Fish bazaar | Photo by Md. Mahabub Hossain Khan, 2016 CGAP Photo Contest Photo by Md. Mahabub Hossain Khan, 2016 CGAP Photo Contest

Business and Markets

Banks going digital. Tech giants integrating payments into their platforms. Off-grid solar companies offering mobile education loans. Every year, the digital economy is spurring new business models and attracting a wider range of players to the financial services industry, including non-traditional actors like fintechs and social networks. This diversity of providers and business models has enormous potential to advance financial inclusion and contribute toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). CGAP’s research sheds light on promising business models that leverage digital technologies to design and deliver financial solutions for low-income customers. Our work also demonstrates how increased connectivity, facilitated by tools such as interoperable payments schemes and open APIs, can make it easier for innovators to offer useful, affordable financial solutions. 

By developing business models that leverage digital technology and by building the right connectivity through strategic partnerships, financial services providers can sustainably reach more low-income consumers with useful financial solutions.  

Latest Research

Reading Deck

Engaging Financial Services Providers in the Context of G2P Choice

This deck aims to help implementers of G2P choice programs in better reaching recipients and achieving program objectives.
Publication

Climate Risk and Financial Inclusion: A Regulatory Perspective

Climate change risks may drive the financial sector away from serving the least profitable and most climate-exposed clients, namely low-income, rural households, and micro, small, and medium enterprises. This new working paper outlines how inclusive green finance policies can help reduce these risks, creating a more stable and resilient real economy.
Publication

Bolstering Women’s Climate Resilience and Adaptation through Financial Services

Financial services help people to reduce the impact of and to adapt to climate-related risks. Yet women have less access to such tools. This working paper illustrates how women are differently impacted by climate change and how financial services can play a better role in strengthening their autonomous adaptive capacities to climate change.

Latest Blogs

Blog

Is AI Intelligent Enough to Bolster Business Intelligence?

We discuss how business intelligence can be assisted by artificial intelligence today, and where we believe human input remains irreplaceable.
Blog

Inclusive CBDCs: Inflated Expectations or A New Productivity?

Where will central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) land on the Gartner Hype Cycle? Are they full of inflated expectations, or a new tool for greater financial inclusion? We explore where CBDCs might provide at least incremental gains.
Blog

The Road Ahead for Platform Gig Workers’ Financial Inclusion

Gig platforms offer financial inclusion potential for their workers, but roadblocks remain. Learn how funders and the financial inclusion community can better support innovation and impact on gig platforms.