Recent Blogs
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Platform-Based Finance: Are Regulators Up to the Data Protection Task?
As big techs and other platforms ramp up their financial service offerings in emerging markets, regulators can look at developments in advanced economies to get a glimpse into the data protection issues they will need to consider.Blog
3 Regulatory Challenges Posed by Platform-Based Finance
Between the global big techs and the local unicorns, platforms will soon be a major force in financial services if they are not already. Here are the three main sets of challenges they pose for regulators.Blog
Pitfalls in MFI Digitization: Overlooking the Regulatory Environment
Digitization can benefit microfinance institutions (MFIs), but it also creates regulatory complexity. Losing sight of the regulatory environment can lead to costly mistakes. Here are three regulatory aspects of digitization for MFIs to consider.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
Reflection: Coordinating Responses to Microfinance Solvency Challenges
The reverberating effects of COVID-19 continue to pose challenges for segments of the microfinance sector. Here are three areas where a coordinated response among microfinance stakeholders will be important going forward.Blog
The Essential Role of Finance in Education, Housing and Health Care
CGAP’s research suggests that financial services are important tools for advancing equitable access to quality essential services like education, housing and health care.Blog
Limited by Labor: Rural Women, Hired Labor and Financial Services
Rural women have less access than men to the labor they need to power their farms. This drives a gender gap in agricultural output and constrains women's incomes. Financial services could be part of the solution.Blog
Financial Inclusion for an Inclusive, Greener, More Resilient World
In her first blog post as CGAP CEO, Sophie Sirtaine proposes a global agenda for financial inclusion that leads to an inclusive, greener and more resilient world.Blog
Pitfalls in MFI Digitization: Underestimating Change Management
Microfinance institutions are often unprepared to manage the changes that come with digitization. The good news is that through effective change management, they can digitize successfully and generate value for themselves and their customers.Blog
Agritech Can Empower Women to Build Stronger, Inclusive Value Chains
The new Wi-Agri platform in Côte d’Ivoire is showing how agritech can help rural women to improve their livelihoods and build stronger, more inclusive agricultural value chains.Blog
Growing Up, Growing Informal: Gender Differences in Financial Services
Teenage men and women in Kenya and South Africa adopt formal savings accounts at similar rates. But when they hit their 20s, men continue to adopt formal services while women begin gravitating toward informal services. Why?Blog
Top 10 Blog Posts of 2021
Check out the most read blog posts of 2021.Blog
As PAYGo Solar Matures, Funders Can Do More to Close the Energy Gap
Pay-as-you-go (PAYGo) solar has enabled energy access for around 27 million customers. Funders can help PAYGo providers further close the energy access gap — while advancing financial inclusion — by focusing on these priorities for the sector.Blog
For AgroMall, Extending Credit to Women Requires First Convincing Men
With customer data and a credit scoring algorithm, AgroMall set out to offer ag financing to women. The challenges it encountered show why the biggest barrier to women’s financial inclusion isn't always lack of tech or data: it's often social norms.Blog
Let’s Talk About Resilience
While the need to expand opportunity for the poor has historically animated the financial inclusion community, it is high time we recognize the equally critical role of resilience building and expend similar effort in service of that goal.Blog
COVID-19 and Microfinance: How Digitization Helps Build Resilience
When done right, with a focus on creating value for customers, digitization can improve the resilience of the people microfinance providers serve.Blog
MFI Digitalization: How Can DFIs and IFIs Contribute?
From funding digital innovation to boosting digital literacy, here are some ways that development finance institutions and international financial institutions can accelerate the digitization of microfinance in Africa.Blog
No Time to Waste: Financing Biodigesters to Save Time for Rural Women
Sistema.bio has been expanding rural women's access to biodigesters, saving women time and creating economic opportunities. The secret? A financing option and a gender-intentional sales approach.Blog
Pakistan: Gender-Intentional Policy Can Make Agent Banking Work Better
Many women in Pakistan remain financially excluded, partly because social norms limit their access to banking agents. Policy makers and regulators can help change this with a gender-intentional approach to agent banking.Blog