Blog

Designing Digital Financial Services for Cambodian Smallholders

As Cambodian providers continue to develop innovative new digital financial products and services, tailoring them to the unique needs of smallholder households remains a significant challenge.

Pathways to Self-Reliance for Urban Refugees in Egypt

UNHCR and its Graduation partners Trickle Up and BRAC University decided to test the Graduation Approach with the aim of helping urban refugees in Egypt progress from vulnerability to self-sustainability.

The Good News about the Graduation Approach and What’s Next

At an event on June 4 hosted by CGAP, Ford Foundation, J-PAL and IPA, leading researchers presented findings from their evaluations of the Graduation Approach that show enormous promise.

Why Open APIs Matter: Tech Partnerships Power Development

The potential for open APIs to drive innovation in the mobile money space is tremendous. There are several key elements crucial to the success of any open API ecosystem.

What’s Undermining India’s Financial Inclusion Progress?

The success of India's financial inclusion efforts hinges on one factor above all: the quality of the last-mile banking agent networks that will disburse payments and enable customers to access their bank accounts.

Three Questions for Determining if a New Product is a Deposit

This first post in a new series on deposit insurance and digital financial inclusion focuses on the basic, but not easy question, of how to define a “deposit.”

A December Bonus for Mozambican Farmers

In the Smallholder Financial Diaries, currently underway in Mozambique, Tanzania, and Pakistan, a detailed view of the seasonal cycles that govern smallholder farmer’s lives is becoming clearer.

Can Open APIs Accelerate the Digital Finance Ecosystem?

Open APIs have the potential to provide more opportunities to the financially excluded, allowing users to make and receive secure, convenient, and affordable payments.

Smartphones and Mobile Money: Is the Conventional Wisdom Wrong?

There is a wide consensus that smartphones will change how financial services reach poor people. However, there are three components of conventional wisdom that call for more critical examination.

Cocoa Producers in Côte d’Ivoire: Cash vs. Digital

Branchless banking presents an enormous opportunity for smallholder cocoa producers in Côte d’Ivoire, a client segment that contributes to up to 10% of the countries GDP.

Savings Groups Fuel Digital Design for Smallholders in Rwanda

Interviews with over 75 farmers, banking officials, traders, co-ops, and savings groups in Rwanda offer key insights to drive the design of new digital financial services and products.

Four Ways Energy Access Can Propel Financial Inclusion

Now that mobile money platforms have become widespread, the private sector is using these services to power the delivery of additional services, such as pay-as-you-go (PAYG) solar energy.

New Accounts in China Drive Global Financial Inclusion Figures

The 2014 Findex found that of the world’s 500 million newly banked adults, more than one third (180 million) live in China. Three positive trends emerge from this data.

Financial Innovation and Solar Power: Conquering Energy Poverty

Early evidence suggests that more people can get electricity with the help of financial innovation. There are two key ways financial innovation is expanding access to electricity around the world.

Five Things Any Youth Savings Program Needs

Women’s World Banking and Banco ADOPEM present five key lessons about serving youth with financial services.

India’s List of Financial Inclusion Efforts Grows

Since India's Prime Minister announced in February that accounts opened under his national scheme exceeded targets and 41 payments banks applications were submitted, the list of centrally-driven policy interventions has continued to stack up.

Focusing on the Poorest: What Does the Research Tell Us?

A new article in Science explains that the Graduation Approach is not only impressive, but has a lasting impact on the lives of the poorest.

Mind the Gap: Women and Access to Finance

The Global Findex reveals a glaring gap between women and men when it comes to financial access. With all of the global progress, why would a gender gap persist?

Which Markets are Ready for Digital Finance Plus?

Innovative businesses are leveraging Digital Finance Plus to link poor communities with essential services. The success of these businesses is driven by multiple market factors. We explore which factors matter most based on a framework CGAP developed with McKinsey.

The Importance of Being a Reliable Partner in a Time of Crisis

With a series of crises unfolding throughout much of the Arab world today, the donor community has been challenged to find appropriate ways to address the widespread loss and increasing vulnerability in the region.