Staff Directory

Xavier Faz

Lead, Financial Services for Equality and Growth

Xavier Faz is the lead for CGAP’s work on technology and business models in digital finance. His area of work includes emerging technologies, fintech and digital banking, as well as open platforms. He is also CGAP’s Regional Head for Latin America & the Caribbean.

Prior to CGAP, Xavier was VP of Strategic Planning for a development bank in Mexico, where he helped launch a line of services offering low cost banking infrastructure and payments to microfinance and nonbank financial institutions in that market. He also worked with McKinsey & Company in Mexico and Central America, supporting large organizations in banking, retail and consumer goods, in leveraging emerging technologies to launch new base-of-the-pyramid businesses. Before that, Xavier was a Systems Engineer at several startups in Mexico and Silicon Valley, as well as Field Engineer for Schlumberger in North Africa.

Xavier has a Master’s degree in Computer Science from Stanford University and an Engineering degree in Electronic Systems from the Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey, México.

By Xavier Faz

Blog

Energy and Water for All: The Last Mile Is the Longest Mile

New models for financing household connections to energy, water and sanitation are enabling more low-income households to access these essential services. Financial solutions are necessary for achieving access targets under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Research

Access to Energy and Finance: An Integrated Approach

This paper analyses the synergies in the distribution of energy and financial services. It describes how an integrated approach could enable financial institutions to profitably serve low-income populations, thus enabling a significant source of growth.
Research

Digitally Financed Energy

This Brief explains how digital finance is enabling pay-as-you-go energy expansion, which in turn provides a gateway to a range of financial products for the financially excluded.
Blog

Small Business Finance and Financial Inclusion in Latin America

Limited acceptance of digital payments and high fees associated with using such services are two obstacles to greater financial inclusion in Latin American countries. Can these issues be solved at the retailer level, rather than the individual level?
Blog

Cashless & Cashy: The Yin-Yang of Digital Delivery in Peru

When it comes to delivering financial services to lower income segments in Peru, innovators have struck an interesting balance between cashless and cashy transactions.