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Flipping the Switch: How Locking Assets Unlocks Credit for the Poor

A new study out of Uganda offers strong evidence that lock-out technology can enable providers to sustainably lend to low-income customers, who may need credit for school fees and other critical expenses.

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.

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.

Asset Finance Innovations Can Advance SDGs – If They Scale Responsibly

New asset finance business models are breaking down old barriers to putting life-changing assets into the hands of poor households. But to meaningfully advance SDGs, they’ll need to scale responsibly, and this is where funders can play a role.

Former PAYGo CFO: Smart Subsidies Can Scale Energy Financing

Well-designed subsidies could create a stronger foundation for the solar home system industry and enable it to reach more low-income customers, according to entrepreneur and former PAYGo executive Joshua Romisher.

Stepping Back: Product, Collections and Credit Risk in PAYGo Solar

While PAYGo solar companies can lower delinquency rates by improving their credit risk management practices, improving repayment starts with even more fundamental factors: having an affordable, quality product and effective collections.

PAYGo Solar Opens Pathways to Microfinance in Rural Senegal

A microfinance institution and pay-as-you-go solar company have teamed up to expand rural, low-income customers' access to microfinance based on their solar loan repayment histories.

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.

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.

Digital Payments Matter More for Public Services: 3 Reasons Why

Water utilities and other public service providers can benefit in at least three ways from digital payments.

Digital Credit Helping to Put Kids in Classrooms in Cote d'Ivoire

By partnering with farmers’ cooperatives to offer an innovative digital credit product, Advans is seeing high repayment rates and having an impact on school attendance in rural Cote d'Ivoire.

Growth vs. Sustainability: Credit Risk in PAYGo Solar

Rapid customer growth in PAYGo solar can come with a cost: too many customers that don’t repay. To better understand the realities and challenges of running a PAYGo credit operation, we spoke with heads of credit and risk at PAYGo solar companies, equity investors and creditors.

How Bangladesh Digitized Education Aid for 10 Million Families

In just months, Bangladesh digitized financial aid payments for education to millions of families. What can other countries learn from this rapid transition to digital payments?

A Digital Platform to Manage Out-of-Pocket Health Care Expenses

The M-TIBA mobile health wallet combines savings, remittances and other digital financial services to help low-income customers cover health care expenses.

Off-Grid Solar Company Helping Customers Pay School Fees

In Africa, some of the most innovative ideas in education financing are coming from an unlikely source - an off-grid solar company.

The Case for Off-Grid Solar Companies as Mobile Money Agents

Off-grid solar companies could boost revenue and reach more low-income customers by becoming master mobile money agents in remote areas.

Remote Lockouts: The Dark Side of Pay-as-You-Go Solar?

Lockout technology has enabled creditors to help poor people finance solar systems and light their homes, but it’s not very popular with consumers.

An Innovator’s Dilemma: Teaching Mobile Payments

The hard work of educating customers about mobile payments is increasingly falling to start ups offering services like water and solar. In Ghana, Safe Water Network is showing how this can be done in partnership with providers.

Pay-as-You-Drink: Digital Finance and Smart Water Service

A pilot in Ghana is showing that the pay-as-you-go solar model can be adapted to change how water is delivered to poor customers.

A Digital Finance Prescription for Universal Health Coverage

Digital finance is just beginning to realize its potential in the health care sector. Take a look at some early examples of how digital financial services are contributing to the goal of universal health coverage.