Research & Analysis

International Funding for Financial Inclusion in 2021: Global Data

These data snapshots were generated from the 2021 CGAP Funder Survey and they may be browsed online or downloaded to share and use in your own presentations

Funding Explorer: Interactive Data for the 2021 CGAP Funder Survey

The Funding Explorer is a set of seven interactive dashboards reflecting active international financial inclusion funding commitments as of December 31, 2021. The Explorer uses data from the CGAP Funder Survey complemented by publicly available contextual indicators.  

Data Analytics Journey for Microfinance Data Analysts

This tutorial-style video takes you through the technical journey of data analytics function that supports data-oriented strategic decision making and business development of your company.

Business Intelligence: A Bedrock of Successful Digitization in Microfinance

Microfinance institutions that successfully generate value for their business and customers through digitization anchor these efforts in business intelligence. This Technical Note outlines an approach for improving business intelligence with interventions that require minimum or no investment in technology. CGAP also offers a customer dashboard library with detailed instructions for data teams and a tutorial video.

Emerging Trends in National Financial Inclusion Strategies that Support Women’s Entrepreneurship

Women entrepreneurs continue to face persistent gender-based barriers that impede their success – such as unequal access to financial accounts, constrained credit, and normative roles that keep women in the role of primary caregivers. Improved financial inclusion can help reduce some of these barriers. This WBL-CGAP Brief presents data collected by the World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law (WBL) project on how National Financial Inclusion Strategies can spur policy and regulatory reforms in support of women’s entrepreneurship. 

Combining Open Finance and Data Protection for Low-Income Consumers

Open finance gives low-income consumers greater control of their personal information, helping make their data work for them, giving them access to more products at lower costs through multiple and easy-to-access channels, and allowing for remote consumer onboarding. Under open finance, with consent from the customer, banks and financial service providers (FSPs) would be required to share consumer data with other FSPs and/or third-party providers, such as fintechs. However, this unprecedented ability to move entire financial histories both empowers consumers and poses risks.

Igniting SDG Progress Through Digital Financial Inclusion (2023 edition)

Building on the success of the first edition in 2018, the 2023 edition of Igniting SDG Progress Through Digital Financial Inclusion looks at evidence-based examples for the 13 global goals relevant to digital financial inclusion. This work is a collaboration between the Office of United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA Queen Máxima), Better Than Cash Alliance, the United Nations Capital Development Fund, CGAP and the World Bank. 

Young Women and Financial Services: Maximizing Impact

Research has shown that marginalized young women can benefit from financial services in both economic and non-economic ways. But with over half a billion women aged 15-24 in the world, the life stages, needs, and contexts of this population are tremendously diverse. Among which segments of young women could investments in improved financial services make the most impact? This infographic highlights findings from a recent CGAP segmentation exercise.

Digital Finance’s Little Secret... (Agent Networks)

The wide reach of digital financial services can unlock life-changing opportunities for low-income consumers. But here’s a little secret about these digital services: their current ability to attract and serve new users largely depends on the expansion of old-fashioned physical interaction through agent networks, which is crucial in cash economies. In this episode, we explore the latest advances in agent networks and what they mean for the future of inclusive finance. 

Will Central Bank Digital Currencies be a Game-Changer for Financial Inclusion?

Central banks have been eying the emergence of privately issued digital currencies with a mix of excitement and anxiety, and some began experimenting with central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Some advocates say CBDCs will help central banks advance financial inclusion. But are CBDCs really a game-changer for financial inclusion?