Chris Bold

Chris Bold is the Deputy Head of DFID Uganda and Head of the Growth and Economic Management Team. He is the Lead Adviser for the DFID funded Financial Sector Deepening Programme in Uganda. Prior to moving to Uganda, Chris has worked in Afghanistan and Sierra Leone and spent two years working with at CGAP on Digital Financial Services and the use of technology to bring down the cost of delivering financial services to poor customers. He supported CGAP projects in Kenya, Pakistan and Haiti.

By Chris Bold

Research

Branchless Banking in Pakistan: A Laboratory for Innovation

This Brief highlights key challenges and opportunities that are likely to shape the branchless banking market in Pakistan in the near term.
Blog

Innovation in Branchless Banking at the Bangladesh Post Office

On a recent visit to Bangladesh Sarah Rotman and I met with Post Office Director General, Mobasherur Rahman, at his office in the middle of busy downtown Dhaka to hear about his foray into the world of branchless banking.
Blog

State Bank of Pakistan Removes Barriers to Branchless Banking

In March 2008, the State Bank of Pakistan introduced some of the first regulations anywhere in the world designed specifically to encourage branchless banking. The regulations allowed a number of different business models and permitted agents to deliver financial services on behalf of banks.
Blog

Branchless Banking in South Africa

South Africa has often been used as a case study by those with an interest in financial inclusion. The country has an advanced banking infrastructure with nearly 10,000 ATMs and over 100,000 POS devices deployed.
Blog

Does Branchless Banking Reach Poor People? The Evidence from Mali

This is the third posting in a mini-series in which we present new evidence from three countries on whether branchless banking is reaching poor people. This post looks at Orange Money in Mali. Previous posts looked at India and Pakistan.