Recent Blogs
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Does Outpatient Care Through Microinsurance Offer Value?
Is there a business case for microinsurance? Does it provide value for clients? In Tanzania, The MicroInsurance Centre's MILK Project found two clear benefits to clients: getting them to a doctor sooner and efficiently financing health shocks.Blog
Sharia-Compliant Finance for MSMEs in Algeria
Since many youth in Algeria are reluctant to use financial products that charge interest (a violation of Islamic financial principles), the Algerian government set out to to make available a Sharia-compliant product that is both affordable and scalable.Blog
A New Wave of E-Money in Latin America
In Latin America, the banking sector is highly rooted in the economy, and to think about non-bank issued electronic money is almost heretic. But things are changing.Blog
Loan Defaults Versus Over-indebtedness in Rural Tamil Nadu
As research in Tamil Nadu shows, defaulting on microloans might not always be due to over-indebtedness.Blog
Comparing Branchless Banking in Bangladesh and Pakistan
What can be learned from benchmarking Bangladesh to the regional leader Pakistan which had begun two years earlier in 2009? Both have similar populations, mobile penetration and income levels making the comparison even more interesting.Blog
Micro Health Insurance: Chronicle of a Death Foretold?
Micro health insurance clients are increasingly being served by government-backed services. Does this mean that the trend is to move away from private providers?Blog
A National Experiment: Sharia-Compliant Finance in Sudan
Sudan's banking system went Islamic in the 1980's and can offer several lessons on delivering Sharia-compliant financial products to the poor.Blog
A History Lesson for Advancing Interoperability in Mobile Money
What can we learn from the past in markets like the United States and Japan that can help advance interoperability between financial service providers?Blog
CGAP: Looking Ahead For Financial Inclusion
There aren’t many institutions - intergovernmental, or international organizations - that donor members have set up and then let go in terms of self-interest.Blog
It’s Not About Savings, Credit or Insurance. It’s About Clients
In the next five years, our engagement to understand demand will hopefully unpack what it takes for financial service providers to be more client-centric.Blog
From Diagnostic to Action: Developing Microinsurance in Nigeria
A Microinsurance Country Diagnostic in Nigeria revealed that while there is a huge opportunity for the development of a microinsurance market, low-income people in the country have limited knowledge of insurance and the value it can deliver.Blog
Building An Enabling and Protective Policy Environment
The blog post describes CGAP's approach to building an enabling and protective policy environment for financial inclusion.Blog
Consumer Lending and Financial Inclusion in Latin America
Regulators in Latin America are starting to build regional consensus and sharing successful policies across markets on consumer lending.Blog
The Future of Provider Ecosystems for Financial Inclusion
CGAP’s five-year strategy recognizes that in most countries poor people are more likely to get financial services from a range of commercial and public sector actors.Blog
Financial Innovation for Smallholders: A New Priority for CGAP
CGAP is pursuing a new workstream centered on financial innovation for smallholder families, the largest global segment by livelihood living on less than $2 a day.Blog
Islamic Microfinance in Pakistan: The Experience so Far
There is huge potential for microfinance providers to expand outreach in the niche market of Sharia-compliant financial services in Pakistan. This could be achieved by diversifying products as well as expanding geographic outreach.Blog
Gabriel Davel Proposes Tests for Credit Bubbles
Davel helped create South Africa’s National Credit Regulator, one of the world's most capable financial consumer protection agencies. In a new Focus Note, Davel draws on a number of debt crises and distills his own experience into practical guidance.Blog
Anti-Money Laundering Regulation and Financial Inclusion
The Financial Action Task Force is making significant strides in providing more granular guidance to country regulators on balancing anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regulations with financial inclusion goals. This guidance impacts financial service providers in several ways.Blog
Access to Insurance Through Regulation and Supervision
Adequate regulation and supervision enhance policyholder protection. That is the ultimate objective of insurance supervision and regulation according to the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS).Blog