All Publications
Business Intelligence: A Bedrock of Successful Digitization in Microfinance
Microfinance institutions that successfully generate value for their business and customers through digitization anchor these efforts in business intelligence. This Technical Note outlines an approach for improving business intelligence with interventions that require minimum or no investment in technology. CGAP also offers a customer dashboard library with detailed instructions for data teams and a tutorial video.Emerging Trends in National Financial Inclusion Strategies that Support Women’s Entrepreneurship
Women entrepreneurs continue to face persistent gender-based barriers that impede their success – such as unequal access to financial accounts, constrained credit, and normative roles that keep women in the role of primary caregivers. Improved financial inclusion can help reduce some of these barriers. This WBL-CGAP Brief presents data collected by the World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law (WBL) project on how National Financial Inclusion Strategies can spur policy and regulatory reforms in support of women’s entrepreneurship.Combining Open Finance and Data Protection for Low-Income Consumers
Open finance gives low-income consumers greater control of their personal information, helping make their data work for them, giving them access to more products at lower costs through multiple and easy-to-access channels, and allowing for remote consumer onboarding. Under open finance, with consent from the customer, banks and financial service providers (FSPs) would be required to share consumer data with other FSPs and/or third-party providers, such as fintechs. However, this unprecedented ability to move entire financial histories both empowers consumers and poses risks.
Igniting SDG Progress Through Digital Financial Inclusion (2023 edition)
Building on the success of the first edition in 2018, the 2023 edition of Igniting SDG Progress Through Digital Financial Inclusion looks at evidence-based examples for the 13 global goals relevant to digital financial inclusion. This work is a collaboration between the Office of United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA Queen Máxima), Better Than Cash Alliance, the United Nations Capital Development Fund, CGAP and the World Bank.Young Women and Financial Services: Maximizing Impact
Research has shown that marginalized young women can benefit from financial services in both economic and non-economic ways. But with over half a billion women aged 15-24 in the world, the life stages, needs, and contexts of this population are tremendously diverse. Among which segments of young women could investments in improved financial services make the most impact? This infographic highlights findings from a recent CGAP segmentation exercise.Will Central Bank Digital Currencies be a Game-Changer for Financial Inclusion?
Central banks have been eying the emergence of privately issued digital currencies with a mix of excitement and anxiety, and some began experimenting with central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Some advocates say CBDCs will help central banks advance financial inclusion. But are CBDCs really a game-changer for financial inclusion?Digital Finance’s Little Secret... (Agent Networks)
The wide reach of digital financial services can unlock life-changing opportunities for low-income consumers by helping them save, borrow, and receive remittances. But here’s a little secret about these digital services: their current ability to attract and serve new users largely depends on the expansion of old-fashioned physical interaction through agent networks, which is crucial in cash economies. In this episode, we explore the latest advances in agent networks and what they mean for the future of inclusive finance.The Promise of Fintech for Micro and Small Enterprises
Nearly 500 million micro and small enterprises (MSEs) are estimated to be operating around the world. Access to credit and other financial services is critical to the growth and sustainability of these businesses, and consequentially to the low-income and vulnerable populations which rely on MSEs for their livelihoods. Yet despite decades of efforts and some notable successes in expanding MSE finance, the credit gap remains an estimated 4.9 trillion U.S. dollars.Building Blocks of a Modern G2P Architecture
G2P systems seldom fulfill their potential because they underutilize the capabilities of digital payments systems. As a result, recipients are prevented from exercising choice over the account or withdrawal points that are used. This results in a poor experience for beneficiaries, reduces the financial inclusion potential, and can lead to costly and inefficient systems that are unfit for purpose.
Agent Networks at the Last Mile: Implications for Financial Service Providers
Rural agent networks are critical to “last mile” financial inclusion. This reading deck for Financial Services Providers (FSPs) shows: (i) how rural Cash-in/Cash-Out (CICO) agent network expansion leads to increased customer value and sustained market growth; (ii) the barriers FSPs face to expand rural CICO networks; and (iii) successful new practices carried out in different markets that address barriers and result in improved rural CICO reach and quality.