East asia pacific south asia

Inclusive digital payments solutions for the garment sector workers in Bangladesh

Managing Liquidity and Cash-Out for Social Payments During COVID-19

This webinar captured lessons on delivering vital G2P payments in a way that expands choice while managing liquidity and cash-out in innovative ways.

25 years since Beijing – Spotlight on women!

In this edition of the newsletter, we applaud the leadership of Alliance members in the Philippines, Ghana and India who are ensuring that women can gain economic independence through digitization.

Digital Wages in Bangladesh Benefit Women

Impact of demonetization on diffusion of mobile payment service in India: Antecedents of behavioral intention and adoption using extended UTAUT model

The paper shows that behavioral intention, demonetization and facilitating conditions have a positive impact on the adoption of mobile payment services in India.

BSP Holds Digital Payments Leaders Summit as the Country Moves Closer to a Cash-lite Economy

Country Diagnostic: The Philippines (2019 edition)

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Philippine Government recognize digital payments as a policy priority to enable Filipinos to seize the opportunities of the digital revolution.

In Bangladesh, key public and private sector actors commit to scaling digital wages across garment sector

Dhaka, November 20, 2019 - Media release by Government of Bangladesh: Building on what has been achieved so far, the government and the private sector have committed to working together to…

Call to action: Digitizing workers’ payments in the garment sector in Bangladesh

Leading brands call on other companies and suppliers in Bangladesh to grasp the opportunity to drive inclusion, efficiency, and transparency through wage digitization…

Bangladesh Digital Wages Summit

Scaling Digital Wages: An Opportunity for Garment Employees and Manufacturers…

Southeast Asia internet economy hits $100 billion

The Bain & Company report shows that two Alliance members, Indonesia and Vietnam, are growing the fastest and the adoption of digital payments in the region is expected to cross $1 trillion by 2025.

Connection between financial innovation and inclusion

This paper explores the nexus between financial inclusion and financial innovation by looking at data from 6 South Asian countries - including 4 Alliance members.

Fostering digital payments and fintech development 

This ADBI working paper discusses measures to foster digital financial innovation in Indonesia.

Closing gender gap through fintech

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. 

Youth, entrepreneurship and digital financial inclusion

New World Bank Findex note discusses the many ways in which young people in Sub-Saharan Africa are using formal financial services for entrepreneurship.

Mobile money spreads in Asia

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 mobile gender gap: Asia

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.

How to create modern G2P payment systems

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.

Near-term impact of India’s demonetization

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.