Without appliances, people cannot make use of electricity. But how can low-income households afford costly electrical appliances? One answer is for utilities to offer consumer financing.

Do poor customers value data privacy? Six experiments in India and Kenya indicated they do and are willing to pay for it. For providers, this suggests that offering products with privacy and protection features can give them a competitive market edge.

Decisions on whether to compete or collaborate with new types of financial services providers and how to do so are some of the biggest challenges that MFIs face. Two global microfinance groups, Baobab and FINCA, have concluded that PAYGo financing can help them reach additional clients.