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Digital Finance in Bangladesh: Where are all the Women?

Bangladesh has long been a success story for women’s financial inclusion, but in terms of digital finance, the story is very different.

Responsible Digital Finance for Kenyan Merchants: Five Priorities

Kopo Kopo enables more than 10,000 merchants to accept mobile payments from their customers. As Kopo Kopo considers consumer protection risk areas, they identified key concerns and questions in each which they are working on addressing.

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.

Papayas and Digital Finance: Emerging Consumer Risks in Colombia

The results from recently conducted design workshops with digital financial services clients in Colombia point to simple, yet innovative ideas to help mitigate consumer risks in digital finance.

AML/CFT: Balancing Regulation with Innovation

CGAP has conducted research to better understand how processes for achieving anti-money laundering (AML) compliance affect how financial institutions can extend financial services to poor populations.

Setting the Stage for Mobile Money in Myanmar

The rapid growth in telecommunications coverage in Myanmar is laying important groundwork that can support growth of digital financial services for the unbanked.

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.

Benin’s Expansion of Digital Finance

The market for digital financial services in Benin shows potential. However, major barriers need to be addressed for digital finance to thrive and contribute to financial inclusion.

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

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

Mobile Money in Pakistan: From OTC to Accounts, Part 2

Despite the continued dominance of agent-assisted OTC transactions in Pakistan, it is not all doom and gloom. We note four recent developments that just might trigger a rapid expansion in mobile account usage in 2015.

Five Lessons about Agent Networks in Peru

CGAP recently completed a study of five agent networks in Peru comprising more than 26,000 agents and 24 million monthly transactions to identify key success factors in reaching poor and rural areas.

When Digital Meets Traditional Banking: A New Concept in Senegal

With the launch of Manko in 2013, Société Générale de Banques au Sénégal (SGBS) is one of the few commercial banks that could potentially disrupt the market and redefine the role of banks in Senegal and WAEMU more broadly.

Mobile Money in Pakistan: From OTC to Accounts, Part 1

The latest data from the Intermedia Financial Inclusion Insights survey suggests that providers continue to focus on basic over-the-counter (OTC) services. Kabir Kumar and Dan Radcliffe discuss lessons learned from the survey and Pakistan’s potential for digital financial inclusion.

Building Big Backbones for Innovation

Building a network of agents across a broad geography has proved to be a huge barrier to entering the digital finance space for small or medium-sized companies. In Bangaldesh and Nigeria, industry giants are building the channels necessary to allow smaller players to get in the game.

Boon for the Base: Crowdfunding for the Base of the Pyramid

Crowdfuding is growing fast. Combined with the continued permeation of internet connectivity - especially via smartphones - and mobile connectivity, crowdfunding holds tremendous potential for entrepreneurs at the base of the pyramid who need access to capital.

Digital Finance in Cote d’Ivoire: Ready, Set, Go!

On the surface, Cote d’Ivoire may seem like an unlikely contender to challenge the digital financial success in East Africa. However, the country has great potential to be the next digital finance success story.

Can Agents Improve Conditional Cash Transfers in Peru?

Innovations for Poverty Action is working with the Peruvian Government to test conditional cash transfer programs that help poor people save more and receive their payments in more convenient ways.

Apple Pay in Afghanistan: Could US M-Payments Work Abroad?

Mobile payments are a prime example of "reverse innovation," where Western companies draw inspiration from hundreds of mobile money deployments overseas in developing markets.

Digital Currencies and Financial Inclusion: 5 Questions

CGAP's recent experience with BitPesa offers new perspective on some of the key concerns about Bitcoin being used in emerging markets.

Is Digital Finance Hitting its Stride in WAEMU?

Digital finance is advancing in WAEMU, but within the region there are eight countries all with unique markets facing disparate challenges. When it comes to mobile money and financial inclusion, the question for some is "where do you start?"