Blog

Schools in Africa Aren’t Taking Advantage of Mobile Money – Why?

Mobile money can make paying school fees easier and cheaper, so why aren't more schools adopting it? Part of the solution could involve a simple app for inexpensive smartphones and tablets.

Bridging the Humanitarian and Development Divide

Building financial inclusion goals into humanitarian programs could have long-term benefits for aid recipients.

How Do Mobile Money Fee Structures Impact the Poor?

Pricing data from leading mobile money providers shows significant diversity in pricing models.

Can Digital Savings Reduce Risks in Digital Credit?

An experiment in Tanzania suggests that offering savings and credit on the same mobile wallet can lead to more responsible borrowing.

Meeting Education Finance Needs in Rural Uganda

In Uganda, CGAP partnered with a solar company to better understand the education finance needs of rural customers and explore how pay-as-you-go solar companies can get into education financing.

Open APIs in Digital Finance: We Opened Up, Here’s What Happened

Is “going open” worth the risk for payment providers? A money transfer business in India shares how allowing other companies to deliver financial services based on its systems has fueled its recent growth.

4 Ways Digital Finance Can Help Bring Clean Water to All

Over 3 billion people lack access to piped water in their homes. There are a number of ways digital financial services can help achieve access to clean water and sanitation for all.

What Donors Can Learn From the FSD Experience

The FSD Network's efforts to make markets work for the poor contain useful lessons for donors – among them, that giving market facilitators room be flexible leads to results.

Digitizing Smallholder Finance for the 93 Percent

Most digital financial services for smallholders target the 7 percent of farmers who already have buyers for their crops. What about services for the other 93 percent?

Digital Credit’s Evolving Landscape: 3 Things You Need to Know

Digital credit is on the rise in many developing countries. Here are three things you may not know about this fast-evolving form of lending.

Solar Energy: A New Frontier for Microfinance

What if the institution that financed your business could also light up your house? Microfinance institutions are getting into pay-as-you-go solar, bringing microfinance into consumer lending.

Making Markets Work for the Poor — Science, Art or Speculation?

Getting market facilitation right and making markets work for the poor starts by asking the right questions.

India Stack: Major Potential, but Mind the Risks

India’s new financial infrastructure could connect hundreds of millions of people to financial services, but at its core is a biometric ID system that has stirred controversy around data privacy and security. What are the risks, and what can be done to minimize them?

Should Other Countries Build Their Own India Stack?

India’s new financial infrastructure, including its biometric ID system, has been making headlines lately. But what exactly is "India Stack"? Should other countries replicate it?

Measuring Financial Health: Not as Easy as It Looks

There are six key indicators of financial health in developing countries, but measuring them can be difficult.

Do Peer-to-Peer Lenders Understand Risk?

A growing number of novice investors are starting to lend to their peers on digital platforms. New research out of Kenya suggests that providers may need to fundamentally rethink how they inform these lenders about risk.

Market Facilitation Is the Way Ahead, but It Needs to Do More

What does FSD Kenya's experience over the last 10 years reveal about how to make market systems work for the poor? Here are three takeaways.

Is the Unbundling of Payments from Banking Regulation Imminent?

The unbundling of payments from banking is well underway in countries like India. Is the unbundling of payments from banking regulation soon to follow?

Wari to Buy Tigo in Senegal: Opportunity for Financial Inclusion?

Wari recently announced plans to acquire Tigo in Senegal, a move that would combine Senegal’s largest over-the-counter agent network with Tigo’s e-money wallet. This acquisition could disrupt the digital finance market in a way that benefits low-income customers.

The Face of Financial Inclusion in 2025: The Experts’ View

CGAP asked leading thinkers from around the world to share what they see as likely future scenarios for financial inclusion. Here's what we heard.