Disrupting Development with Digital Technologies

DaviPlata: Taking Mobile G2P Payments to Scale in Colombia

This CGAP research paper describes the key challenges Davivienda, a Colombian bank faced through the journey to delivery G2P payments over mobile: how the service delivery model had to be ad…

Case Study: Shifting Food Assistance in Kenya to E-Payments

This CGAP case study discusses the program elements of the World Food Programme’s Cash for Assets pilot in Kenya, as well as the design and implementation process, the experiences of stakeho…

Assessing risk in digital payments (Gates)

Since digital payments form the foundation for digital financial services, an approach to managing and regulating their risk is the first step. Significant literature exists that outlines th…

Elimination of blockages to financial inclusion drives economic growth

by Era Dabla-Norris, Yan Ji, Robert Townsend, and D. Filiz Unsal …

Federal Reserve strategies for improving the US payment system

Faster, cheaper and better regional payment integration

Authoritative guidance on “risk-based” banking

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is the global standard setter for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other threats to the financial system. Their [Risk-based Approach…

Small-scale Kenyan farmers use mobile money to turn remittances into farm profits

A study has found that Kenyan farmers who use mobile money have 35% higher profits per acre of banana production than non-users. Mobile money also increased household income by 40% and contr…

Tips for mobile money providers to build effective merchant payment networks

To build an active merchant network, mobile money providers often have to invest significant resources in merchant acquisition or partner with specialists. [A new publication by GSMA](http:/…

Every dollar spent on Syrian refugees generates $2.13 in local Lebanese markets

IMF Fiscal Transparency Code aligns with BTCA goals

Cash Transfers Poised to Aid National Governments in Times of Crisis

This summer, the Cash Learning Partnership, UNICEF, and the European Commission came together to discuss the use of emergency cash transfers in humanitarian responses and national social wel…

Digitizing merchant payments in Bangladesh

Better placement of marketing materials can help boost usage of digital payments in small merchants. What are some other ways to drive usage? Read this IFC report that is based on feedback and learnings from early adopters of bKash in Bangladesh.

The Financial Action Task Force cautions on the use of virtual currencies

London Borough of Lewisham: Care leavers receive allowance via prepaid card

The London Borough of Lewisham is an inner-city district serving over 248,000 people.

When young people who have been placed in the Borough’s care leave it at the age of 18, they receiv…

Electronic G2P Payments: Evidence from Four Lower-Income Countries

This CGAP Focus Note presents the evidence gained from a comprehensive study of the experiences in developing and implementing e-payment schemes linked to financial inclusion in four lower-i…

Building State Capacity: Evidence from Biometric Smartcards in India

NBER Working Paper No. 19999
Issued in March 2014

Summary:

We evaluate the impact of biometrically-authenticated payments infrastructure (“Smartcards”) on beneficiaries of employm…

Gates Foundation Study Finds Digital Payments Can Produce 90 Percent Cost Reductions and Better for Poor

The global marketplace for financial services is failing the poor in the developing world, but could be improved to benefit both the poor and financial providers, according to a new study re…

Case Studies on Lessons Learned from Aadhaar Enabled Direct Benefits Transfer

The hugely ambitious, policy initiative of transferring the vast majority of central and state government benefits, entitlements and subsidies, as e-money, directly into the UIDAI Aadhaar li…