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Lessons on Customer Empowerment from Women in Rural India

CGAP is seeking to answer questions and test ideas that explore the concept of empowerment and the role it can play in building customer trust and confidence.

Can Digital Cash Transfers Enable Financial Inclusion in India?

Although digitizing cash transfers in India is gaining momentum with a renewed effort by the national government, the direct positive impact on financial inclusion remains unclear.

What Will It Take for Payments Banks to Succeed in India?

Despite the introduction of innovation-friendly regulations and other advances, wide-scale digital payment services remain unproven in India.

Can India Achieve Universal Digital Financial Inclusion?

India's Prime Minister has launched an ambitious financial inclusion program aimed at reaching 75 million people with bank accounts and subsequently government transfers, insurance, pensions and credit.

2015 Set to be Big Year for Digital Financial Inclusion in India

Key regulatory moves in India during 2014 were digital finance game-changers.

How Can Group Loans be Provided more Responsibly?

In order for financial products to help people meet their goals, the products need to fit in with a household's natural cash flows and financial situation.

Can India Achieve Financial Inclusion within the Next Few Years?

The new Government of India has made financial inclusion one of the cornerstones of its policies and has set the target of every adult having a financial account by August 2015.

New Data Shows Only 6% of India is Aware of Mobile Money

Financial inclusion in India has the mandate at the highest level of policy making, but the market has yet to respond positively to regulations that allow both public and private actors to pursue digitized payment services. Understanding demand for financial services is key to design services that reach scale.

Can a Digitized Post Realize India’s Financial Inclusion Dreams?

With a giant effort currently underway to digitize India’s Post, this blog analyzes the prospects of India’s postal network to address the country’s financial inclusion challenges.

The Road Ahead: Implementing Kaleido at Scale

Janalakshmi, an urban microfinance institution in India, is putting its customers at the center of its business with a mapping tool called Kaleido.

Creating an Insights Engine for a Customer Centric Organization

In the first of a multi-part blog series, we take a look at a unique customer profiling tool called Kaleido. Created by Janalakshmi Financial Services, the tool maps the financial context of a household, getting us closer to a customer-centricity.

Could India’s Unique ID be a Financial Inclusion Game-Changer?

The Indian government’s plan to provide every resident with a unique biometrically linked identity number is an exciting development for those of us dedicated to broadening financial access to unbanked people worldwide.

India’s Unique ID Could Generate Big Boost in Financial Access

Aadhaar, the effort to give every Indian resident a unique identification number for the purpose of accessing services and social benefits, is at the center of India's progress towards financial inclusion.

Electronic Delivery of Cash Transfers in India: The Agent Story

The G2P ecosystem in Andhra Pradesh offers an opportunity to advance financial inclusion, and also offers many lessons as direct benefit transfers are rolled out across India.

Technology is not Actually a Barrier for Very Poor G2P Recipients

For recipients of social cash transfers in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, technology - whether a smart card or mobile phone - is rarely a barrier to use for recipients.

Financial Inclusion 2.0: India’s Business Correspondents

In India, the lack of access to financial services still poses a major challenge. FINO aims to close the access gap by extending services right to people's doorsteps.

The Journey to Client Centricity in Financial Inclusion

CGAP's partnership with Janalakshmi Financial Services seeks to learn more about understanding customers, designing effective product delivery, and making the economics behind client-centric financial services for the poor work.

Evaluating Financial Literacy for Branchless Banking Clients

IFMR-Research recently conducted an impact evaluation of the financial literacy program delivered to branchless banking clients in India. The evaluation assessed the impact of exposure to an intensive one hour training on clients’ savings behavior.

Credit Market Saturation: Anatomy of a Recent Debate

Two recent posts on repayment of microfinance loans in Tamil Nadu has sparked a debate between the authors. Both of whom raise a question for the industry as a whole: how can we better measure over-indebtedness and market saturation?

Loan Defaults Versus Over-indebtedness in Rural Tamil Nadu

As research in Tamil Nadu shows, defaulting on microloans might not always be due to over-indebtedness.