Sarah Rotman Parker

Sarah Parker is a Director, working on the Center for Financial Services Innovation’s (CFSI’s) public thought-leadership. She manages CFSI’s work on financial health, making this more tangible and actionable for providers in how they serve financial consumers. Having come to CFSI from working on financial inclusion internationally, Sarah is motivated to improve the overall financial health of American consumers. Prior to joining CFSI, Sarah worked at CGAP, managing their mobile banking agenda in francophone West Africa and leading global research on electronic government payments.

By Sarah Rotman Parker

Blog

Top 10 Posts from the CGAP Technology Blog in 2011

One of the exciting and yet challenging aspects of the branchless banking industry is how fast things change. Topics discussed just 3 months ago can seem out of date today. That’s why it’s fun to look back over the topics we blogged about in 2011 starting from last January to see how the discussion has evolved over the last 12 months.
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The Allure of A Cashless Society

I’ve been intrigued to see several recent new stories spouting off about the grandiose vision of a cashless society. To a certain extent I thought we had moved past this debate. While recognizing it as desirable, this high and mighty goal seems somewhat unattainable, at least in the short to medium term.
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Top 10 List: Powerful Partnerships in Branchless Banking

A few weeks ago in Washington, DC, we hosted many of our partners who are implementing branchless banking products and services around the world. This was a chance not only for us to learn about the state of play of the industry at a global level, but also to allow the partners themselves to share learnings and experiences with each other.
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Beyond Payments or Just Different Payments?

Everyone is always talking about trying to move the branchless banking industry beyond just payments. Those of us concerned with accelerating “real financial inclusion” long to see credit, savings and insurance products pushed over new delivery channels. But is it possible that there’s still work to be done within the payments space itself, just diversifying a bit beyond simple P2P transfers?
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Overview of the G2P Payments Sector in India

We often write on this blog about the potential to link government-to-person (G2P) payments to financial services. We also closely follow branchless banking developments in India and have recently shared our take on the market. So imagine our excitement when we can talk about both together!