Blog

Does Branchless Banking Reach Poor People? The Evidence from India

This is the second post in a mini-series in which we present new evidence from three countries on whether branchless banking is reaching poor people. This post looks at banking customers acquired and serviced by Eko as a Business Correspondent of banks in India. The first post looked at EasyPaisa customers in Pakistan.

Ghana: Aiming for Interoperability in Branchless Banking

With 6 live branchless banking deployments involving 12 banks, 3 Mobile Network Operators, 2 start-ups and a government entity, the race is on in Ghana to reach the unbanked with branchless banking services.

From Basel to Bujumbura: Why Deposit Insurance Matters

Broad access to safe and affordable small savings accounts promotes financial inclusion and helps households prepare for unexpected expenses and plan for a more secure financial future.

Can Brazil’s Agents Provide a Wider Range of Services?

The prevailing wisdom about Brazil’s vast agent network (largest in the world, 4x that of Kenya and the Philippines combined!) is that it is used mainly for bill payments. This network appears to be a missed opportunity to also make credit, savings, and other products available to low-income people in an affordable way. Is this channel being underutilized for poor people?

Reaching the Poor and Very Poor with Appropriate Savings Services

More and more people understand that even the poorest save. But, reaching the poor and very poor does not happen automatically.

CGAP Releases Agent Management Training Package

In February 2011, CGAP released an Agent Management Toolkit based on 500 interviews with agents, agent network managers and financial institutions in Brazil (Banco do Brasil and Banco Postal), India (EKO and FINO), and Kenya (M-PESA). This post introduces an Agent Management Training Package to enable practitioners to train their service partners about key steps in building a robust agent network.

Does Branchless Banking Reach Poor People? The Evidence from Pakistan

In this mini-series we explore new evidence from three countries on whether branchless banking is reaching poor people starting today with Pakistan.

New Policy Framework for Inclusive Finance in Jordan

In January 2005, the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation (MoPIC) in Jordan formed a Microfinance Committee to prepare, with technical support from CGAP and through a consultative and participatory process, the first national strategy for microfinance in the Arab world.

Al Amal, Winner of the Islamic Microfinance Challenge 2010

Al Amal provides various financial services and products (Islamic financing, savings, solidarity insurance, etc.) and is among a handful of microfinance institutions in the Arab World providing Islamic financial services.

Postal Banks Have Potential to Open 1 Billion Savings Accounts

Toward the end of the 19th century, postal services began to contribute to the development of a savings culture in many of today’s industrialized countries. And they are playing a similar role in developing and emerging countries at the dawn of the 21st century.

G2P Starts with Government to the Poorest in Fiji

Fiji’s government is now insisting that all communal land lease payments, mostly to rural communities, must move to electronic payment. Financial institutions, government ministries and Central Banks around the region have their eyes trained on Fiji, watching the latest evidence of viable financial inclusion efforts unfold in the Pacific.

What Caused Mass Defaults in Karnataka, India

While the origins of mass defaults may be rooted in cultural and political considerations, in this post we focus solely on customer behaviour and the lending practices of MFIs that operate in these towns.

Tips on Mobile Money Product Design from Uganda

How much would you like to pay to save? Zero, most likely. In fact, you probably hate the fees your bank charges for the privilege of holding your funds and disbursing when you ask for them.

Pakistan: Branchless Banking’s Business Model Laboratory

Over the past several months, we have taken a close look at the branchless banking industry in a few key countries. We have presented our learning from Brazil, Mexico and India over the last few weeks. Today we continue with our analysis of Pakistan and share this summary note on the branchless banking industry.

What’s in a Word? Maybe Financial Decisions

Have we ever really evaluated the impact of details as minute—yet apparently impactful—as using “months” versus a specific date on consumer understanding and decision-making?

Centre for Women Co-operative Development, Pakistan

Innovation at CWCD has led to a complete organizational transformation, where CWCD has let go of its conventional microfinance programs and dedicated itself completely towards Islamic Microfinance.

Can Mobile Money Be “Free”?

CGAP wants the financially excluded to get access to mobile financial services. To suggest that MNOs make mobile money “free” may then come across as self-serving. On the contrary, making money in mobile money and making it “free” are compatible.

Get Your Risk-free 30% APR Savings Account Here!

From a policy perspective, if we could find a way to help individuals use savings rather than debt to make large expenditures, many would have more money for food, festivities, investment and mitigating risks in the long run.

A Bold Move Toward Simplifying AML/CFT: Lessons from Mexico

Regulators around the world today are beginning to realize that the chances of expanding access through branchless banking can be very limited without reducing the account-opening requirements through agents and mobile phones. The challenge is to strike the right balance between reducing account-opening requirements while maintaining basic controls for AML/CFT.

Saving Up Is Hard to Do

The financial lives of the poor are dominated by the need to build usefully large sums of money for immediate expenditure.