Wage payments

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 in digital economies.

Digital Payments Adoption and the Demand for Cash: New International Evidence

Cash remains in high demand despite measures by governments to keep funds digital. This Central Bank of Colombia study finds that economic growth and lower interest rates have a role to play. Further, digital payments usually replace cash in high-value purchases and that there are other "unobservable" factors that contribute to demand for cash.

How policymakers can drive uptake of digital payments

New BCG publication discusses the foundational elements that raise the chances of a successful digital journey. Laying the foundations for a cashless economy, it says, should begin with an overarching national payments agenda driven by key stakeholders, including the government. 

Report of the High-level committee on deepening of digital payments

Nandan Nilekani-led high-level panel submitted its report on deepening digital payments in India. It calls for pivoting the ecosystem from issuance (supply) to acceptance (demand) and shares practical recommendations for doing that. The report refers to 6 Alliance publications. Read it here.

“Payment and Settlement Systems in India: Vision 2019 – 2021

With an aim to create a cash-lite economy, the Reserve Bank of India has published its "Payments System Vision 2021." The document can be a useful resource for members like Ghana who are working on similar strategies.

Do Mothers Prefer Digital Payments over Cash?

In this report, CGDev takes stock of how this move was perceived by them. Control (of finances) and digital literacy are identified as pain points.

National Payments Corporation of India and the remaking of payments in India

The paper examines the role NPCI played in transforming the way India manages financial transactions, as well as what lessons can be learned from India’s experience.

What explains low adoption of digital payment technologies? Evidence from small-scale merchants in Jaipur, India

New research from India states that low adoption of digital payments among small retailers is not a result of supply-side barriers, such as affordability and availability. It is due to demand-side factors such as perceived aversion of customers to transact digitally.

Marks & Spencer Joins the Better Than Cash Alliance on International Women’s Day

This International Women’s Day, Marks & Spencer (M&S) is joining the Better Than Cash Alliance to help advance the Sustainable Development Goals. By promoting digital wages across its supply chain, M&S aims to give more women the ability to take control of their finances.

Testing the Waters: Digital Payments for Water and Sanitation

Water providers are shifting to digital payments to reduce expenses and streamline delivery. In this report, CGAP and GSMA share lessons learned from 25 organizations, including the challenges they encountered while digitizing payments.

Cash usage behaviour and its implication for digital payments: A case of Ghana and Nigeria's smallholder cassava value chain

Read this CTA study on cash usage behaviors among cassava farmers to learn more.

2018 highlights!

Mobile banking in the government-to-person payment sector for financial inclusion in Pakistan

Through an interpretive case study of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) in Pakistan, this paper critically examines mobile banking usage by women beneficiaries and technology's effects on the institutional properties of their households.

Mapping the Merchant's Mind: An Analysis of Digital Payment Behaviors by Fixed Store Merchants in Jaipur

A year and a half post demonetization, only about 5% of India’s ~60 million MSMEs own digital acceptance devices. This report provides a deeper context and recommendations on small business profiles, infrastructure, needs, behaviors, and perceptions.

Is mobile payment still relevant in the fintech era?

This study analyzes whether mobile payments are still relevant for the fintech industry by comparing three mobile payment projects – Oi Paggo in Brazil, TCASH in Indonesia, and M-PESA in Kenya.

Get in the fast lane through digital payments

New Key to Help Unlock the Power of Digital Payments

Across the global policy community, the jury is now in about the power of digital payments to drive financial inclusion, particularly for women and the poor; improve efficiency and transparency in business and government; and support new economic opportunities. However, there is no consensus around the specific policy mix that will enable this potential to be fully realized.