Recent Blogs
Pakistan: Is Mobile Money a Viable Alternative to Banking?
There is more to financial inclusion than convenience. In Pakistan, for mobile financial services to maximize their financial inclusion benefits, providers need to offer a wider variety of services.
The Promise of Mobile Money in Pakistan
Mobile money - through over the counter services and mobile wallets - is helping to drive financial inclusion in Pakistan.
Interpreting the Financial Inclusion Numbers in Pakistan
Financial inclusion in Pakistan has improved slowly but steadily since 2008 according to most sources. However, depending on the source of data, the topline financial inclusion figure for Pakistan varies from 7% to 23%. Why?
Did India’s Central Bank get Payments Bank Approvals Right?
India's Central Bank got many things right when it comes to the 11 new approvals for payments bank licenses. These approvals are big catch-up step for digital finance in India, but it may be challenging for the country to continue being innovation-friendly.
Lessons on Leadership: Reflections from Two Decades in Banking
What can leaders do to embed a culture of customer-centricity? Anil Kumar SG, who has 25 years of experience in banking, shares his ideas. Watch the video to learn more.
Lessons on Leadership: The Power of Micro-Segmentation
Anil Gupta, of Aircel Limited, discusses how telecom companies like his use micro-segmentation to better serve customers and how financial service providers could, too.
Lessons on Leadership: Check Your Assumptions
Maya Vengurlekar shares a story that changed the way CRISIL Foundation approaches its programming.
Lessons on Leadership: Customer-Centric Measures Matter
“If you start early, it gets into the DNA of the institution," says Radhakrishnan, the CEO of Janalakshmi, on an organization's journey to customer centricity. Watch the video interview for insights on how financial service providers can become more customer-centric.
Mobile Money in Bangladesh: Still a Long Way to Go
Bangladesh is one of the fastest growing mobile money markets in the world. Yet, mobile financial services in Bangladesh have a lot of room to grow before they can claim any wide national impact.
Fine Tuning Kaleido: A Key Step for Customer-Centricity
Janalakshmi Financial Services, Jana Foundation, CGAP and Innovation Labs partnered to develop a tool called Kaleido that provides the foundation for building a customer-centric organization. An initial survey of the tool offers several key findings.
What’s Undermining India’s Financial Inclusion Progress?
The success of India's financial inclusion efforts hinges on one factor above all: the quality of the last-mile banking agent networks that will disburse payments and enable customers to access their bank accounts.
India’s List of Financial Inclusion Efforts Grows
Since India's Prime Minister announced in February that accounts opened under his national scheme exceeded targets and 41 payments banks applications were submitted, the list of centrally-driven policy interventions has continued to stack up.
From More Accounts to More Account Activity in India
Even as India moves aggressively to close the financial inclusion gap, the picture of financial inclusion in that country as captured in the latest Findex report reminds us that we have a long way to go.
EasyPaisa: Incentivizing Mobile Wallet Usage in Pakistan
The majority of mobile money customers in Pakistan prefer to transact via agents. However, registered mobile money accounts are critical for financial inclusion.
The Complex Smallholder-Arthi Relationship in Pakistan
Arthis (agricultural agents) are an integral part of the financial lives of the Pakistani families taking part in the CGAP Smallholder Diaries research.
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.
Lessons on Customer Empowerment from Women in Rural India
CGAP is seeking to answer questions and test ideas that explore the concept of empowerment and the role it can play in building customer trust and confidence.
Can Digital Cash Transfers Enable Financial Inclusion in India?
Although digitizing cash transfers in India is gaining momentum with a renewed effort by the national government, the direct positive impact on financial inclusion remains unclear.
Digital Finance in Bangladesh: Where are all the Women?
Bangladesh has long been a success story for women’s financial inclusion, but in terms of digital finance, the story is very different.