Blog

Can Retail Payment Systems be Profitable and Inclusive?

A framework developed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation explains the economics of payment systems and how providers can make a profit while still effectively serving the poor.

Mobile Money: OTC versus Wallets

A new blog series explores the business choices involved when balancing the extremes of OTC transactions and electronic wallets when it comes to making electronic payments.

Vivid Profiles of Mobile Account Users in Rural Mexico

Nearly 30 million Mexicans live in rural communities and lack basic infrastructure. As Telecomm brings basic mobile banking services to rural communities, we hear how users benefit from using these accounts in their daily lives.

Financial Inclusion, Stability, Integrity, and Consumer Protection

An inclusive financial system that reaches all citizens will have a more stable retail deposit base, which should increase systematic stability.

Innovation in Person to Government Payments in the Philippines

Smart Hub Inc., has developed an epayment innovation in the person to government (P2G) space, called BayadLoad (bayad meaning payment in Tagalog), which attempts to empower more users in the Philippines to use digital channels.

Voices from the Field: Reaching the Poorest in Peru

CGAP's Michael Rizzo was in Peru and spoke with some of the pioneers and partners that have witnessed the Graduation Program evolve over the last few years.

Improving the Lives of the Poorest in Peru

CGAP staff document a field visit to the Peru Graduation Pilot, where several communities outside of Cusco are participating in a project to understand how safety nets, livelihoods and access to finance can help the poorest graduate from extreme poverty.

What did we Learn from the Moroccan Microcredit Crisis?

The Moroccan microcredit crisis of 2009 reveals several lessons for countries in similar situations.

Understanding Microcredit Interest Rates in East Asia

While interest rates from MFIs are higher than state banks in EAP, with hundreds of millions of poor people without formal access, there is room for MFIs to expand as their services are often superior to other alternatives.

Evaluating Financial Literacy for Branchless Banking Clients

IFMR-Research recently conducted an impact evaluation of the financial literacy program delivered to branchless banking clients in India. The evaluation assessed the impact of exposure to an intensive one hour training on clients’ savings behavior.

Keep Your Insurance Close, and Your Friends and Family Closer

Throughout our research, we are seeing that friends and family are often a preferred source of support when a financial shock strikes. So, what is the role of microinsurance.

Preventing Financial Marginalization of Consumers in the US

The recent recession in the United States has exposed and aggravated the extent to which many families struggle to just keep up financially. This financial marginalization impairs their capacity to participate in the larger economy.

What Options do MFIs Have to Leverage M-banking?

There is no evidence that MFIs or their customers are driving the development of m-banking. MFIs that are successfully leveraging m-banking tend to be in countries where an m-banking service is already widely used.

China – The Future Leader in Branchless Banking for the Poor?

A look at the world's biggest market for branchless banking.

Context and Culture: Designing Relevant Financial Services

As a tool to help a mobile financial services provider design a business strategy, how effective is a point-in-time, one-off, research exercise in helping understand customers?

Introducing MIMOSA: Microfinance Market Capacity Measurement Tool

The MIMOSA is a knowledge tool to estimate credit penetration in markets across the world.

Social Inclusion Cannot be Achieved Without Financial Inclusion

A view from Peru on how financial inclusion sits at the intersection between social and economic development.

Mobile Payments in Brazil: Ready, Set, Go?

The Central Bank of Brazil has issued the much awaited medida provisoria (MP) for mobile payments.This bill establishes the regulatory framework to allow non-bank eMoney issuance, paving the way for a number of commercial partnerships to go to the market.

Enabling Data Driven Decisions for Expanding Financial Inclusion

The Financial Service for the Poor (FSP) team at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and its partners have developed an interactive web portal that aims to improve the way financial access is measured and tracked.

Why Some Bangladeshis Don’t Love Their MFIs

A series of 43 household interviews in rural Bangladesh uncovered the complex financial lives of the interviewees and their seemingly souring view of MFIs.