strategic framework of underlying infrastructure and an enabling policy and regulatory environment to support digital financial transformation. Drawing from experiences in a range of developing, emerging and developed countries, this research from afi suggests that the best approach is staged and progressive,…

L’importance de l’accès aux services financiers a été mise en avant lors de la définition des Objectifs du Millénaire pour le Développement (OMD) en 2000, comme un élément clé en matière de développement humain, notamment de lutte contre la pauvreté. Elle a été réaffirmée en 2015, à travers les Objectifs du Développement Durable (ODD). Les…

In this webinar, Ignacio Mas discusses his views about the financial lives or the poor and their coping strategies. He starts by reminding us that people are not poor because they made bad decisions, but because of circumstances. We should not be making judgements about the strategies implemented and decisions made, nor should we assume…

The rapid spread of digital technologies is transforming many economic and social activities. While creating many new opportunities, widening digital divides threaten to leave developing countries, and especially least developed countries, further behind. A smart embrace of new technologies, enhanced partnerships and greater intellectual leadership are needed to redefine digital development strategies and the future…

Social media is changing customer service by shifting the ways in which consumers seek resolution of problems and the channels that firms make available to consumers. The ability for consumers to directly, instantly, and publicly praise or chastise the service of a firm has led to increased accountability and new ways to remotely resolve customer…

There are many internal and external challenges that providers must address for the promise of new data to be fully realized. From getting the right culture and technical talent in place to engaging with regulators and partners on data sharing and management, there are numerous obstacles to negotiate in capitalizing on the explosion of new…

This report from Centre for Financial Inclusion outlines the digital credit landscape and the risks customers face, and examines the best practices, standards and initiatives that exist or should be implemented to improve consumer protection in digital lending. Ultimately it will take a village to ensure that digital credit clients are protected—including governments, regulators, industry players,…

This series of videos from Accion gives an insight into the mind and experience of Fintech founders. They share their reasons and experiences with starting up their companies.

Many low-income country governments have begun to digitize government-to-person (G2P) payments by making electronic transfers directly into the accounts of individual customers. While digitization has helped to fill the gaps in delivery, further advances are needed. Building modern payments systems can: Improve the customer experience by allowing customers to choose which providers and accounts they…

Earlier this year, Cantilan Bank became the first financial institution in the Philippines to fully leverage cloud computing technology. After an 18-month pilot the rural bank transferred its core banking services and data onto a community cloud service.  This milestone was the result of a cautious but forward-looking application of the Central Bank’s “test-and-learn” approach…

Digital credit is instant, automated, and remote, providing borrowers with quick access to short-term loans. The relative ease with which providers can reach the mass market has profound implications for the future of financial services. The potential for financial inclusion is unprecedented. However, it is up to all financial sector stakeholders to ensure that digital…

Why would a user go to a bank when ecommerce marketplaces exist? Haven’t ecommerce players perfected the art of predicting and serving users’ purchase needs? Are banks too late to the Super app game, or possibly in the wrong game altogether? The Innovation & Design group at Visa, found these questions intriguing and they looked into some of…

Walking along the streets of Lusaka Zambia, you see mobile money kiosks on almost every corner of popular streets. The roads are filled with numerous kiosks that offer various mobile money services to people around the premises. The kiosks are usually manned by friendly young women who are always ready to offer money transfer, deposit…

Since 2009, when the Bank of Uganda issued a no-objection letter to Uganda’s first mobile money provider, there have been many milestones achieved to bring digital financial services to the population. This report by AFI discusses Uganda’s financial journey. Regulators including as Bank of Uganda and Uganda Communications Commission along with the development sector players…

Cash transfers in humanitarian response can be leveraged to prioritize emergency needs first and, at the same time, build a bridge towards sustainable development goals including economic, social, and financial inclusion. When cash is transferred through digital payment mechanisms — one of many options available for delivery of cash in humanitarian assistance – this potentially…

With support from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), UNCDF has been working to address system-wide constraints to women’s financial inclusion through working with financial services providers (FSPs) in ASEAN. To this end, UNCDF developed a toolkit composed of an institutional gender self-assessment tool (GSAT) and a standardised process with facilitator guides to…

Discussions and speeches at the Africa Global Payments Summit suggest that SADC is gearing for change with new regional infrastructure in SADC and potential changes in South African regulation to include regulated non-bank participants in the SA Payment System. PASA and BankServ conclude research on modernising the SA Payment System: Projects such as the ‘Project…

The private and public sectors are increasingly leveraging new technologies to deliver collaborative approaches for financial service providers (FSPs) to meet customer due diligence (CDD) requirements. These include sharing data and elements of compliance functions on a level that was previously unthinkable. By pooling resources, these collaborative approaches have the potential to lower CDD costs…

The taxation on mobile phone-based transactions and on airtime has been introduced in Kenya and is spreading to other African countries. Some countries in sub-Saharan Africa view mobile phones as a booming sub-sector easy to tax due to the increasing turnover of transactions and the formal nature of such transactions by both formal and informal enterprises. The increasing…

Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), often referred to as blockchain, has garnered a lot of attention in the past few years. Is it just “a solution in search of a problem” or, does it offer answers for real-world policy questions such as digital identity and remittances? This six-blog series, from The Better Than Cash Alliance, aims…

With an estimated 1 billion people worldwide who lack an official proof of identity, mainly underserved populations located across Africa and Asia, the risk of exclusion from increasingly digital economies remains high as the ability to digitally prove one’s identity is typically core to most online transactions. In addition to being able to prove one’s…

Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rate of entrepreneurship in the world, with approximately 42 percent of the non-agricultural labor force classified as self-employed or employers. Yet most entrepreneurs are unable to grow their businesses beyond small-scale subsistence operations, impeding their contribution to poverty reduction and shared prosperity. This is particularly so for women. This new…

Kenya aims to become a middle-income country by 2030, delivering a high quality of life to all. Finance plays a central role in the economy, facilitating trade and underpinning the efficient pooling and allocation of resources and risk. From the perspective of the individual, financial tools can contribute directly to better managing household resources, cushioning…

This webinar, presented by Thea Anderson and Subhashish Bhandra from Omidyar Network, focuses on the “Good ID.” Good ID is Omidyar’s normative framing for any digital identity system that prioritizes individual empowerment while ensuring adequate safeguards. Specifically, Good ID is inclusive, offers significant personal value, and empowers individuals with privacy, security, and control. Good ID…

Recent end-user research conducted by the GSMA Digital Identity programme highlighted that informal business owners in Nigeria – many of which are women – often struggle to demonstrate their personal and business credentials to service providers and customers. As a result, they often lack access to market information and support, pay more for financial services…

The large and growing industry of price comparison websites (PCWs) or ‘web aggregators’ is poised to benefit consumers by increasing competitive pricing pressure on firms by acquainting shoppers with more prices. However, these sites also charge firms for sales, which feeds back to raise prices. This report investigates the impact of introducing PCWs to a…

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Financial Services for the Poor Program (FSP) believes that effective financial services are paramount in the fight against poverty. Nonetheless, today more than 1.7 billion people live outside the formal financial sector. Increasing their access to high quality, affordable financial services will accelerate the well-being of households, communities, and economies in…

Agri-Fin Mobile was a six-year, multi-country programme that partnered with key, local private actors to derive business models that delivered bundled agriculture and financial services to smallholder farmers. These services were intended to leverage both existing and emerging digital technologies and mobile networks to attempt to maximize impact and scale. Mercy Corps, with funding from…

Financial service providers have traditionally offered products that serve the needs of workers and enterprises in the formal economy. However, in many countries, the majority of the population earns income in the informal economy, which limits their ability to access formal financial services.  Compounding the issue, financial institutions that have tried to build products and…

While mobile phone access is a strong influencer of digital financial services amongst women, barriers to usage are often less clear. In Tanzania, REPOA undertook an RCT with 1350 women, to study women’s uptake of Digital Financial Services beyond basic and smart phone ownership. This significant research offered several findings around the factors that influence usage of DFS, including the role…

The Data Analytics and Digital Financial Services Handbook gives financial service providers an overview of the potential that data and data analytics present for financial inclusion in terms of improving efficiency of operations and effectiveness of product development and marketing, as well as increase outreach through innovative data-driven lending methods. The handbook is intended to…

From 2014 to 2018, IFC and the Mastercard Foundation conducted a longitudinal study with nine partner financial institutions (FIs) in seven Sub-Saharan African countries to understand if Digital Financial Services are a viable strategy for these institutions to expand financial access. More precisely, the study explains the strategic objectives of the institutions and describes how they planned and implemented their DFS rollouts.…

Les cryptomonnaies, en particulier Libra et Bitcoin, sont parmi les sujets les plus débattus dans notre communautés. Certains sont enthousiastes quant aux changements que cela pourrait apporter, d’autres sont sceptiques quant à l’impact que cela aura sur l’inclusion financière et d’autres préoccupés par la réglementation et la confidentialité des données. Dans ce webinaire d’une heure,…

This webinar explores the importance of financial education in helping people more from living day-to-day towards being able to budget, plan, save (emergencies and long-term) and invest. To change behaviour we need to increase people’s skills, knowledge and confidence/empowerment so they have more control and choice of their financial decisions, options, product choice and recourse…

This research by FiDA involved talked to 27 micro-entrepreneurs in Kenya about how they use platforms (from social media sites to e-commerce marketplaces and online freelancing websites) in their day-to-day business. The platform practices these conversations revealed include: the prevalence of social media use, the intermingling of online and offline worlds, the adjustments made to tweak online credibility, and the unique approaches…

This blog post from Insight2Impact summarises the potential of using SMS for surveys and further information and ideas are discussed in the accompanying report Innovative and Sustainable Data Collection which describes the results of their pre-pilot of using mobiles for data collection.

Statistical models can help lenders in emerging markets standardize and improve their lending decisions. These models define customer scoring based on a statistical analysis of past borrowers’ characteristics instead of relying on the subjective judgments of loan officers. Evidence shows that statistical models improve the accuracy of credit decisions and make lending more cost-efficient. They…

Research on the impact of financial services on the lives of low-income people provides valuable insights. However, these studies tend to focus on microcredit or a single financial product, such as savings or mobile money. As a result, an overly simplistic and product-focused story has emerged. Recognizing the need for a more nuanced and clearer…

DAI produced a Digital Identity Series, which gives and overview of Digital ID. Connect to each part of the series below: Digital Identity Series Part 3: Barriers to Inclusion for All Digital Identity Series Part 2: Digital Identity and Politics Digital Identity Series Part 1: Digital Identity and Informed Consent

This research produced by GSMA with UNHCR, looks at the ways in which refugees are using mobile phones to help guide digital interventions by humanitarian organisations and mobile network operators.  This research explores the ways in which mobile technology can improve access to financial services, utilities (notably energy) and identity services, as well as information…

This webinar discusses research by GSMA with UNHCR which explores the ways in which refugees are using mobile phones to help guide digital interventions by humanitarian organisations and mobile network operators.  This research explores the ways in which mobile technology can improve access to financial services, utilities (notably energy) and identity services, as well as…

UNHCR recognizes that one of the ‘hard stops’ in facilitating mobile connectivity and access to finance for displaced populations is non-conducive regulatory environments. In particular, ID-related legal requirements have proven a significant barrier to access. For example, a refugee who cannot legally activate a mobile connection, open a bank account or access a mobile money…

For banks in emerging markets, the regulatory landscape is more complicated than ever. Rules  designed to fight money laundering and root out terror finance have made the financial system safer  and more resilient but have also increased the cost and complexity of doing business in developing countries—with negative consequences for cross-border trade and the networks…

Earlier this year, DFI decided to move from using our sister platform to campus – Switch, with the aim of increasing interaction, collaboration and learning. At the end of March, we launched the League of Digital Finance Professionals, a global moderated CoP, on LinkedIn. We now have almost 600 members of the group, with members…

The Bali Fintech Agenda (BFA) was approved last year by the IMF and World Bank Group. It lays out key issues to consider in how technological innovation is changing the provision of financial services with implications for economic efficiency and growth, financial stability, inclusion, and integrity. In approving the BFA, IMF Executive Directors asked staff to review fintech developments and…

This report, commissioned by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation (SPF), and developed by Dalberg Advisors, looks at changing the lives of women through entrepreneurship. While many development indicators demonstrate that the lives of women in Southeast Asia have improved drastically, endemic problems continue to keep women from fulfilling their potential. Over 70% of women remain employed in the informal sector, one…

This report prepared at the request of the G7 French Presidency, is a blueprint for closing that gap of 400 million and creating a world that is both more prosperous and more equal for everyone. This year, the French Presidency of the G7 chose a theme based on a big, bold, important idea: fighting inequality. Like most ideas, though, it…

The use of e-commerce around the world has accelerated in recent years, with Asia, led by China, spearheading the rise. Using cross-country enterprise survey data, this paper from the IMF shows that firms engaged in e-commerce have higher productivity and generate a larger share of their revenues from exports than other firms. This is particularly…

Very few technologies have captured the popular imagination like Artificial Intelligence (AI). It has become a key feature in science fiction movies and news stories about technology. But beyond the hype, organisations are looking at how it can transform their businesses, drive efficiencies and help them to serve customers better. This report from UK Finance explores…

DFI has 16 active Communities of Practice (COPs) around the globe who are meeting regularly to discuss digital finance and financial inclusion. Approximately 45% of our alumni are based in these cities and have the opportunity benefit from COPs. COPs are an essential part of DFI’s capacity building approach and from our analysis we know…

Microsave Consulting did an impact evaluation of the PKH conditional cash transfer program, one of the largest social assistance programs in Indonesia and managed by the Ministry of Social Affairs which has been operational since 2007. The objective of the study was to give a snapshot of the implementation of the program and to evaluate the…

Digital financial services (DFS) providers face several challenges when developing pricing strategies for open application programming interfaces (APIs). They must balance their own business objectives, including the need to achieve a return on investment, with the needs of API consumers to experiment and learn as they build and grow their businesses. This guide from CGAP aims to help…

Despite the growing volume of agents, the agent network model is rife with utilization and operational challenges. This brief from CFI examines the role of technological innovation as a potential driver for improving the quality and maximizing the productivity of agent models. Despite the growing volume of agents, the agent network model is rife with…

The challenges to provide ageing populations with a financially secure retirement are well known. Recent trends in retirement system design and changing workforce dynamics mean individuals are taking more responsibility and risk to achieve adequate incomes in retirement. At the same time, many individuals do not have easy access to retirement savings vehicles. Society must ensure retirement systems are…

This paper by the IMF offers a conceptual framework to categorize new digital monies, identify some of their risks, think through the implications, and offer some policy options for central banks to consider. The focus is mostly on the interplay between new forms of money and the banking sector; thus on financial stability and consumer protection. Other risks and implications—touching on financial…

FinTech has evolved in significant ways since the publication of the first global EY FinTech Adoption Index in 2015. That year EY observed that FinTech, while nascent, was “clearly more than just hype.” The next report, in 2017, found that the industry had grown rapidly and had “achieved initial mass adoption. This 2019 EY Global Fintech Adoption Index reviews interviews…

As populations age and birth rates decline in many parts of the world, digital solutions have an important role to play in ensuring financial well-being for older adults. Globally, the number of people aged 60 years or over has more than doubled since 1980, and the share of older adults is projected to double again…

Libra…… everyone in our community is talking about it. Some enthusiastic for the changes it could bring, others sceptical about how it will impact on financial inclusion, and others concerned about regulation and data privacy. In our exclusive webinar, DFI’s three founders, Gavin Krugel, David Porteous and Ignacio Mas discuss what we know about Libra…

Fintech companies continue to grapple with an underrepresentation of women in leadership roles. This, according to a report by the Digital Frontiers Institute (DFI) in which findings revealed that among the 400 respondents, only 12.5 percent of those in leadership roles are women.  To close the gender gap in the rapidly expanding digital identity sector,…

The Financial Journey of Refugees project, led by Roxani Krystalli and Kim Wilson, investigates what money and financial transactions can reveal about the journeys and experiences of forced migration. It examines money as a key node of the displacement experience: fueling transactions among formal and informal actors along the way; determining livelihood options; shaping or…

To be truly empowering, Omidyar Network believes digital forms of identification must embed privacy, inclusion, user value and control, and security. Public and private ID issuers should also build trust through transparency and accountability. Good ID is our normative framing for any digital identity system that prioritizes individual empowerment while ensuring adequate safeguards. We envision the Good ID frame to be inclusive…

The digitalisation of G2P payments could financially include millions more women, however, many women do not use their accounts and cash out immediately upon receipt of funds. While there are several supply-side factors affecting women’s full participation (poorly designed products, lack of choice, etc.), one of the more common hypotheses is that women lack the knowledge and skills to…