Blog

COVID-19: Risks for Borrowers as Economies Reopen

With COVID-19 lockdowns putting stress on both consumers and lenders, the stage is set for consumer protection challenges around the provision of credit.

PAYGo Transformed Off-Grid Solar: Is Consumer Financing Next?

By partnering with pay-as-you-go (PAYGo) solar companies, electric utilities in Africa could expand low-income households' access to responsible consumer finance for refrigerators and other electric appliances.

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.

Is It True that the Big Banks Will Never Offer Financial Inclusion?

In this guest post, Chris Skinner looks at digital banking for the poor from the perspective of big banks.

Women in Rural and Agricultural Livelihoods Facing COVID-19

Women in rural and agricultural livelihoods have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. Here is what funders can do to help.

Can JioMart and Facebook Revolutionize Traditional Retail in India?

Facebook and the Indian grocery shopping platform JioMart in April announced a partnership that sent ripples through India's e-commerce and e-grocer sectors. What could this partnership mean for small business owners in India?

Ride-Hailing Drivers in Indonesia Discuss Livelihoods, COVID-19

You can learn a lot from the back of a ride-hailing motorcycle in Jakarta. We rode with several drivers and interviewed them about their platform-based income, use of digital financial services and the impact of COVID-19. Here’s what we learned.

Is There a Liquidity Crisis Among MFIs, and if so, Where?

Are microfinance institutions facing a liquidity crisis as a result of COVID-19? The CGAP Pulse Survey of Microfinance Institutions sheds new light on this question.

Will Facebook Soon Dominate Digital Payments in India, Indonesia?

As Facebook enters the highly regulated space of digital payments in India and Indonesia, it is partnering with local players to connect its virtual ecosystem with the cash economy, gain access to logistics networks and overcome regulatory hurdles.

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.

Regional Centers Can Help Low-Income Countries Build Cyber Resilience

By pooling resources and establishing shared regional cybersecurity centers, low-income countries could better respond to the rising threat of financial cybercrime in developing economies.

Emergency Relief for Small Businesses Requires a Targeted Approach

Here are some useful ways to segment the more than 160 million micro and small businesses in developing countries for more targeted, effective COVID-19 relief.

Financial Consumer Protection: 3 Steps to Better Customer Outcomes

Here are three steps that regulators can take to advance a customer outcomes-based approach to financial consumer protection.

Digital Banks Increasingly Embrace a Platform Business Model

There are a billion mobile money wallets in developing countries that could be made far more relevant for low-income customers by a digital marketplace approach to banking.

These Digital Banks Help Fintechs to Offer Banking Services

By enabling virtually any type of business to offer banking services cheaply and in record time, “banking-as-a-service” providers can dramatically reduce the barriers to entry into banking and potentially deepen financial inclusion.

Financial Services for Health: Treating the Cause

Health expenses push 100 million people into extreme poverty each year. While private sector innovation can play an interim role in financing out-of-pocket expenses, the long-term focus should be on making poor people resilient to health shocks.

The Wrong Kind of Credit: Why Loans to Gig Workers Must Reflect Income

Volatile gig income and inflexible loan repayment schedules can be a dangerous mix, as this ride-hailing driver in Nairobi learned from experience. His story serves as a cautionary tale to lenders and borrowers in the gig economy.

Survey Shows Gathering Clouds, but No Storm (Yet) for Microfinance

How is COVID-19 impacting the portfolios of microfinance institutions (MFIs)? Are MFIs facing a liquidity crisis? Is the solvency of institutions at risk? CGAP's global, monthly survey began two weeks ago, and answers are beginning to emerge.

Beyond Hackathons: Reaching Developers with Your Digital Finance APIs

Hackathons aren't the only way for a digital financial services provider to engage third parties with its open APIs.

How Is the Pandemic Affecting Agents? Here’s What Providers Tell Us

As customers, agents and digital financial services providers adjust to COVID-19, it’s becoming clearer what a resilient agent network looks like. Providers should take note to prepare for future crises.