Recent Blogs
Blog
How do Industry Associations Promote Responsible Digital Finance?
CGAP undertook qualitative research on how industry associations can promote responsible digital finance. We identified 10 activities that support customer-centricity, capability, and collaboration – the three building blocks of responsible digital financial services ecosystems.Blog
Maximizing the Impact of Financial Inclusion for Young Women
Among which segments of young women could investments in improved financial services make the most impact? We highlight findings from a recent CGAP segmentation exercise.Blog
How are Mobile Money Agents Protecting Customers’ Data in Uganda?
Recent qualitative research in Uganda conducted by CGAP and MicroSave Consulting (MSC) identified good practices for responsible agents in safeguarding their customers’ data and the role that providers can play in promoting these practices.Blog
What Gets Measured, Gets Managed: Findex 2021 Insights for the Future
The 2021 Global Findex data provides a promising trajectory for financial inclusion, but reach is just one defining success factor. Is it time for the financial inclusion industry to revisit how we think about and measure success?Blog
Opening Pandora’s Box: Revisiting the Impact of Small Business Finance
The debate over the impact of small business finance is far from settled. Here are four gaps in the evidence base that should be filled to move the debate forward.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
Finance Fit for Opportunities and Shocks: What Helps Poor Clients Most
To better understand the impact of financial services on people's lives, providers will need to invest in deeper customer research with the help of the broader financial inclusion community.Blog
Measuring the Influence of Financial Services on Reaching the SDGs
Learn about UNCDF Impact Pathways, a tool to measure the influence of digital financial services in reaching the SDGs, in this guest blog.Blog
Financial Inclusion for What?
The global evidence on the impact of financial inclusion consistently shows that poor people use financial services to help them achieve two outcomes that improve their well-being: building resilience and capturing opportunities.Blog
Inclusive Growth vs. Household Finance: A False Choice
What’s better for inclusive economic growth: expanding access to financial services among individuals or businesses? Emerging evidence suggests they’re both critical.Blog
Mapping a Pathway to Improved Well-Being for Young People
What are the links between financial services and young people's educational and job opportunities? Here are three insights.Blog
Looking Beyond the Average Impact of Financial Inclusion
CGAP's review of over 100 financial inclusion impact studies shows only 1 in 5 offers important contextual information to explain results. Greater focus on context is needed to understand impact.Blog
Is Poverty Reduction the Right Outcome for Financial Services?
Today, the global development community generally accepts that poverty is more than just a lack of income. What do multidimensional concepts of poverty mean for those who see poverty reduction as the ultimate goal of financial inclusion?Blog
Financial Health and the Impact of Financial Inclusion
Financial health has emerged as a useful framework for talking about whether financial services improve poor people's ability to manage their financial lives. But how can we understand whether better financial management improves people's well-being?Blog
How Useful Is “Usage” in Measuring Financial Inclusion’s Impact?
Financial account usage rates can tell us a lot about the state of financial inclusion, but high usage shouldn’t be confused with impact on customers’ lives.Blog
We Need to Talk About Credit
Digital credit is a testament to the ways in which technology and new business models can assist in the expansion of financial services to low-income households. But it also points to potential hazards of letting a market develop unchecked.Blog
2 Financial Services That Increase Smallholders’ Food Security
Evidence from around the world shows that savings and insurance help smallholder farmers to reduce hunger and manage production risks.Blog
Learning from Financial Inclusion Research: What Should We Expect?
Impact evaluations, reviews, reviews of reviews— there's no shortage of research on whether and how financial inclusion impacts the poor. What should we expect to learn from this growing body of work?Blog
3 Ways Financial Inclusion Improves Women’s Food Security
There is evidence that financial inclusion improves food security for women in at least three ways.Blog