Recent Blogs
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
Can Kenya’s Fintech Boom Address the MSE Finance Gap?
Kenya has seen an explosion of fintechs and nano credit providers, but they have yet to meaningfully serve MSEs in the country. We explain how fintechs could have a wider reach and distinct value proposition for MSEs in Kenya beyond digital credit.Blog
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.Blog
Peruvian Authorities Pilot Tool to Improve Consumer Listening
CGAP and Accenture LLP (Accenture) launched a pilot to help Peruvian authorities assess their consumer listening mechanisms and determine the necessary steps to design an integrated financial consumer protection platform.Blog
Global Findex: Digitalization in COVID-19 Boosted Financial Inclusion
The new edition of the Global Findex contains a deep array of insights on global account ownership, usage, and financial resilience. Here, we explore two trends particularly worth exploring.Blog
National Payment Systems in ECA Show Resilience in Crisis Times
Remittances channels are vital for the well-being of millions of low-income families in the ECA region. As international payment systems are disrupted, the integration of national payment systems have been filling some of the gap.Blog
As PAYGo Moves Beyond Solar, Addressing Risks Can Ensure Impact
PAYGo financing is expanding beyond solar, creating the potential to improve the lives of low-income households through financial inclusion. The challenge will be to manage the accompanying consumer risks without killing innovation.Blog
Why Don’t MSEs Trust Digital Credit Providers?
Lack of trust in formal financial service providers among MSEs (especially the smallest, poorest, and women-owned enterprises) is a looming concern. While technology offers hope, more needs to be done to gain the trust of customers at the last mile.Blog
Can Platform Data Expand Access to Transformative Credit?
Digitizing microbusinesses and informal work can help low-income workers and businesses access more and cheaper financial services, but only if the data created by digitization can improve risk evaluation by lenders.Blog
In an Era of Urgent Climate Risk, Does Financial Inclusion Matter?
This year’s World Environment Day theme “Only One Earth” reminds us that this planet is humanity’s only home, with finite resources that we must safeguard. Here, we look not only at who pollutes, but who suffers the impact of climate change most.Blog
Playing the Long Game: Women’s Platform Work and Financial Services
Tailored financial services could help women platform workers mitigate some of the downsides of this growing source of livelihood and translate new opportunities into greater security for themselves and their families over the long-termBlog
How Can Embedded Financial Services Better Serve Platform Workers?
Platforms’ extensive data on their workers could support customized product design, and their digital rails could seamlessly deliver financial services. What opportunities might financial services embedded within platforms enable?Blog
Financial Inclusion is Key to Fulfilling the Promise of Platform Work
As platforms transform the nature of work in emerging markets, embedding financial services for workers into platforms is pertinent and could point to pathways for including the greater informal economy as well.Blog
Mobile Payments Take Shape in Latin America & the Caribbean
Mobile payments took hold over a decade ago, but Latin America didn't experience the traction seen elsewhere. Since then, two emerging business models for digital payments in Colombia and Haiti achieved particular success. What did they get right?Blog
Can Funders Afford to Ignore Gender Norms in Financial Inclusion?
Gender norms create a financial system where women do not have the same access and opportunities as men. If funders want to go beyond closing the gender gap in access and build more equitable financial systems, they need to address them.Blog
Regulating Platform-Based Finance: Seeing the Big Picture
The scale and scope of platform-based finance extends beyond the powers of a single regulator – cooperation across agencies will be essential.Blog
Consumer Protection: Top Policy Priority for Funders. What Lies Ahead?
Financial inclusion funders have been elevating financial consumer protection as a priority. Our latest blog discusses how funders can turn that interest into action.Blog
Platform-Based Finance: How Can Regulators Preserve Competition?
As big tech platforms enter the financial services space, they could potentially undermine competition in ways that set back financial inclusion. How can regulators preserve healthy competition and harness the potential of platform-based finance?Blog
The Pandemic Wake-Up Call: Gender Norms Matter in Financial Inclusion
COVID-19 is the latest reminder that the norms constraining women’s economic participation need to be addressed in global development efforts, including in financial inclusion.Blog