Staff Directory

Leena Datwani

Financial Sector Specialist

Leena Datwani is a financial sector specialist. She works with stakeholders to develop an ecosystem that enables digital finance to better serve the financial needs of the poor in India. Before joining CGAP, she had a leadership role at the H.A.N.D. Foundation and worked on the World Bank’s World Development Report.

Leena holds an Master’s in International Economics and International Affairs from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies and an undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies and Economics from William Smith College. She is based in New Delhi, India.

By Leena Datwani

Blog

How India’s New Payments Banks Stack Up

India sparked optimism for greater financial inclusion last year when it created a new category of banking service provider—the payments bank. However, three players already chose to surrender their license approvals. What does the remaining line-up of payments banks look like?
Blog

Fierce Competition for India’s Newly Minted Small Finance Banks

The landscape of India’s financial sector is changing rapidly. New small finance bank (SFB) licenses present new possibilities and challenges for financial service providers in the Indian market.
Blog

India's Regulator to do More on Inclusion and Innovation

Following a year of well-documented progress toward financial inclusion, the Reserve Bank of India took more steps in December 2015 that appear innovation-friendly.
Blog

India’s List of Financial Inclusion Efforts Grows

Since India's Prime Minister announced in February that accounts opened under his national scheme exceeded targets and 41 payments banks applications were submitted, the list of centrally-driven policy interventions has continued to stack up.