Infrastructure

Igniting SDG Progress Through Digital Financial Inclusion

We invite you to use this compendium to make digital financial inclusion a priority.

Ethiopia Maps Out Digital Payment Strategy

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

This webinar captured lessons on delivering vital government-to-person (G2P) payments that expands choice.

Ghana Launches New Policies to Speed Up Financial Inclusion and Digital Payments to Transform the Economy

Public and Private Sector Collaboration is Critical for Success

It’s not just about fresh capital for Africa: it is about deployment

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.

Mobile Coverage and its Impact on Digital Financial Services

“The study finds that the type of mobile coverage provided has a significant effect on the DFS UI and type of mobile phone that can be used for DFS access.Feature phones and Unstructured Supplementary Service Data transactions continue to be the choice for the vast majority users.”

Instant Secure Mobile Payment Scheme

The paper proposes a new communication network, Speed PAy, that jointly connects the banks together and allows the customers to process all kind of transactions with the use of their cell phones and without the need for a new SIM.

Informal Sector and Mobile Financial Services in Developing Countries: Does Financial Innovation Matter?

This paper investigates the impact of mobile financial services - MFS (mobile money, and mobile credit and savings) on the informal sector using data from 101 emerging and developing countries over the period 2000-15.

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.

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

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.”

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.

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.

Latest trends in the field of "suptech"

This paper examines latest trends in suptech initiatives by looking at the work of 39 financial authorities globally.

Fostering digital payments and fintech development 

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

New blockchain for social impact report

The new Stanford Business “Blockchain for Social Impact" report is out! The most common use case among its sample of organizations is records and verification, whereas the challenges cited most often are regulatory. The interviewees reported that launching the project was harder than anticipated.

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.

Leveraging Digital Financial Solutions to Promote Formal Business Participation

This paper explores economic informality and how it relates to digital financial inclusion. It focuses specifically on the potential role that digital financial services–including those accessed through mobile phones and the internet can play in encouraging businesses to formalize their operations.