Searching: Blogs

Telenor’s Shared Agents: Digital Finance Catalyst for Bangladesh?

New business models for agent networks, such as shared agent networks, are emerging and may offer more sustainable, competitive and efficient mobile financial services.

Cashless & Cashy: The Yin-Yang of Digital Delivery in Peru

When it comes to delivering financial services to lower income segments in Peru, innovators have struck an interesting balance between cashless and cashy transactions.

Managing Data is Critical to Knowing Your Customer

Innovations that make it easier for financial service providers to “know their customers” are critical for organizations that prioritize low-income client segments.

Five Lessons about Agent Networks in Peru

CGAP recently completed a study of five agent networks in Peru comprising more than 26,000 agents and 24 million monthly transactions to identify key success factors in reaching poor and rural areas.

Building Big Backbones for Innovation

Building a network of agents across a broad geography has proved to be a huge barrier to entering the digital finance space for small or medium-sized companies. In Bangaldesh and Nigeria, industry giants are building the channels necessary to allow smaller players to get in the game.

Can Agents Improve Conditional Cash Transfers in Peru?

Innovations for Poverty Action is working with the Peruvian Government to test conditional cash transfer programs that help poor people save more and receive their payments in more convenient ways.

10 Myths About M-PESA: 2014 Update

M-PESA and its 12.6 million active customers have fundamentally altered the landscape of financial services in Kenya. Despite its popularity, there are still some misconceptions about how it works.

Financial Inclusion in Cambodia is Trending Digital

In Cambodia, where 80% of the population lives in rural areas and fewer than 20% of adults have access to financial services, digital finance could be a financial inclusion game-changer.

Killer Apps in China: Social Networks and Financial Inclusion

In China, financial services offered through social media have recently begun to take off, with interesting potential to expand financial inclusion.

Postal Savings Bank of China: Inclusive Finance in Rural China

The Postal Savings Bank of China has five advantages over the "big 4" commercial banks when it comes to serving the rural population.

Bridging the Urban-Rural Corridor in China

Migrant workers remain one of the most financially excluded population segments in China. Without bank accounts, sending money home via remittances can be complicated and expensive.

China and Kenya: Different Models for Scaling Branchless Banking

In China, branchless banking initiatives are starting to reach scale, but the story has different foundations from other country success stories, such as Kenya.

Branchless Banking in China: Will Regulation Support Innovation?

China's pilot of 500,000 banking agents show significant promise for financial inclusion. Allowing these agents to offer a greater variety of services, such as taking deposits and opening new accounts, could lead to faster growth and more usage.

Financial Inclusion in China: Will Innovation Bridge the Gap?

Technology and innovation hold great promise for deepening financial access in China. But despite recent improvements, China is home to a huge unbanked population - second only in size to India.

Do Agents Improve Financial Inclusion? Evidence from Brazil

With more than 400,000 agents, Brazil has one of the largest agent networks in the world, but their impact on financial inclusion is mixed.

Transitions from OTC to Wallets: Evidence from Bangladesh

Despite being a relative newcomer in the mobile financial services arena, Bangladesh is already making its mark.

Can Voice Corridors be Used to Predict Mobile Money Hotspots?

Voice corridors aren't direct predictors of mobile money hotspots. But, this information can be valuable to mobile providers launching new services, since voice and mobile money corridors often overlap in new markets.

Electronic Delivery of Cash Transfers in India: The Agent Story

The G2P ecosystem in Andhra Pradesh offers an opportunity to advance financial inclusion, and also offers many lessons as direct benefit transfers are rolled out across India.

Technology is not Actually a Barrier for Very Poor G2P Recipients

For recipients of social cash transfers in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, technology - whether a smart card or mobile phone - is rarely a barrier to use for recipients.

Financial Inclusion 2.0: India’s Business Correspondents

In India, the lack of access to financial services still poses a major challenge. FINO aims to close the access gap by extending services right to people's doorsteps.