Digital Finance Impact Evidence Summary

Between November 2016 and May 2017, Digital Finance studies were screened for contributions to the evidence on the effect of Digital Finance on individuals, households, and communities. This cumulated into the development of an Evidence Gap Map (EGM) for Digital Finance. At the time of writing, 40 Digital Finance impact studies were identified from 21 countries that looked at various client level outcomes. The report highlight that as an industry, we have made significant progress in establishing that digital payments and transfers are benefiting low income households, especially in Kenya. There is, however, a distinct lack of investment in evaluation and thus replication in different markets. Looking beyond digital payments and transfers, the digital finance community is not comprehensively measuring the effect of more sophisticated financial services (saving, credit, and insurance) on clients. Despite a growing number of Digital Finance products offered and the depth of the client base, evidence of client impact is lacking. Download the full report here. here.