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The Replication Limits of M-Pesa in Latin America

Is the challenge of replicating the success of the M-Pesa model in Kenya more about implementation and management or about context and market structure? In Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), the evidence points to context.

User-Centered Financial Services Build Household Resilience

"Resilience" refers to the ability to anticipate, respond to and recover from shocks. Freedom from Hunger used “resilience diaries” with 46 households in Burkina Faso to research whether financial services could play a greater role in building household resilience.

How Ghana Set Its Rules on Interest Payment on e-Money Accounts

Soon, customers in Ghana will earn interest on their mobile money wallets. How did Ghana do it differently than Tanzania, the first country where a mobile money service paid out interest?

Interest Payments on Mobile Wallets: Bank of Tanzania’s Approach

One ongoing debate in digital financial services concerns whether customers should be able to earn interest on mobile money wallets. The Bank of Tanzania decided that the benefit of interest earned by MNOs should go directly to customers. Here are key lessons to date.

Use of “Emerging Regulatory Enablers” to Promote DFS

In 10 years of research into regulatory issues surrounding digital financial services, CGAP has maintained a relatively consistent stance on the "basic regulatory enablers" necessary for DFS to flourish. CGAP’s Inclusive Markets Team has now started to examine "emerging regulatory enablers" and their role in DFS.

Tugende: Analog Credit on Digital Wheels

In Uganda, Tugende has helped over 3,000 motorcycle taxi drivers on the path to ownership by leveraging new technologies that enable the purchasing of an asset over time. Tugende's success has four key lessons for other digital finance plus initiatives.

Building a Toolbox for Bundling Services

In an increasingly competitive marketplace, could the bundling of credit with non-credit financial services be a viable solution for FSPs? EA Consultants designed and implemented a study with Crezcamos in Colombia to find out.

When Mandating Financial Access for the Poorest Fails

Digitization of government-to-person (G2P) payments should be a financial inclusion “quick win,” but negative experiences with digital social payment programs sometimes have the adverse effect of steering low-income customers away from formal financial services. This doesn't have to be the case.

Done Right, Digital Finance Could Transform Humanitarian Response

Recognizing the transformative role digital innovation can play in humanitarian response, CGAP, MasterCard and UNCDF co-hosted a high-level panel at the World Humanitarian Summit. How can digital finance work to build a bridge from response to resiliency?

How Can Indirect Deposit Insurance Work in Digital Finance?

It is increasingly important to ensure that digitally-stored funds are protected against the failure of institutions offering these products. The indirect (or 'pass-through') approach to deposit insurance is raising questions with big implications for financial inclusion.

Optimizing for the Next Billion Users

Across emerging markets, smartphone adoption is opening up an increasingly clear opportunity for multifaceted financial services. However, a range of technical constraints still hold some users back. Here are three ways to optimize for a more inclusive future.

Can Smartphones Help the Poorest Escape Extreme Poverty?

Trickle Up is piloting a project integrating smartphones into Graduation programs in India, affording a valuable opportunity to explore the potential role of technology in improving and scaling the delivery of the Graduation approach to ultrapoor women in remote areas.

Colombia’s Recipe for 100% Agent Coverage: Aggregation & Sharing

Universal coverage is a fundamental building block toward universal financial access. Last year Colombia announced that all of its 1,100+ municipalities had at least one banking agent serving customers in need of financial services. How did Colombia do it?

Understanding Customer Inactivity with Customer Data from Kenya

Account dormancy among mobile money users is an industry-wide problem. WSBI is working to understand the driving forces behind customer inactivity in Kenya.

Four Common Features of Emerging Digital Credit Offerings

Digital credit has emerged at the digital finance frontier, drawing attention from all players across the DFS ecosystem. A new CGAP brief explores the inner workings and key characteristics of digital credit offerings.

Linking Mobile Banking with Village Groups in Uganda

In Uganda, WSBI and PostBank Uganda sought to encourage active individual savings for village group members while simultaneously providing efficiency gains via group lending. The solution? PBU’s low-cost VSLA Group Account, which has reached over 500,000 members.

Cash: The Unsung Hero of Digital Finance

Far from being a fossilized legacy in the digital era, cash is arguably a potent tool that can help bring poor people into financial inclusion. Here’s why.

Could Energy Service Be the Key to Banking the Rural Poor?

Driving financial inclusion and expanding energy access have traditionally been considered separate development objectives. But thanks to revolutions in the distribution and financing of off-grid solar, that may be about to change.

Financial Inclusion and Off-Grid Solar: Three Takeaways

Pay-as-you-go solar energy is gaining popularity in sub-Saharan Africa, and it is also playing a role in driving financial inclusion.

Leveraging Social Cues to Encourage Digital Payments

By focusing on social proof, Juntos and Tigo Pesa are building confidence in mobile money technology and driving the use of digital payments in Tanzania.