East asia pacific south asia

50 results

Ideas & Updates

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.

Square small
Ideas & Updates

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

Join us on Thursday, April 2nd, 2 – 3pm GMT
Square small © © United Nations
Ideas & Updates

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 solve the challenges in ensuring all garment factories pay their workers digitally. The decision came from the Bangladesh Digital Wages Summit, which convened on 20 November in Dhaka.

Square small © ©Better Than Cash Alliance/M.M. Zahidur Rahman
Industry Report

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.
Square small © Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation/Frederic Courbet
Industry Report

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
Square small © Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation/Frederic Courbet
Industry Report

The mobile gender gap: Asia

The top barriers to mobile ownership in Asia are literacy and skills and affordability, with family disapproval also featuring as a major barrier in parts of South Asia. Read GSMA's Mobile Gender Gap-Asia report for more details.
Square small © Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation/Frederic Courbet
Industry Report

Strategies for fintechs in the Pacific 

New IMF paper outlines policy strategies to help promote financial inclusion through fintechs in the Pacific Island countries. It calls on governments to close regulatory gaps and enhance digital and financial literacy while urging fintechs to take a regional approach to overcome scalability constraints.
Square small © © Better Than Cash Alliance
Ideas & Updates

Distributed Ledger Technology and Digital Identity: Prospects and Pitfalls Ahead

Blockchain Series: Blog 4
Square small © © WFP
Toolkit

A Regulatory Diagnostic Toolkit for Digital Financial Services in Emerging Markets Toolkit

This University of New South Wales paper proposes a framework – a Regulatory Diagnostic Toolkit (RDT) – designed to support financial regulators in emerging markets to advance their regulatory regimes for DFS.
Square small © © Better Than Cash Alliance
Industry Report

In South-East Asia, Grab and Gojek bring banking to the masses

Why should retailers shift to digital payments? An average digital payments user of Grab, a ride-hailing service, makes twice as many transactions than those who use cash and is 30% more likely to use several of Grab's services.
Square small © ©Better Work - ILO/ IFC
Industry Report

Balancing financial inclusion and data protection in South Africa: Black Sash Trust v Minister of Social Development

The article advances the argument that effective participation of social grant beneficiaries in the financial services sector can be realized if personal data protection measures are taken seriously.
Square small © © Better Than Cash Alliance
Industry Report

Middle East and North Africa Economic Monitor, October 2018: A New Economy in Middle East and North Africa

This report lays out the principles for a new digital economy for MENA that embraces innovation and entrepreneurship, youth and women economic empowerment, rekindling the role of State, etc.
Square small
Ideas & Updates

Picking the Gridlock: Digital Payments in the Transportation Sector

Transportation Series: Blog 1 (Introduction)
Square small
Ideas & Updates

For whom the cash tolls

Transportation Series: Blog 2
Square small
Ideas & Updates

How cities will win – digital payments and the future of smart

Transportation Series: Blog 3
Square small © © Better Than Cash Alliance
Ideas & Updates

Truly mobile money – ride-sharing and mobile payments in South and Southeast Asia

Transportation Series: Blog 4
Square small
Ideas & Updates

Factories paying workers digitally are five times more likely to provide good social and labor practices

New data gathered from the Higg Index from 3,000 factories in 58 countries
Square small © © BSR
Ideas & Updates

Accelerating the SDGs: How Digital Finance Can Ignite Faster Progress Toward the Global Goals

As world leaders met at the U.N. General Assembly in New York last week, many discussions focused on how to ignite greater progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Increasingly, digital financial inclusion is emerging as a key answer.
Square small © @shutterstock
Ideas & Updates

Why having less cash can mean a better life

A third of adults struggle to get by without basic financial services to protect against hardship and save for the future. Ruth Goodwin-Groen, of the UN-based Better Than Cash Alliance, explains why moving from cash to digital payments can help reduce poverty and drive inclusive growth.
Square small © © Mastercard
Alliance Report

The Role of Digital Payments in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security

Finance Ministers of the economies of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) endorsed the new Better Than Cash Alliance report on the role of digital payments in sustainable agriculture on 21st October, in Viet Nam.
Square small © © Mercy Corps