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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.

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.

Using Randomized Trials for Product Design

People are unpredictable and don't always act in rational ways. Randomized experiments can help businesses and organizations learn more about their own work, improve upon their offerings, and better understand consumer behaviors.

Supporting Digital Financial Services? 5 Lessons for Funders

A recent survey of financial inclusion funders revealed that a majority plan to increase their focus on digital financial services in the future. What should funders know when considering support of digital financial services?

5 Consumer Risks in Digital Social Payments to the Poor

Despite excitement around the promising potential benefits of digital social payments, a new CGAP brief reveals risks and challenges that need to be addressed if DSPs are to achieve their intended outcomes.

Building a Digital Finance Ecosystem in Zimbabwe

Mobile operators are increasingly looking toward a next generation of financial and non-financial services that leverage mobile money. In Zimbabwe, Econet is diversifying its products while simultaneously driving mobile money usage in other sectors, including energy, education, agriculture, and health.

Big Data for Good: How Impartial Institutions can Contribute

Call detail records (CDRs) are enormous datasets, easily comprised of a few billion data points. They hold all of the information on how, when, and where customers use their mobile phones. Why should international organizations be paying attention?

Prioritizing Customers: 3 Lessons from Eko, India

When it comes to digital financial services, customer care is not just a job for a few people in a call center. In India, Eko is putting customer needs at the center.

Improving Recourse Systems in Digital Financial Services

Effective complaints handling, or recourse, reassures users of new financial services that problems can be resolved and that their money is protected. A new CGAP brief highlights the keys to improving recourse systems in digital financial services.

New Bill, Big Changes in Digital Financial Services in Uganda

In Uganda, the recently-passed Financial Inclusion Act Amendment Bill provides legal grounds for positive changes in the field of digital financial services, in terms of allowing new business models and greater choice and protection for customers.

The Impact of Shutting Down Mobile Money in Uganda

Citing a threat to national security, the Uganda Communications Commission ordered mobile network operators to disable Uganda's mobile money platforms ahead of February 2016 elections. How were customers, mobile money agents, and other businesses affected by this shutdown?

Tigo Nivushe, Tanzania: 5 Ways to Build Trust in Digital Lending

‘We will trust you until you give us a reason not to:’ Tigo launches an innovative mobile lending product in Tanzania.

Digitizing Agricultural Value Chains: How Buyers Drive Uptake

Most companies don’t want to be the first in a sector to try something new and potentially unpopular. Dominant buyers must lead the way to drive large-scale mobile money uptake by smallholder farmers.

Helping Smallholders Buy Inputs, One Scratch Card at a Time

What if there was a way to construct a digital finance product that was based on habits and behaviors that are already part of smallholders’ lives? There is: Meet the myAgro scratch card model.

Digitizing Agriculture Value Chains: Seasonal Cash Flows

Examining the cash flows of coffee and sugar farmers in Uganda for a CGAP-commissioned project revealed a seasonal cycle that is unsuited to monthly accounting practices. There are many ways that financial services could be designed to assist these farmers.

Lessons from Aggregator-Enabled Digital Payments in Uganda

To understand factors impacting aggregator profitability regarding digital bulk disbursements, we took a close look at a pilot in Uganda, where six USAID funded organizations tested digital payments to end recipients via payment aggregators.

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.

The Business of Aggregators: A Changing Market

Aggregators work in the background to help businesses, governments and donors easily connect with a variety of payment services. But how do aggregators get off the ground, what is their size and reach, and how does the business model work?

Instant, Automated, Remote: The Key Attributes of Digital Credit

Three attributes - instant, automated, and remote - underscore the power of digital credit and its ability to scale quickly.