The Better Than Cash Alliance is a partnership of governments, companies, and international organizations that accelerates the transition from cash to digital payments in order to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
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Some African nations lead the world’s e-money businesses. And several are finding that leaving notes and coins behind is not only improving efficiency, safety and transparency, but it is als…
GSMA report estimates that mobile phone ecosystem contributes around $16.7 billion to the Pakistani economy. To enhance the impact of mobile-enabled digital transformation, it calls for improving digital financial inclusion and taking a whole of government approach to development.
This paper explores the nexus between financial inclusion and financial innovation by looking at data from 6 South Asian countries - including 4 Alliance members.
This paper examines latest trends in suptech initiatives by looking at the work of 39 financial authorities globally.
This ADBI working paper discusses measures to foster digital financial innovation in Indonesia.
Cross-agency collaboration, national and digital identity and having common templates and taxonomies in place can help governments on their digital journeys. Read the new Citi publication on digitizing governments that also features case studies from Pakistan and India.
This ADBI brief discusses policy interventions that can help governments in the Asia Pacific region leverage fintech to close the gender gap in financial inclusion. It calls for ensuring tailored services that promote ease of use, flexible regulation to promote access and active coordination among relevant government ministries to enhance financial education.
New World Bank Findex note discusses the many ways in which young people in Sub-Saharan Africa are using formal financial services for entrepreneurship.
New APEC synthesis report collates and distills inputs from APEC member economies on their challenges, responses, and capacity building needs with respect to financial inclusion and consumer protection.
Over the past five years, mobile money has gained traction in South Asia, which is experiencing an average annual growth rate of 46 percent in mobile money accounts—the highest across all regions. For more details check out IMF’s 2019 Financial Access Survey that was released last week
The UNDP report analyzes the recent growth across three foundational dimensions of social assistance in the continent - legal frameworks, institutions and financing.
The top barriers to mobile ownership in Asia are literacy and skills and affordability, with family disapproval also featuring as a major barrier in parts of South Asia.
This FinDev Gateway webinar offers insights into how organizations can approach digital transformation in a strategic way. It features CGAP’s Greta Bull and MicroSave’s Graham Wright (along with other speakers).
Kenya’s “Digital Economy Blueprint” provides a conceptual framework for setting up a successful digital economy in the country. The document identifies and explores five pillars of focus and is relevant for our work not just in Kenya but across Africa.
New NBER paper finds that transferring money directly into women’s accounts and providing them financial training led to their increased participation in the labor force.
Payments generated $1.9 trillion in revenue last year with financial companies in Asia-Pacific taking home almost half of that amount. Read McKinsey's Global Payments Report 2019 to learn more.
The new Stanford Business “Blockchain for Social Impact" report is out! The most common use case among its sample of organizations is records and verification, whereas the challenges cited most often are regulatory. The interviewees reported that launching the project was harder than anticipated.
New CGAP focus note explores the core idea behind future-ready G2P payments, lays out its advantages and challenges, and describes how governments can create modern G2P payments systems. It draws heavily from ongoing efforts in Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia.
New Harvard University paper looks at the impact of demonetization on the Indian economy. It finds that, in the near-term, the event led to “temporary reductions in employment, output, and credit.” But “there may be potential longer-term benefits” in several areas, including tax collection.
This paper explores economic informality and how it relates to digital financial inclusion. It focuses specifically on the potential role that digital financial services–including those accessed through mobile phones and the internet can play in encouraging businesses to formalize their operations.