Stefan Staschen

Senior Financial Sector Specialist

Based in Berlin, Stefan Staschen led CGAP's Digital Financial Services Regulation and Supervision project. He has more than 20 years of experience working on financial inclusion, focusing on policy and regulatory issues in microfinance and digital financial services. He has worked with numerous regulators and supervisors primarily in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, but also in Central and Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, and Arab countries.

Before joining CGAP in 2016, Stefan worked for 15 years as an independent consultant on inclusive financial policy and lived for several years each in the United Kingdom, Kenya, and Turkey.

Stefan has a Doctorate degree from the London School of Economics and a Master’s degree in Economics from the Free University of Berlin.

By Stefan Staschen

Research

Applying the RIA Lite Methodology: An Example from Pakistan

This study looks at Pakistan’s nearly decade-old experience with regulating digital financial services (referred in the local context as branchless banking) as a test case for the RIA Lite methodology,
Blog

Is the Unbundling of Payments from Banking Regulation Imminent?

The unbundling of payments from banking is well underway in countries like India. Is the unbundling of payments from banking regulation soon to follow?
Blog

Unlocking Financial Inclusion Using Biometrically Verified SIMs

In 2015, Pakistan became the first country to leverage biometric SIM verification for remote mobile wallet account opening. We talked to members of the Banking Policy and Regulation Department at the State Bank of Pakistan to learn more about these developments and the exciting implications for financial inclusion.
Blog

Agents for Everyone: Removing Agent Exclusivity in Kenya & Uganda

Mobile money and banking agents blend seamlessly into the daily economic lives of consumers in countries like Kenya and Uganda, offering convenience and expanding access points to financial services. But agent exclusivity clauses can limit customers' choices.
Blog

How Ghana Set Its Rules on Interest Payment on e-Money Accounts

Soon, customers in Ghana will earn interest on their mobile money wallets. How did Ghana do it differently than Tanzania, the first country where a mobile money service paid out interest?