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Government launches new policies to speed up financial inclusion

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.

Webinar > Digital Payments in Ebola Response: Lessons for the COVID-19 Crisis

The Better Than Cash Alliance will host a webinar to highlight key lessons from Sierra Leone’s use of digital payments in their Ebola response, which shaped the outcome of the crisis in West Africa.

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.

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

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…

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.

Senegal: tech helps boost access to health to leave poverty behind

This blog post was originally published in the Action 2030 Blog on unsdg.un.org.

Fostering digital payments and fintech development 

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

How to put national digital agenda in action

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.

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

Digital Economy Blueprint: Kenya

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.

8 ways to boost Africa's digital ecosystem

The World Economic Forum and International Trade Centre’s “Africa e-commerce agenda” discusses 8 policy areas - including enhancing digital payments - that can help unleash the potential of e-commerce in the continent.

How to consolidate gains in digital payments

This CG Dev paper, by Professor Njuguna Ndung’u, shows how M-Pesa’s success has led to a series of endogenous innovations that have shaped Kenya’s digital space. It outlines several important challenges that Kenya will need to address in order to further consolidate its success, including connectivity issues, digital ID, interoperability and consumer protection.

Bottlenecks for mobile-money adoption

This paper aims at investigating the driving factors for mobile money adoption in the WAEMU region. It identifies literacy rate, mobile infrastructure, and banking infrastructure (ATMs\100,000 people) as the main macroeconomic determinants for adoption.

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.

Extending pension coverage to the informal sector

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.

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.

Lessons from implementing P2G payments strategies

This GSMA study shares lessons from Orange’s work in West and Central Africa on implementing Person-to-Government (P2G) payment strategies.