Blog

Friend or Foe to the World’s Poor? Settling the Microfinance Debate

Two debates fuel a seemingly never-ending cycle of support and criticism for the microfinance industry. We propose ways to resolve knowledge gaps that perpetuate these debates, which are also relevant for the broader financial inclusion community.

Findex 2021 Insights: Boosting Financial inclusion in Africa

Global Findex 2021 shows Sub-Saharan Africa has made progress in financial account ownership and usage over the past decade but lags behind in closing the financial inclusion gender gap and indicators around the value of financial services.

Growth of Digital Finance in Côte d’Ivoire is Not Without Risks

While digital financial services are driving financial inclusion in Côte d’Ivoire, we are also seeing the emergence of significant consumer risks that will require concerted action from all stakeholders in the digital finance ecosystem to counteract.

Findex and G2P: Are Transfers Translating to Inclusion at Scale?

Governments are enrolling the unbanked into the formal financial system at scale in EMDEs, primarily to facilitate government-to-person (G2P) payments, but do all these accounts with funds flowing into them amount to financial inclusion? Not yet.

Opinion: The Underexploited Potential of the ESG Framework

Originally published by DevEx, CGAP CEO Sophie Sirtaine highlights the need to explore an integrated approach to ESG that incorporates ambitious yet feasible standards to drive positive social impacts while achieving economic and climate objectives.

Consumer Advisory Panels: a Tool to Bridge the Regulator-Consumer Gap

How can FCP authorities bridge the regulator-consumer gap and ensure the financial marketplace is fair and balanced for all consumers? One promising solution is consumer advisory panels, which elevate the collective consumer voice.

Mitigating DFS Consumer Risks: Insights from Sub-Saharan Africa

Emerging evidence shows digital finance consumer risks are increasing and, if not mitigated, could undermine users’ trust. We highlight risks that affect digital financial services users in Sub-Saharan Africa and measures to mitigate them.

Rethinking Consumer Protection: A Responsible Digital Finance Ecosystem

With the rapidly changing digital finance market bringing new risks that can only be addressed through a new, holistic approach to consumer protection, this leadership essay argues that it is now time to build a “responsible digital finance ecosystem”.

When is Interoperability Right for Microfinance?

When is interoperability right for microfinance institutions? We draw on interviews with 40 small financial institutions to unpack the complex picture around a universal approach to ensuring all institutions benefit from real-time, digital payments.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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-term