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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New GSMA and UNHCR report looks at the ways in which refugees are using their mobile phones to help guide digital interventions by humanitarian organizations and mobile network operators. It identifies affordability, literacy, digital skills, and charging as the main barriers to mobile phone ownership and mobile internet usage.
At a panel discussion during the recently concluded GSMA M360 Africa, Flourish’s Ameya Upadhyay presented on how to harness the power of new technologies to drive access and transparency. Check out his presentation.
This IMF brief takes a first stab at tackling the questions surrounding the rise of new forms of digital money.
A new Center for Global Development policy paper, published in collaboration with the Overseas Development Institute and the Better Than Cash Alliance, explores the linkages between digitalization of payments and effective PFM systems.
Women face additional constraints because of their gender that affect their economic performance. New Oxford University Press paper suggests that specific design features - repeated micro-lending, variation in loan terms, private savings accounts, etc - in financial services can yield more positive economic outcomes for women.
A new Karandaaz study shows that around 95% of merchants in Pakistan do not accept digital payments. To promote adoption, it calls for creating awareness among users, better infrastructure, interoperability and reliability of services.
Based on surveys from 566 business leaders, a new VISA report finds that the top 3 (payments-related) fraud concerns are ID verification, data privacy, and transaction monitoring. It calls for taking a more holistic approach to fraud management which involves a mix of new technologies and new skills.
This World Bank discussion paper argues that digital payments, along with other policies and tools, can help extend pension coverage to the informal sector in Africa. It also features case studies from 5 Alliance members namely Kenya, Rwanda, Benin, Ghana, and Uganda.
Prepared at the request of the G7 French Presidency, this Gates Foundation report aims to be “a blueprint for improving digital financial inclusion in Africa.”
Unregistered SMEs account for 65% of Nigeria’s GDP. Most of them often struggle to demonstrate their personal and business credentials to service providers and customers. This GSMA research finds that there is a need for new approaches to identity and mobile-delivered ‘economic ID’ solution holds promise.
This paper, jointly released by the Better Than Cash Alliance and the World Bank, summarizes and analyzes the financial challenges faced by older adults.
Columbia University paper finds that even when they are given the opportunity, many of India’s poor women opt out of actively engaging with the formal banking institutions. It finds that education is a significant determinant in shaping the financial decisions of India’s poor women.
This GSMA study shares lessons from Orange’s work in West and Central Africa on implementing Person-to-Government (P2G) payment strategies.
This CGDev study sets out to understand the effectiveness of reforms taken by Andhra Pradesh to digitalize service delivery. It identifies access, accountability, choice, and voice as the four principles underlying the digital reforms there.
This Harvard Business School paper concludes that consumers who switch to digital payments maintain their purchase frequency but spend more and are less likely to return their purchases.
Based on a survey of over 1,200 people in three districts of Rwanda, this Smart Campaign report delves into the experiences of users of digital financial services.
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.
As mobile-based digital agricultural solutions take hold in Kenya, there is a great opportunity to use data for improving financial inclusion of smallholder farmers.
IFC report aggregates responses from 114 SME banking executives serving more than 17.5 million small businesses.
The UN Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation released this report. It highlights the need for inclusivity and protection of human rights to ensure a safe digital future for all and shares 5 key recommendations.