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What Does Research Tell Us about Consumer Protection?

Recent behavioral research on financial decision-making has demonstrated how we often rely on imperfect information and limited options to decide things like which bank has the best terms, whether we should save now and buy later, or maybe turn that extra cash into an investment.

The Last Frontier for Branchless Banking: State of Play in WAEMU

Access to finance in WAEMU is very low, even by comparison to other regions of Africa. The rate of bancarization announced by the BCEAO in December 2010 was 9.5% and 12.7% of the population had an account with an MFI.

Branchless Banking in South Africa

South Africa has often been used as a case study by those with an interest in financial inclusion. The country has an advanced banking infrastructure with nearly 10,000 ATMs and over 100,000 POS devices deployed.

A Bold Move Toward Simplifying AML/CFT: Lessons from Mexico

Regulators around the world today are beginning to realize that the chances of expanding access through branchless banking can be very limited without reducing the account-opening requirements through agents and mobile phones. The challenge is to strike the right balance between reducing account-opening requirements while maintaining basic controls for AML/CFT.

New Branchless Banking Resources – Headlines for April 2011

There are several new resources that have come out recently on branchless banking.

Drivers of Mobile Money Profitability

This post is the second in the series on “Five Business Case Insights on Mobile Money.” In the first post, we shared with you a detailed presentation on the five insights. Here we explain further the first three insights.

Mexico: Promising Moves Towards New Banking Models

Over the past several months, we have taken a close look at the branchless banking industry in a few key countries. Last week we presented our learnings from Brazil. Today we continue with our analysis of Mexico and share this summary note on the Mexican branchless banking industry.

Which Way? Mobile Money and Branchless Banking in 2011

There was much movement in 2010 at the intersect of technology and access to finance for the poor. CGAP’s new Branchless Banking Database synthesizes a mass of data into a short 12-image “story” about what branchless banking is and the key hurdles we face in 2011. The focus is on mobile phones, but we quickly add that some of the most interesting work is still being done with debit cards and even simpler technologies, such as bar codes.

Broadening the Financial Inclusion Cast of Characters

New technology-enabled models for financial inclusion seek to take transactions outside of bank branches and into retail shops that exist in every community where poor people live and work.

Social Protection and Financial Inclusion

The 2010 Global Expert Colloquium on Savings and CCTs was co-sponsored by the Ford Foundation, Citi, UNDP, New America Foundation and Proyecto Capital.

Are We Drifting Yet?

For many in the industry, debates about pricing, profitability, capital markets, investors, and welfare of clients, have a common root in one fundamental concern: mission drift.

How Sensitive Are Microfinance Clients to Interest Rates?

Many of us have thought for a long time that microcredit clients are not very sensitive to interest rates. But is that actually true?

FATF Puts Financial Inclusion on its Agenda

In early June, Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the G20 called on international standard- setting bodies to consider how they can further contribute to encouraging financial inclusion, consistent with their respective mandates. One key standard-setter is well on its way to heeding the G20’s call.