Blog
Can Free Phones Close the Digital Gender Divide?
Mobile phone affordability — the focus of most programs to distribute free phones to women — is far from the only barrier to women’s use of mobile phones.Blog
In Uganda, Solar Home Systems Help Students Stay in School
A pay-as-you-go (PAYGo) solar provider in Uganda is proving that an often-overlooked benefit of PAYGo – financial inclusion – can also affect education outcomes by keeping kids in the classroom.Blog
How Can Funders Promote Interoperable Payments?
Interoperability can make digital payments more convenient and useful for low-income customers. Find out how funders can support the development of interoperable payments systems.Blog
Preserving Decades of Development: A Plea for Lebanon
Nadine Chehade reflects on the toll the deepening economic and COVID-19 crises are taking on microfinance borrowers in her country, Lebanon, and what donors can do to help them overcome hardship.Blog
Beyond Access and Usage: Financial Services for Livelihoods
Not only have financial services have changed dramatically over the last 30 years, so have the ways people earn a living.Blog
Comparing India’s UPI and Brazil’s New Instant Payment System, PIX
Many countries are pressing forward with new systems to enable better, faster digital payments. Brazil's instant payment system, PIX, is among the newest and most exciting. How does it compare to India's well-known UPI system?Blog
Measuring Women’s Economic Empowerment in Financial Inclusion
Get answers to common questions about how to measure the impact of financial inclusion initiatives on women's economic empowerment.Blog
Let Her Choose: Supercharging G2P for Women
Government-to-person (G2P) programs can reach millions of women. What if instead of requiring women to receive payments from a single provider, they enabled women to select among several options and to reward good service with their business?Blog
Is Mexico’s “Fintech Law” Leading a New Trend in Fintech Regulation?
Some regulators are looking to Mexico's so-called "fintech law" as an example of how to respond to the full range of fintech innovations in a single law. But this isn't what the Mexican law does, and there are good reasons for this.Blog
How Social Norms for Men Restrict Women’s Financial Inclusion
Addressing social norms that affect men’s role in society and influence their behavior is an important — but largely overlooked — aspect of advancing women’s financial inclusion.Blog
Finding Opportunity in “Interesting Times”
What did 2020 teach us about financial inclusion? Greta Bull reflects on what was, for most people, an especially difficult year and offers her perspective on the year ahead.Blog
Harnessing Fintech in the Arab World: An Opportunity Worth Billions
New research suggests that fintechs in the Arab world could help millions of people and small businesses and generate billions in revenue by serving excluded customers.Blog
Top 10 Blog Posts of 2020
This year's top blog posts reflect the financial inclusion community's need for reliable information about COVID-19 and commitment to supporting an effective global response.Blog
How Financial Services Can Help the Poor in the Climate Transition
Early evidence suggests that the financial sector could play a key role in helping low-income people prepare for and participate in climate transition. However, greater coordination among funders and other sector stakeholders is needed.Blog
The Digital Gender Divide Won’t Close by Itself – Here’s Why
Men and women engage differently with digital services - including digital financial services - because of, among other factors, gendered social norms that don't change nearly as fast as technology.Blog
How Can Funders Avoid Chasing Data as the Latest Shiny Object?
How can the financial inclusion community get more out of data to achieve sustainable impact? Here are four recommendations.Blog
Personas Show How Social Norms Impact Women’s Financial Inclusion
Customer personas rarely reflect the social norms that influence women's financial lives, which limits their usefulness in developing financial services. Here is a five-step process for improving customer personas.Blog
COVID-19 Testing Resilience of Informal E-Commerce in Pakistan
E-commerce conducted on social media has created economic opportunities for many women entrepreneurs in Pakistan. Now, this same type of e-commerce is helping some women adapt to the challenges of COVID-19.Blog
Some Countries Have Digital Bank Licenses, Others Have Digital Banks
Some regulators are creating custom banking licenses for digital banks. Others are licensing digital banks with existing licenses. What's the better way to encourage digital banking?Blog