Blog

Do Poor People Use Branchless Banking Services?

Statistics such as the 1.7 billion unbanked people with mobile phones have led to a great deal of interest in the potential of handheld technology, especially phones, to provide new channels with which low-income people can access financial services.

Aspirations for Financial Inclusion in Africa

Globally Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) remains the region with the largest portion of people excluded from formal financial services. Only 12 percent of adults have a bank account, and the situation is most dire in rural areas where the large majority of the 863 million people in Africa live.

Why Financial Capability Matters

Many of us looking to achieve full financial inclusion at the base of the economic pyramid have realized that we need to spend time, effort and money more effectively to empower clients to improve their financial decision-making, build assets and become economically resilient.

Will G2P Recipients Use Financial Services if Offered to Them?

Our recently released Focus Note on Social Cash Transfers and Financial Inclusion looks at the evidence from four large and well established programs in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and South Africa to attempt to answer three broad questions that are relevant to different stakeholder groups.

Microfinance: Excited about Building an Industry?

The real strength of microfinance is industry building – creating institutions that bring useful services to poor people who need them. While clients’ businesses rarely revolutionize the economic fabric of their communities, microfinance institutions (MFIs) do.

Details Matter: Product Design for a Better Savings Experience

More financial institutions in poor communities now offer savings accounts to round out their portfolio of products for poor customers; development researchers are testing the best ways to encourage saving; governments are exploring the benefits of enabling the deposit of social transfers and other cash sources—like remittances—into bank accounts.

Catalyzing Finanical Inclusion through National Strategies

National Financial Inclusion Strategies, together with clear mandates, can accelerate progress towards financial inclusion.

Strong Customer Activity Should Begin on Day One

One of the keys to high levels of customer activity is getting it right from the very beginning – ensuring that the registration agent and first customer transactions are both focused on long-term customer activity.

Details Matter: Product Design for a Better Loan Experience

As highlighted in the recent CGAP paper, Latest Findings from Randomized Evaluations of Microfinance, one of the most common design features for microcredit has recently come under scrutiny, namely the group liability model.

CGAP Releases Paper on G2P Payments and Financial Inclusion

Branchless banking is, fundamentally, a business built on high-volume, low-value transactions.

Who Makes the Rules for the Rules Makers?

While the standard setters make the rules for rules making at the country level, they are themselves country-led bodies, informed by the experience of their member jurisdictions and increasingly by non-member countries as well.

Using Data to Understand Customer Activity

For the last year CGAP has conducted quantitative research on the challenge of inactive customers. In culmination of this research, we are releasing a deck that helps providers understand and develop strategies to address low customer activity in their services.

“Smart Power”

Despite a rise in global wealth, we all know far too well that millions remain in dire poverty, beyond the rising tide of prosperity from globalization and 21st century progress.

Beam in India Demonstrates the Power of Convenience

Beam is one example of a mobile phone based service that offers something much simpler and lies at the far end of the spectrum of financial services.

Mexico’s National Council for Financial Inclusion

Over the last few years, the Mexican financial system has been moving toward a more inclusive financial system by expanding access to and usage of financial services.

The Lessons of Microfinance History

The demand among poor people for tools to manage their money turns out to be nearly as old as money.

Head of Brazil’s Central Bank Financial Inclusion Team Speaks to CGAP

We recently spoke with Elvira Cruvinel, head of a new Brazilian Central Bank team coordinating financial inclusion efforts. Only a handful of countries globally have created such financial inclusion teams at central banks. Elvira is part of this small pioneering group of leaders looking to effect major changes to the financial access landscape. 1. What is the Brazilian Central Bank’s vision of financial inclusion?

Fiji’s Family Assistance Program

The Government of Fiji has taken an active role in developing a financially inclusive ecosystem and a key component has been the implementation of the first electronic government-to-person (G2P) payment program through the Department of Social Welfare (DSW).

MicroSave Releases New Assessment of Branchless Banking in India

India is undergoing a significant expansion in the use of agents (Business Correspondents) to offer a range of financial services. There are many questions about whether this present expansion can be sustained.

Balancing Financial Inclusion and Stability

Regulators have traditionally focused their efforts on ensuring stable and sound financial systems, and this role has been amplified in developed countries since the global financial crisis of 2007 to 2009.