Cristina Martinez

Financial Sector Specialist

Cristina Martinez is a member of the Financial Services for Equality and Growth team at CGAP. She leverages the power of data to promote financial inclusion for traditionally excluded and underserved populations, with a particular focus on Open Finance and inclusive Artificial Intelligence models. Cristina's work at CGAP has focused on identifying foundational building blocks that can scale inclusive finance, including data-sharing infrastructure agent networks, social assistance cash transfers, and advising financial institutions on reducing gender gaps in finance. Passionate about unlocking the private sector's potential to advance financial inclusion, Cristina strives to ensure that robust consumer protection frameworks accompany innovative financial solutions.

With over a decade of experience in the financial sector, she previously worked at Citibank, specializing in consumer protection, conduct risk, and product management. Prior, she contributed to various financial inclusion and consumer protection initiatives at The World Bank within the research department.

Cristina holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration and a Master’s in Public Policy from the University of Chicago and a Bachelor’s and Master’s in Economics from Universidad de Los Andes in Colombia.

By Cristina Martinez

Blog

Cash vs. Digital? Unleashing the Power of DFS through Agent Networks

The rise of DFS has sparked debate on cash's future in developing economies. But, despite increasing adoption of DFS, cash prevails in most global economies, emphasizing agent networks' crucial role as enablers rather than disruptors.
Research

Women Agents for Financial Inclusion: Exploring the Benefits, Constraints, and Potential Solutions

This working paper explores the benefits of having more women agents, the challenges they face, and potential solutions to promote their participation. It highlights that engaging women agents does not compromise performance and offers collaborative solutions for stakeholders to remove barriers and unlock the full potential of women in the DFS ecosystem.
Research

A Technical Guide to Unlock Agent Networks at the Last Mile

This guide outlines five key actions for DFS providers, regulators, and funders to expand rural CICO agent networks based on CGAP's global experience. These actions include building a vision for rural expansion, optimizing investment strategies for rural agents, and capturing the potential of women agents. 
Blog

Doing Good by Doing Well: Women Banking Agents in India

In India's Bihar state, women Bank Sakhi agents help enable financial inclusion for rural, vulnerable, and hard-to-reach customers, more so than the traditional agents - but various gender norms constrain how they operate. We discuss solutions.
Blog

How Did Bancolombia Create a Successful Rural Agent Network at Scale?

Bancolombia is a great example of a provider that's been successful in developing rural agent business models at scale, therefore playing a critical role in furthering financial inclusion. Here, we look at the factors that explain their success.