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

Banking Services Transforming A Town in the Amazon

What do the inhabitants of this small town of 15,000 people (30,000 including surrounding communities) in the Amazon need banking services for?
Blog

The Role Public Funders Can Play in Branchless Banking

Given the current momentum, is there a meaningful role that public funders can play without crowding out private investment?
Blog

Public Funders in Branchless Banking

Public funders have been instrumental in promoting and developing the microfinance industry; close to 70% of cross border public funding going into microfinance comes from public sources. Currently, the financial inclusion world is abuzz with excitement about branchless banking and the potential of services like M-PESA in Kenya to dramatically reduce costs and increase access to financial services. Yet branchless banking is a new delivery channel mainly implemented by private stakeholders such as for-profit mobile network operators or commercial banks.
Research

Emerging Lessons of Public Funders in Branchless Banking

This paper highlights emerging lessons from the public funders that have been engaged in branchless banking. The goal is to help other funders consider the role they might play in this area. Branchless banking offers the potential to fundamentally transform the way low-income clients can access financial services.
Blog

Why Distributing Mobile Money Is Harder than Airtime for MNOs

It’s often said mobile network operators (MNOs) have the advantage over banks in creating agent networks from their dense carpet of prepaid airtime sellers. But is this true?