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Sudan Dispatch: Inclusive Finance in Times of Crisis

Recent fighting in Sudan has turned the economy upside down and displaced thousands. Our latest blog asks what roles financial services are playing in the unfolding crisis, and why? What must happen next for inclusive finance in Sudan?

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.

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.

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?

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.

API Technology Jargon: What Business Leaders Need to Know

Here are three design principles that financial services providers should keep in mind when making technology decisions related to their open API products.

Customers Want Data Protection: How Can Open API Providers Deliver?

Open APIs can benefit digital financial services providers and low-income customers alike, but they pose data protection and privacy challenges. Here are some tips on how providers can address those challenges.

Digital Finance APIs Come with Risks – Here’s One Way to Manage Them

Digital financial services providers can manage risks associated with open APIs by adopting standardized legal contracts with partners and third parties. Here are six key issues that a contract should clarify, along with a contract template.

How Paystack’s APIs Are Enabling Entrepreneurs in Nigeria

Paystack's open APIs for digital payments are helping thousands of African companies to launch new business models and deepen customer relationships.

Zoona Is Putting APIs at the Core of Its Business: Here’s Why

What began as a side project has become central to Zoona's plans for growth. In this blog post, Zoona executives Brett Magrath and Bridgid Thomson discuss the importance of APIs at the company.

A Vision for Collaborative Customer ID Verification in Africa

Technology has the capacity to improve financial inclusion in Africa, but this value can be unlocked only if African leaders reduce the burden of customer ID checks.

BTPN Wow! Using Open APIs to Bring E-Commerce to Its 250,000 Agents

By connecting its agents to e-commerce platforms, BTPN is giving agents and end-customers in Indonesia more reasons to use its mobile banking service.

4 Keys to a Successful Developer Portal for Digital Finance APIs

Here are some practical tips on how digital financial services providers can build a first-rate developer portal for their APIs.

A New Generation of Government-to-Person Payments Is Emerging

Advances in payment infrastructure are enabling governments to channel payments through multiple providers, giving people greater choice over how to receive payments. This is an important shift with implications for financial services providers, recipients of government payments and financial inclusion.

Should Digital Financial Services Providers Prioritize Open APIs?

Learn about the step-by-step process one provider took to determine whether APIs aligned with its goals and which APIs to prioritize.

You’ve Opened APIs...Now What?

Ready to launch an open API prod-uct? Here are five tips on building a go-to-market strategy and engaging developers from Sila’s Shamir Karkal.

Should Funders Support Switches for Mobile Payment Interoperability?

Mobile payment switches aren’t the only path to interoperable financial systems – and they aren’t always the best path. Here are three questions funders should ask before they commit to building a switch.

Building Open APIs for Digital Finance? Think Sprints, Not Marathon

Digital financial services provides are finding that traditional software development approaches are not ideal for opening APIs. Here’s a better approach.

It’s Time to Deregulate Agent Cash In/Cash Out

Agent regulations often treat agents like extensions of bank branches. But the reality is that many agents conduct a far more limited range of financial activities and should be regulated differently.

MTN Uganda Opens Up Mobile Money APIs

Uganda's largest telco just opened APIs that enable local developers to build apps that leverage its popular mobile money platform. Here are some lessons learned from MTN Uganda's open APIs journey so far.