Recent Blogs
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Doing Good by Doing Well: Women Banking Agents in India
In India's Bihar state, women Bank Sakhi agents help enable financial inclusion for rural, vulnerable, and hard-to-reach customers, more so than the traditional agents - but various gender norms constrain how they operate. We discuss solutions.Blog
Regulators Eye Digital Credit in India: What Does it Mean for MSEs?
The growth of India’s fintech industry has historically been driven by digital payments, but now digital credit is poised to take the reins. But what is digital credit, and how can its regulation help narrow the credit gap for India’s MSEs?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
High Tech, High Touch: Bringing Formal Loans to Rural India
Despite its success developing digital public infrastructure to enable inclusive financial development, India still faces challenges in bringing formal credit to rural and low-income households. A new app supported by CGAP aims to provide a solution.Blog
We Agree – Life Stages Likely Impact DFS Usage Among Young Women
Certain life stages have a significant impact on women’s economic empowerment and use of financial services - particularly for young women.Blog
Analyzing Social Media to Spot Digital Consumer Credit Risks in India
Last year, news reports emerged of aggressive debt collection amid India's digital credit boom. New research shows that early warning signs on social media preceded the reports, highlighting the value of social media for consumer protection.Blog
Digital Consumer Credit in India – Time to Take a Closer Look
As media reports of abusive lending practices emerge amid India’s digital consumer credit boom, the country can steer digital credit in a more promising direction by ramping up its efforts to listen to consumers and taking the necessary actions.Blog
Last-Mile Consumer Finance: Embracing Opportunity, Managing Risk
Last-mile distributors around the world are working to increase low-income households' access to solar systems, cookstoves, water purifiers and other important assets. Many offer financing to customers. How are they managing credit risk?Blog
Data Privacy Concerns Influence Financial Behaviors in India, Kenya
For digital financial services providers looking for a competitive edge in developing economies, better data privacy features could be the answer, according to CGAP research from India and Kenya.Blog
Will Facebook Soon Dominate Digital Payments in India, Indonesia?
As Facebook enters the highly regulated space of digital payments in India and Indonesia, it is partnering with local players to connect its virtual ecosystem with the cash economy, gain access to logistics networks and overcome regulatory hurdles.Blog
India’s Proposed Data Protection Bill Breaks from Notice and Consent
The proposed bill would mark a significant advance in rethinking how to protect digital consumer rights, putting India at the forefront of modern data protection regimes.Blog
India Moves Toward Universal Financial Inclusion
The 2017 Findex shows India has made significant financial inclusion progress in the past four years, but use remains a challenge.Blog
Bank-Led Digital Finance: Who’s Really Leading?
In countries where regulators favor “bank-led” digital finance models, nonbanks are playing important – even dominant – roles in digital finance.Blog
Empowering Kids to Dream, Save, Do
When should children start learning about financial empowerment? The early years are the best, according to Sesame Workshop India. Find out how Sesame has taught 50 million children in India about spending, saving and other life skills.Blog
What Most Providers Don’t Realize About Microentrepreneurs
Conventional measures of creditworthiness paint an incomplete — even misleading — picture of microbusiness owners, whose success often hinges on strong local networks and unconventional business strategies.Blog
India’s Latest Advances in Financial Inclusion: A Day in Royyuru
See how India’s Aadhaar-enabled payments system is making digital payments easy and convenient in the village of Royyuru.Blog
Open APIs in Digital Finance: We Opened Up, Here’s What Happened
Is “going open” worth the risk for payment providers? A money transfer business in India shares how allowing other companies to deliver financial services based on its systems has fueled its recent growth.Blog
India Stack: Major Potential, but Mind the Risks
India’s new financial infrastructure could connect hundreds of millions of people to financial services, but at its core is a biometric ID system that has stirred controversy around data privacy and security. What are the risks, and what can be done to minimize them?Blog
Should Other Countries Build Their Own India Stack?
India’s new financial infrastructure, including its biometric ID system, has been making headlines lately. But what exactly is "India Stack"? Should other countries replicate it?Blog