Social protection wages

China Breakthroughs: Pay it forward on cashless society

China cashing out as mobile payment soars (The Business Times)

As MEDA joins Better Than Cash Alliance, Reflections on progress to a “Cash-lite Zambia”

While in Zambia last week, I was struck by the changes in the mobile money sector that have happened since my last trip in 2011, which admittedly is about 20 years ago in technology years. W…

China cashing out as mobile payment soars (AFP)

Alipay, WeChat Near $3 Trillion

When aid goes digital: 4 factors to bear in mind

Five Ways Digital Payments Are Coming to the Rescue in Emergencies

Digital payments: Save time, save costs, save lives

Electronic cash aid gives Rwandan refugees more options

As part of its commitments to enhance food security, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has introduced mobile phone facilitated cash transfers to feed the 14,500 refugees in Gihem…

West Africa launches new payments digitization agenda

New report: Worker payments digitization for economic recovery and decent work.

First There Was Cash-for-Assets – Could WFP’s New E-Payments Model be Scaled Up Too?

Kenya has been hailed as one of the developing world’s leaders in electronic payments. So it should come as no surprise that a sparsely populated, dusty village 500 kilometres from Nairobi i…

At a Moment’s Notice: Mercy Corps Tests and Deploys an E-Voucher System for Crises in the DRC

The following is a guest post by Sara Murray, Electronic Payments Program Manager at Mercy Corps, a Better Than Cash Alliance member….

Celebrating Women’s Day!

This International Women’s Day, Marks & Spencer (M&S) is joining our Alliance to help advance the Sustainable Development Goals.

How UN organizations can boost their impact

In a new report, the Better Than Cash Alliance shows how improved digitization and harmonization can help UN agencies and partners make an even greater impact.

Government launches 3 new policies to speed up digital payments

Visa Streamlines Distribution of Child Support Payments in Nebraska

Distributing benefits, such as child support, unemployment and disability assistance, has been transformed by the use of prepaid cards. Instead of mailing paper checks, 40 states now use Vis…

Beneficiary Perceptions and Attitudes in Fiji: Facilitating Migration from Paper-based to Electronic Benefit Distribution

This study exams the real and perceived constraints social welfare beneficiaries and low income households face in using formal banking services. The study was done to inform the government…

Zap It to Me: The Short-Term Impacts of a Mobile Cash Transfer Program

Conditional and unconditional cash transfers have been effective in improving development outcomes in a variety of contexts, yet the costs of these programs to program recipients and impleme…

Bansefi Visa Debit and Prepaid Cards Create “Oportunidades” for Mexico ’s Financially Underserved

The largest social program in Mexico, Oportunidades, distributes benefits to 6.5 million people. The government-owned Bank of National Savings and Financial Services (Bansefi) was looking fo…

Plugging into Mobile Money Platforms: Early Experiences of NGOs in the Field

This focus note reviews early lessons for NGOs from the field. It explores three central questions: Does initial evidence support the notion that mobile money is a cheaper, faster, and more …