Blog

Fintech in the Arab World: Toward Gender Parity in 15, Not 150, Years

Gender-intelligent fintech solutions are hard to come by in the region with the world’s largest financial inclusion gender gap. But some fintechs are pointing the way.

COVID-19: A Trigger to Enhance Rural Agent Networks

COVID-19 has highlighted the importance of rural agent networks in reaching people with badly needed assistance. But the crisis has also exposed agents' vulnerabilities.

3 Ways to Elevate the Consumer Voice in Financial Regulation

When consumers have a say in the financial regulations that affect them, it usually makes regulations more impactful. Here are three opportunities to ensure consumers' voices are heard.

Opening Pandora’s Box: Revisiting the Impact of Small Business Finance

The debate over the impact of small business finance is far from settled. Here are four gaps in the evidence base that should be filled to move the debate forward.

Debt Moratoria in the Next Pandemic: Be Prepared, and Be Fair

Moratoria have been an important part of the COVID-19 response for millions of low-income borrowers. Reflecting on the COVID-19 experience, here are four ways moratoria could work better in a future crisis.

Women and Finance: Enabling Women’s Economic Empowerment

Reducing the gender gap requires that we put a gender lens on everything we do. CGAP CEO Greta Bull writes that without fully including women, we won’t solve financial inclusion or, for that matter, end extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity.

What Drives the Financial Inclusion Gender Gap for Young Women?

Ahead of International Women's Day, CGAP and the Global Findex team analyzed how the account ownership gender gap varies across regions and age groups.

Flipping the Switch: How Locking Assets Unlocks Credit for the Poor

A new study out of Uganda offers strong evidence that lock-out technology can enable providers to sustainably lend to low-income customers, who may need credit for school fees and other critical expenses.

Can Free Phones Close the Digital Gender Divide?

Mobile phone affordability — the focus of most programs to distribute free phones to women — is far from the only barrier to women’s use of mobile phones.

In Uganda, Solar Home Systems Help Students Stay in School

A pay-as-you-go (PAYGo) solar provider in Uganda is proving that an often-overlooked benefit of PAYGo – financial inclusion – can also affect education outcomes by keeping kids in the classroom.

How Can Funders Promote Interoperable Payments?

Interoperability can make digital payments more convenient and useful for low-income customers. Find out how funders can support the development of interoperable payments systems.

Preserving Decades of Development: A Plea for Lebanon

Nadine Chehade reflects on the toll the deepening economic and COVID-19 crises are taking on microfinance borrowers in her country, Lebanon, and what donors can do to help them overcome hardship.

Beyond Access and Usage: Financial Services for Livelihoods

Not only have financial services have changed dramatically over the last 30 years, so have the ways people earn a living.

Comparing India’s UPI and Brazil’s New Instant Payment System, PIX

Many countries are pressing forward with new systems to enable better, faster digital payments. Brazil's instant payment system, PIX, is among the newest and most exciting. How does it compare to India's well-known UPI system?

Measuring Women’s Economic Empowerment in Financial Inclusion

Get answers to common questions about how to measure the impact of financial inclusion initiatives on women's economic empowerment.

Let Her Choose: Supercharging G2P for Women

Government-to-person (G2P) programs can reach millions of women. What if instead of requiring women to receive payments from a single provider, they enabled women to select among several options and to reward good service with their business?

Is Mexico’s “Fintech Law” Leading a New Trend in Fintech Regulation?

Some regulators are looking to Mexico's so-called "fintech law" as an example of how to respond to the full range of fintech innovations in a single law. But this isn't what the Mexican law does, and there are good reasons for this.

How Social Norms for Men Restrict Women’s Financial Inclusion

Addressing social norms that affect men’s role in society and influence their behavior is an important — but largely overlooked — aspect of advancing women’s financial inclusion.

Finding Opportunity in “Interesting Times”

What did 2020 teach us about financial inclusion? Greta Bull reflects on what was, for most people, an especially difficult year and offers her perspective on the year ahead.

Harnessing Fintech in the Arab World: An Opportunity Worth Billions

New research suggests that fintechs in the Arab world could help millions of people and small businesses and generate billions in revenue by serving excluded customers.