Financial services

USAID: The Gender Digital Divide Working toward a global digital ecosystem for all

Analyzing the Gender Digital Divide with country examples/data from India, Senegal & Indonesia

Queen Maxima gives speech about financial equality for International Women’s Day

VoxDev Lit: Mobile Money (literature review) Toolkit

Analyzing impacts and potential of mobile money on (women’s) economic empowerment, financial inclusion and poverty reduction.

Responsible Practices to Address Seven Major Risks in COVID-19 Digital Financial Transfers Toolkit

The Report Responsible Practices to Address Seven Major Risks in COVID-19 Digital Financial Transfers identifies seven heightened risks resulting from the speed and scale of COVID-19 digital transfer responses.

Tax Digitalization in Mexico: Success Factors and Pathways Forward

Mexico has been among the forerunners in tax digitalization, starting in the 1980s when it piloted digital Point of Sale (PoS) registration and invoicing.

BETTER THAN CASH: Ruth Goodwin-Groen is inspiring social change with digital financial inclusion

Policy and regulatory recommendations to facilitate mobile humanitarian and social assistance during COVID-19

This guidance note outlines the most significant challenges that MNOs face (or likely to face) in the context of supporting the delivery of humanitarian assistance in a COVID-19 world and offers relevant recommendations to governments on how to help address or mitigate these challenges.

Inclusive Growth: The Global Challenges of Social Inequality and Financial Inclusion

The book outlines a journey from enabling models of government and business to strategies for creating both financial and social inclusion and entrepreneurism as mechanisms for sustainable and inclusive growth.

Improving Financial Inclusion through the Delivery of Cash Transfer Programmes: The Case of Mexico's Progresa-Oportunidades-Prospera Programme

This paper follows a quasi-experimental research design to assess the impact of the electronic payment system of Mexico’s Progresa-Oportunidades-Prospera (POP) programme.

New insights into inclusion-focused fintech 

The recently launched Inclusive Fintech 50 whitepaper looks at how early-stage fintechs are working on financial inclusion. Findings reveal that “funding is concentrated in several notable ways, innovation is not limited to technology and common standards are needed to bring clarity to the field.”

Role of digital finance in an aging world

A new Better Than Cash Alliance and World Bank paper outlines factors for the financial exclusion of the elderly and explores how digital financial technology can help governments better prepare for global aging challenges.

Designing "smart" to overcome gender bias 

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. 

The Role of Digital Financial Inclusion in Preparing for Older Age and Retirements

This paper, jointly released by the Better Than Cash Alliance and the World Bank, summarizes and analyzes the financial challenges faced by older adults.

Consumer protection standards for digital credit 

Similar to the RDPGs, this Smart Campaign publication identifies standards for responsible digital financial services, especially credit. It aims to guide the practices of both fintechs and traditional financial service providers undergoing digital transformation. 

Distributed Ledger Technology: What Is It and Why Do We Care?

Blockchain Series: Blog 1…

Distributed Ledgers: Looking Past the Hype

Blockchain Series: Blog 2…

DLT: Keep Calm and Let the Evidence Speak

Blockchain Series: Blog 3…

Public Financial Management and the Digitalization of Payments

Joint report by the Better Than Cash Alliance, the Center for Global Development, and the Overseas Development Institute, building on work with the International Monetary Fund in 2017.

In the IMF’s Fight Against Corruption, Digital Payments are a Powerful Weapon

IMF managing director Christine Lagarde is to be applauded for her recent leadership in the fight against corruption, and her recognition that there is an increasingly limited role for cash …