Searching: Research & Analysis

Microfinance and COVID-19: Principles for Regulatory Response

As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, further policy steps have proven necessary, both within and beyond the financial sector, to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic on businesses and ordinary people. This Briefing applies five guiding principle to country contexts, and specifically addresses what each principle means for regulatory responses to the COVID-19 crisis.

India's New Approach to Personal Data-Sharing

As more and more people begin to conduct transactions online, questions have emerged about how to provide millions of customers adequate data protection and privacy. India's solution to this challenge is account aggregators (AA).

Is Data Privacy Good for Business?

Do poor customers value data privacy? Six experiments in India and Kenya indicated they do and are willing to pay for it. For providers, this suggests that offering products with privacy and protection features can give them a competitive market edge.

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.

Basic Regulatory Enablers for Digital Financial Services

CGAP shows how an enabling regulatory framework that is based on four enablers has contributed to advancing digital financial services in 10 countries.

Financial Services Apps in India

Smartphone applications offer a powerful tool for financial service providers to offer services to their customers—if done right. CGAP reviewed six smartphone apps currently available in India to find out what design elements are essential to fully deliver on the promise of marrying a financial service with a smartphone interface.

India's Push for Financial Inclusion

This Brief takes a look at India's financial inclusion effort--the Prime Minister’s Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) program--two years since it launched in August 2014.

When is Microcredit Unsuitable?

Rapid expansion in the microfinance sector has been credited with advancing financial inclusion in India. This paper addresses what might constitute a loan mis-sale and seeks to inform the use of suitability guidelines for lending to low-income households by microfinance institutions, self-help groups, and various banks.

Using Behavioral Science

This Working Paper addresses qualitative research on how microentrepreneurs approach, decide, and act on key business and financial management issues.

Customer Views of Customer Empowerment Synthesis Report

This report provides a synthesis of learning from this research. Separate reports for each country provide more detailed description and analysis in India, Cote d’Ivoire, and the Philippines.