Research & Analysis

Toward a New Impact Narrative for Financial Inclusion

The global development community has debated the question of how financial services impact the lives of poor people for decades. Recently, CGAP has developed a theory of change to guide the financial inclusion community toward an updated narrative that shows the many ways financial services can impact the lives of poor people.

Mainstreaming Financial Inclusion through Demonstration Projects

The Office for Gender Equality and Poverty Reduction Unit at JICA has found there is a gap between understanding the importance of financial inclusion in principle and knowing how to actually integrate it in one’s sector. To solve this, they are embedding financial inclusion within the agency through hybrid demonstration projects.

Engaging with Country Offices to Embed Digital Finance

USAID is a decentralized donor and its digital financial services (DFS) practice seeks to influence country offices to incorporate DFS into their programming. But how can a small technical team at headquarters influence a large decentralized organization to prioritize DFS?

The Future of G2P Payments: Expanding Customer Choice

There’s a better way to deliver government-to-person (G2P) payments. Modernizing the delivery architecture can increase value for customers, lower government costs and create competition among financial service providers.

Beyond KYC Utilities: Collaborative Customer Due Diligence

CGAP has developed a typology to help policy makers and financial service providers evaluate the financial inclusion potential of a new range of collaborative approaches to customer due diligence to combat money laundering and terror financing.

How Open APIs Fueled the Growth of Eko in India

In this 8-minute video, Eko co-founder Abhinav Sinha describes the role that APIs have played in his money transfer company’s rapid growth and profitability.

Data-Driven Segmentation in Financial Inclusion

Financial services providers can improve their businesses by using segmentation to develop a more accurate understanding of their customers. This guide shows providers how they can use data analytics to understand their customers by performing more complex analyses and extracting insights that were previously hidden.

Using Satellite Data in Financial Inclusion

Financial services providers that see an opportunity to reach financially excluded people in rural areas can use new technology to remotely gather and analyze data on potential customers. This guide explains foundational concepts of machine learning and how FSPs can apply those methods.

Credit Scoring in Financial Inclusion

Statistical models can help lenders in emerging markets standardize and improve their lending decisions. This guide emphasizes that the effectiveness of data analytics approaches often involves building a broader data-driven corporate culture.

Emerging Evidence on Financial Inclusion

Recent research on the impact of financial services on the lives of low-income people tend to focus on microcredit or a single financial product. Recognizing the need for a more nuanced and clearer impact narrative, this Focus Note synthesizes evidence since 2014.