Staff Directory

Maria Fernandez Vidal

Senior Financial Sector Specialist

Maria Fernandez Vidal is a Senior Financial Sector Specialist with CGAP’s Policy pillar, where she leads work on platforms and digital data. She has also worked substantially on fintech and advanced analytics.

Before joining CGAP, Maria was a Senior Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company working in Latin America & the Caribbean and the US. At McKinsey, she served clients in the financial sector and the public and social sector on a broad range of topics including strategy, risk, operations and organization. Ms. Vidal previously worked at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Endeavor.

Maria holds an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania with majors in strategic management and finance, and graduate and undergraduate degrees in economics from the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella.

By Maria Fernandez Vidal

Blog

How Can Data Sharing Support Inclusion?

Data sharing can unlock a number of opportunities for the financial inclusion of poor individuals in EMDEs. To understand how, we must look at the various models of data sharing and how they may result in an inclusive data ecosystem.
Blog

Data Privacy Concerns Influence Financial Behaviors in India, Kenya

For digital financial services providers looking for a competitive edge in developing economies, better data privacy features could be the answer, according to CGAP research from India and Kenya.
Blog

Study Shows Kenyan Borrowers Value Data Privacy, Even During Pandemic

Research in Kenya shows that low-income borrowers value data privacy so much that most are willing to pay higher interest rates for better privacy protections, even during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Blog

COVID-19 Highlights Need for Stronger Safety Nets for Gig Workers

COVID-19 has highlighted the volatile nature of platform work and the need for platforms to provide stronger social safety nets to workers.
Research

Platform Business Models

Most “unicorn” companies are platforms. But what exactly are platforms? What are the main business models? Are to what extent are they relevant to financial inclusion for low-income customers? Explore the answers in this slide deck.