Searching: Research & Analysis

Instant Payments and Merchants — Pricing Policy Considerations

This technical note helps explain why changes in instant payment pricing are occurring, assesses their impact on market development, and offers suggestions for the path forward.

Starting the Transaction: Payment Initiation and Customer Experience

This technical note is framed to help policymakers and payment system operators understand recent trends in payment initiation and customer experience in making interoperable payments work better for low-income populations.

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.

Developing Rural Agent Networks: Emerging Guidance for Funders

Funders are uniquely positioned to help expand rural Cash-in / Cash-out (CICO) agent networks by leveraging their financial resources, technical knowledge and convening power to align the incentives and build capacity of market actors, so that they design and implement self-sustaining solutions.

Banking in Layers: Five Cases to Illustrate How the Market Structure for Financial Services is Evolving

Exploring the market-level modularization of financial services through case studies featuring new models that are emerging, how they are coming about, and what they mean for the financial inclusion of low-income people in emerging markets and developing economies.

Fintech and Financial Inclusion: A Funders' Guide to Greater Impact

This practical guide, based on two years of global research, describes how development funders can identify promising fintechs and maximize the impact of their support.

Agent Network Journeys Toward the Last Mile: A Cross-Country Perspective

CGAP's analysis reveals three distinct journeys country stakeholders have taken to extend the reach and quality of rural agent networks.

Social Assistance Payments in Response to COVID-19: The Role of Donors

Countries worldwide are using social assistance payments as a component of their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This briefing addresses how donors and their partners can design and implement social assistance payments that are efficient and secure while providing recipients with reliable, convenient, and safe access to their payments.

Digital Cash Transfers in Times of COVID-19: Opportunities and Considerations for Women's Inclusion and Empowerment

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank Group, CGAP, and Women’s World Banking, has developed a joint white paper on gender intentional digital cash transfers in the time of COVID-19, offering guidance and considerations for policymakers to support women’s inclusion and empowerment.  

Platform Business Models

Most “unicorn” companies are platforms. But what exactly are platforms? What are the main business models? Are to what extent are they relevant to financial inclusion for low-income customers? Explore the answers in this slide deck.