Rural

Catalyzing Responsible Digital Payments in the North East Region of India

Taking stock of the digital payments ecosystem with a 7-point action plan to expand the merchant acceptance network

Trust can conquer the final frontier in digitisation where women merchants can lead it

Responsible Digitization of Women Merchants in Rural India for COVID-19 Recovery

10 recommendations from civil society to unlock the impact of fintech in merchant digitization and further India’s progress on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

India Digital Payments Learning Exchange Series

Better Than Cash Alliance organized a peer exchange learning series to highlight the central and state government initiatives and facilitate peer learning to accelerate service delivery and digital financial inclusion.

FAO pledges to scale up direct use of digital financial transfers

Director-General says joining the Better Than Cash Alliance is part of stimulating more innovation and financial inclusion for smallholders

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: The Impact of Mobile Money on Poverty Toolkit

Mobile money accounts have spread widely in select regions of the developing world, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. This Research Brief focuses on the individual and household impacts of mobile money.

A Fine Balance: Regulation & Greater Economic Opportunity in the Case of Payment Gateways for Merchants

Opening new payment gateways for merchants presents risks but much greater opportunities. Striking the right balance between fostering innovative services and managing risk is crucial.

Voices to Choices : Bangladesh's Journey in Women's Economic Empowerment

This book analyzes advances in women’s economic engagement and empowerment in rural and urban Bangladesh.

The Impact of Mobile Money on Poor Rural Households : Experimental Evidence from Uganda

Does access to mobile money help improve livelihood in remote settings? This paper shows that rolling out mobile money agents in Northern Uganda led to cost-savings for remittance transactions. It also shows that access to digital payments doubled the nonfarm self-employment rate and reduced the fraction of households with very low food security. 

Picking the Gridlock: Digital Payments in the Transportation Sector

Transportation Series: Blog 1 (Introduction)

Saving by Default: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Rural India

Access to banks is rapidly increasing worldwide, and allows account-based instead of cash transfers. We conduct a randomized experiment documenting the impact of the payment method on saving…

Branchless banking: Evaluating the doorstep delivery of financial services in rural India

This paper evaluates the effect on household savings of India’s recent financial inclusion drive, a drive that generated an unprecedented increase in access to financial institutions by usin…

Ethiopia: “Mobile money doubled my number of customers in just three years”

In Addis Ababa, the vibrant Ethiopian capital, lies a busy Somali community market where Bisharo runs a small shop.

Alcanzando Escala: El Trayecto de BIM Hacia la Inclusión Financiera Digital en Peru

Entrevista a Felipe Vásquez de Velasco, Gerente General de Pagos Digitales Peruanos (PDP)

Driving to Scale: Bim’s Journey to Digital Financial Inclusion in Peru

Interview with Felipe Vásquez de Velasco, General Manager of Peruvian Digital Payments (PDP)

Why cash is a problem for businesses around the globe

This blog was originally published on The Practitioner Hub for Inclusive Business…

“Digital payments can be a game-changer for farmers”

Interview with World Cocoa Foundation, Paul F. Macek, Vice President for Programs

Senegal’s commitment to digitizing payments at local level is setting an example for the region

Senegal has just announced a new partnership to accelerate the country’s transition from cash to digital payments, improving local governance and service delivery for its citizens.

One token changing the game for sustainable rural water supply in Tanzania

A water payment’s digitization project resulted in tripling water utility payments and reducing water collection waiting time from 3 hour to 10 minutes on average within a year, benefitting …

Mobile money

This review provides an overview of the operations and impacts of mobile money in the developing world and discussing what the future of mobile money in developing economies may look like.