Blog

Digital Finance and Illiteracy: Four Critical Risks

Illiteracy is still a global problem, and most financial services are not designed for illiterate customers. The Helix Institute is working with financial service providers to help develop products and services that can work better for those who cannot read.

How Absa Bank Empowered its Customers through Games

A case study from Absa Bank in South Africa demonstrates how games can help empower their customers and encourage them to use mobile financial services.

The Road to Financial Inclusion: Solid Progress, Big Challenges

It is not poverty that generates financial exclusion, but rather the opposite: financial exclusion generates poverty.

M-Pawa 1 Year on: Mobile Banking Perceptions, Use in Tanzania

A year after the launch of M-Pawa, how are Tanzania's farmers using the savings and loan service? What improvements could lead to more uptake?

Insights on Inactivity of Mobile Money Accounts in Côte d’Ivoire

Côte d’Ivoire is one of the most vibrant digital financial services markets in West Africa. But why do so many customers remain inactive?

5 Ways to Improve Customer Experience for the Poor

CGAP offers five insights on improving customer experience for the poor, in ways that are game-changing, yet profitable.

The Five Most Dramatic Changes in 20 Years of Financial Inclusion

Since CGAP was formed 20 years ago, there have been dramatic changes in the progress of financial inclusion.

Can a Good Customer Experience for the Poor Benefit Business?

Is it important that financial service providers (FSPs) provide a good customer experience when serving poor, underbanked customers? Evidence says "yes," but this is often overlooked by FSPs.

From Microfinance to Financial Inclusion: Reflections on 20 Years

2015 marks a good year for financial inclusion and provides an opportunity for reflecting on what has happened in the sector in the past two decades.

Cashless Nigeria: Facilitating the Transition to Digital Payments

The Better than Cash Alliance released two studies covering Nigeria's journey from cash to digital payments. Digital payments are passing a tipping point in Nigeria's corporate sector, with 61% of salaries from large companies paid electronically.

Putting Mystery Shopping to the Test in the Philippines

Typically, mystery shopping is associated with consumer market research. However, financial regulators - such as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas - are also using it as a tool to check if financial institutions are complying with regulations.

Minimize Risk to Drive Smallholder Adoption of DFS

For the world’s smallholder families, risk is an ever-present part of daily life. Minimizing the risk of trying digital financial services was one of the key takeaways from CGAP’s four smallholder-focused human-centered design projects.

Small Business Finance and Financial Inclusion in Latin America

Limited acceptance of digital payments and high fees associated with using such services are two obstacles to greater financial inclusion in Latin American countries. Can these issues be solved at the retailer level, rather than the individual level?

Mystery Shopping: A Different Way to “Listen to the Customer”

Mystery shopping is another way of "listening to the customer" and understanding what their experience at a financial institution is really like.

Why Women Self-Help Group Members Make for Good Bank Agents

Pilot projects that train women self-help group members as bank agents in rural areas in India are proving to be promising.

Just How Open is Safaricom’s Open API?

In September 2015, Safaricom announced that it had opened its M-Pesa platform to allow developers to create next-generation solutions on the platform. But just how open is the platform?

Banking on Change: Enabling Women’s Access to Financial Services

Women face barriers in proving their identity, traveling to a bank, opening an account, and building a credit score that all contribute to the gender gap in access to financial services.

Safaricom Launches Feature to Stop Erroneous Transfers: Hakikisha

Safaricom recently launched an additional functionality “Hakikisha” on the M-Pesa Menu in Kenya, which will enable subscribers to confirm a recipient’s name before completing an M-Pesa transaction. Hakikisha has been under pilot for the last month.

West Bengal Teacher Wins CGAP Photo Contest

Sujan’s photo was one of 3,303 submissions to this year’s Photo Contest and one of 27 winners selected by the judging panel.

How Hard Is It to Use Mobile Money as a Rural Bangladeshi Woman?

Women in Bangladesh have one of the lowest rates of mobile money usage in the world. Does the dearth of usage indicate a lack of appropriate products and services? Just how hard is it to use mobile money if you are a rural Bangladeshi woman?