Research & Analysis

Beyond the Payroll: Expanding Pension Coverage to Informal Workers

In this episode, we explore why conventional pension schemes leave so many behind, what contributory models for informal workers look like in practice, and what it will take to scale them. We also ask what structural, financial, and cultural barriers must be addressed for these schemes to deliver genuine security in old age.

Can the Emergence of AgFintech Revolutionize Agrifinance?

Can AgFinTech revolutionize agrifinance? The evidence from five case studies across Africa, Asia, and Latin America says yes—but conditionally. This reading deck examines what a new generation of data- and AI-powered AgFinTech solutions can do, what it will take to scale them, and how governments, DFIs, donors, and FSPs can unlock the potential.

Beyond Access: Thailand and the Frontiers of Financial Inclusion

Thailand is one of the few emerging economies far enough along the transition beyond expanding financial access to show what comes next. This case study examines its regulatory response to the shifting digital finance landscape and distills seven policy considerations for authorities and development partners navigating the second-generation of financial inclusion.

Built Before the Storm: How Disaster Finance Is Redefining Resilience

As El Niño-driven droughts and intensifying hurricane seasons push millions into crisis, one question is reshaping disaster finance: what if communities built financial resilience before the storm hits? This episode explores two pioneering models — from Barbados and the Horn of Africa — proving that preparation can mean the difference between a shock and a crisis.

Using Disaggregated Regulatory Data to Support Financial Policy and Supervision

This Technical Guide shows financial sector authorities how to integrate sociodemographic data into regulatory reporting and decisions. Drawing on global experience and a CGAP pilot with the National Bank of Rwanda, it offers a four-level framework for assessing data systems. The Guide is complemented by the CGAP LENS with more than 230 customizable indicators aligned with regulatory priorities and data capacity.

Hidden in Plain Sight: Unlocking Actionable Insights in Client Data

CGAP’s Precision Causal Modeling (PCM) Guide introduces a new analytical approach for helping financial institutions and investors learn more from data they already collect. Drawing on pilots with five institutions, the guide explains how PCM can help uncover why similar customers experience different outcomes and identify product and delivery choices that may work better for different groups.

Measuring Financial Health: A Framework

This working paper presents a practical framework for measuring financial health. Drawing on 70 existing initiatives it translates the G20/GPFI definition of financial well-being into six measurement areas and 17 indicators which help financial sector authorities identify vulnerable groups, assess policy impacts, and detect early signs of financial stress.

Financial Services as Infrastructure for Women’s Empowerment and Carbon Integrity

Women play a critical role in delivering carbon outcomes, yet they are often excluded from the benefits carbon projects create. This Focus Note argues that financial services are the infrastructure that enables women's empowerment while generating the evidence needed to verify gender co-benefits and strengthen carbon market integrity.

AI-Powered SupTech for Financial Inclusion: How Emerging Market Authorities Can Unlock Its Potential

AI-powered SupTech offers financial sector authorities in emerging markets and developing economies a timely opportunity to strengthen supervision, improve efficiency, and advance financial inclusion. This brief explores how authorities can adopt these tools responsibly through five priority recommendations: stronger legal foundations, realistic digital transformation, AI risk management, adaptive organizational culture, and deeper collaboration.

Unlocking Private Investment in Last-Mile Access via Shared Agent Networks: A Funder's Guide

Cash transfers in fragile contexts fail when recipients can't access their money. Shared agent networks are the critical link, but the economics don't work without funder support. This deck makes the case for shared agent networks as essential infrastructure, outlines how patient, collaborative investment can build last-mile financial access that sustains itself, and provides a financial modeling tool to help understand the trade-offs in funder support levels.