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Setting Up Funders to Advance Inclusive Finance: 5 Recommendations

Development funders play a key role in advancing inclusive finance – they influence the dynamics of financial systems and transform the way they work to serve people living in poverty. Here, we share five actions funders can take to drive change.

Kickstarting CICO Rural Agent Network Innovation: 5 Tips for Funders

Based on pilots in five countries (Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, India, Indonesia, Morocco and Pakistan), we share early insights on how funders can engage with stakeholders in Cash-in Cash-out (CICO) rural agent networks to kickstart innovation.

Are Funders up to the Challenge of Building Rural Agent Networks?

Agent networks are crucial for advancing financial inclusion and other development goals. Here are six ways funders can encourage the expansion of agent networks in rural areas home to many of the world's low-income populations.

5 Ways Gender Lens Investors Can Deepen Impact on Financial Inclusion

Gender lens investing is becoming a more popular way to invest in financial inclusion. Here are five ways funders can set themselves up for success and use this approach for greater impact.

Rural Agent Networks: An Opportunity for Development Funders

Agent networks serve an important role in delivering digital financial services in rural areas, and they present an opportunity for funders to achieve development goals.

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.

How Can Funders Avoid Chasing Data as the Latest Shiny Object?

How can the financial inclusion community get more out of data to achieve sustainable impact? Here are four recommendations.

What’s a Donor to Do? The Financial Impact of COVID-19 on the Poor

Inclusive financial systems are understood to be part of the solution to the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, donors are often unclear how most effectively to tailor their interventions. In this Leadership Essay, Michael Tarazi outlines a path forward.

Inclusive Growth vs. Household Finance: A False Choice

What’s better for inclusive economic growth: expanding access to financial services among individuals or businesses? Emerging evidence suggests they’re both critical.

Funder Support for Regulatory Reform in Financial Inclusion

Funding for regulatory reform constitutes a small but crucial part of funder support for financial inclusion worldwide. Is it having the intended impact?

Should Funders Support Switches for Mobile Payment Interoperability?

Mobile payment switches aren’t the only path to interoperable financial systems – and they aren’t always the best path. Here are three questions funders should ask before they commit to building a switch.

What’s Financial Health Got to Do with It?

Financial health can be a useful concept for those working toward financial inclusion, but it also presents challenges.

It's Time to Slow Digital Credit's Growth in East Africa

New research from Kenya and Tanzania reveals that digital credit is often used for consumption purposes and that delinquency and default rates are high, suggesting funders of digital credit markets should prioritize consumer protection.

Setting the Stage for a Market Systems Approach

A market systems approach to financial inclusion seeks to identify the root causes that prevent low-income people from accessing and using financial services. The program diagnostic process should be designed and implemented through a systems lens.

Can Equity Investors Contribute to Building Inclusive Markets?

Equity investing can play a broader role in building inclusive financial markets. CGAP research reveals three key leverage points that equity investors can use to engage with investees in ways that develop the market.

Supporting Digital Financial Services? 5 Lessons for Funders

A recent survey of financial inclusion funders revealed that a majority plan to increase their focus on digital financial services in the future. What should funders know when considering support of digital financial services?

Practical Tools for a New Approach to Financial Inclusion Funding

What does it mean to take a systemic approach to financial inclusion? Learn more from these selected resources on market systems development.

Shifting to Market System Facilitation Approaches

Shifting to a market systems approach has many practical and operational implications, especially around staffing, relationships, monitoring and evaluation, and coordination. USAID is one organization that is implementing these shifts and is sharing some lessons learned along the way.

Do We Need a Financial Inclusion Paradigm Shift?

Shifting to a market systems approach to funding financial inclusion has been a challenge, although effective, for JICA.

Nine Pieces of Guidance for Funders of Financial Inclusion

CGAP's revised guidelines for financial inclusion funders reflect a shift from an institution-building approach to inclusive finance to one that is rooted in the complexities of broader market systems.