Claudia McKay

Lead, Green and Resilient Outcomes

Claudia McKay leads CGAP’s work on strengthening the role that financial services play in achieving green and resilient outcomes, especially for women. This includes financial services for climate resilience and adaptation, including both private and public sector solutions, and with a particular emphasis on the nexus between climate, gender and financial inclusion. This also includes financial services to help vulnerable people cope with the many risks and shocks they face through work in highly fragile countries and on inclusive insurance.  
 
Since joining CGAP 12 years ago, Claudia has worked and published on a wide variety of topics, including agent networks, human centered design, effective regulations, interoperability, open APIs and enhancing the livelihoods of platform-based workers through financial services. Claudia has also worked extensively in specific markets to develop inclusive financial ecosystems, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. 
  
Claudia has over 20 years of development and financial inclusion experience. Before joining CGAP, Claudia spent seven years working for Opportunity International, a global network of microfinance organizations, including four years as head of Microfinance Banking for Opportunity Bank in Malawi. She has also worked as a management consultant with the Boston Consulting Group. 
  
Claudia has a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Oxford University’s Saïd Business School. 

By Claudia McKay

Blog

The Lurking Challenge of Activating the Inactive Customer

In the past year, several high-profile branchless banking deployments have publicized the fact that they’ve reached more than one million users. Yet what is never publicized in press releases or speeches is the very low number of active users in most deployments. In a recent CGAP survey, 64% of mobile money managers indicated that less than 30% of their registered users are active, and active rates of less than 10% are not uncommon.
Blog

Branchless Banking 2010: What Price?

Is branchless banking cheaper than traditional banking, and by how much?
Research

Branchless Banking 2010: Who’s Served? At What Price? What’s Next?

Many in the private sector believe reaching large numbers of mass market clients is a precondition to large-scale profits, but at the same time, they are uncertain about how quickly branchless banking will gain traction with the unbanked, low-income clients who make up the mass market.
Blog

How Can Microfinance Take Advantage of Mobile Banking?

A wide gulf separates those institutions that are in countries with existing m-banking services and those that are not.
Research

Microfinance and Mobile Banking: The Story So Far

This Focus Note aims to do two things: (i) explore the various roles that MFIs can play in m-banking and (ii) explore the potential benefits MFIs and their customers expect to gain from pursuing m-banking.