Research & Analysis

Fintechs and Financial Inclusion

Based on pilots with 18 fintechs across Africa and South Asia, this paper identifies emerging fintech innovations with potential to improve the lives of the poor. It also highlights common challenges faced by early-stage fintechs.

National Payments Corporation of India and the Remaking of Payments

The story of National Payments Corporation of India sheds light on the quick and robust transformation of India’s payment systems. The lessons learned from the NPCI success story can be useful for policy makers in financial inclusion and other markets.

Smallholder Households: Distinct Segments, Different Needs

CGAP research identifies three segments of smallholder households and uses data from nationally representative surveys of smallholder households to outline recommendations on high-value financial solutions

API Pricing for Digital Financial Service Providers: Getting Started

Learn how to devise an open API pricing strategy that supports your business objectives, generates value for API users, and aligns with market norms for pricing.

Testing the Waters: Digital Payments for Water and Sanitation

A growing number of water providers are experimenting with digital payments to reduce operational expenses and streamline service delivery. This paper extracts lessons learned from 25 water providers across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Infographic: High-Saving Youth in Smallholder Households

High-saving youth in smallholder households tend to have strong savings habits and own mobile phones, and should be an important target group for financial services providers with digitally-enabled solutions.

International Funding for Financial Inclusion in 2017: Global Data

The data snapshots generated here come from the 2017 CGAP Funder Survey. Data snapshots are available at the global and regional levels. The 2017 CGAP Funder Survey reports funding commitments from 54 international funders, both public and private, as of the end of 2017.

2017 Trends in International Funding for Financial Inclusion

One of the key takeaways from the latest CGAP Funder Survey is that international funders committed US$42 billion to financial inclusion in 2017—a double-digit percentage increase from the prior year. For the first time in five years, public funding has grown faster than private funding.

Safeguarding Rules for Customer Funds Held by EMIs

This Technical Note looks in detail at safeguards such as maintaining customer funds in bank accounts and diversifying funds across several banks to reduce the concentration risk. It also discusses the option – offered in some countries – of placing funds in other safe, liquid assets.

A Guide to Supervising E-Money Issuers

This Guide provides general guidance to emerging markets and developing economies supervisors who are designing proportional approaches to EMI supervision and serves as a reference for drafting or improving EMI supervision manuals in a few specific areas.