Research & Analysis

Supervision of Banks and Nonbanks Operating through Agents

This paper draws from research conducted in Brazil, Colombia, Kenya, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Tanzania, and Uganda to look at how providers identify, classify, and manage risks related to the use of agents and how supervisors assess providers.

Views on Customer Empowerment: Findings from the Philippines

The objective of this qualitative research is to understand customers’ views and perceptions on customer empowerment in the Phillipines.

Money Resolutions, a Sketchbook

This paper identifies six behaviors that commonly underpin the money management practices of poor people.

How the Poor Manage Their Money

This brochure highlights four money management practices of low-income people - and why it matters to financial service providers.

Money Resolutions, Digital Simulations

This is a companion paper to "Money Resolutions, a Sketchbook." It imagines digital financial services that would build on two common money management practices of the poor.

Going Mobile with Conditional Cash Transfers

In 2011, Banco Davivienda introduced DaviPlata, a mobile wallet, to the general public in Colombia. This paper describes Davivienda's challenges.

Doing Digital Finance Right

This Focus Note explores consumer risk in digital finance—-particularly through the lens of lower-income and less-experienced consumers.

Increasing Income for the World's Poorest

A 2015 article in Science explains The Graduation Approach, a comprehensive method for improving the lives of the ultra-poor, boosts livelihoods, income, and health.

Enabling Customer Empowerment: Choice, Use, and Voice

This exploratory Brief reflects our hypothesis that customer empowerment—here defined as a process that builds customer trust and confidence through an interactive relationship between providers and their customers—can lead to a win-win for both providers and customers.

Early Insights from Financial Diaries of Smallholder Households

This Focus Note shares early insights from CGAP's ongoing Smallholder Diaries, providing a first look at the financial lives of smallholder households not only as agricultural producers, but also as consumers, laborers, and off-farm entrepreneurs.