East asia pacific south asia

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 lik…

Accelerating Financial Inclusion in South-East Asia with Digital Finance

Focussing on women, and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), the paper highlights that digital financial solutions could play a significant part in closing gaps in financial inclusion and povides insights from Indonesia, Philippines, Cambodia, and Myanmar.

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

Transportation Series: Blog 4…

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.

Government of India, FICCI, and UN-based Better Than Cash Alliance come together for responsible merchant digitization in the North East, Himalayan Regions and Aspirational Districts

Governance of Social Protection for Informal Sector Workers in Asia

This report covers overview and constraints of setting up a social protection system for informal workers in Asia. It also includes interesting case studies of some Asian countries including Bangladesh, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Indonesia, Pakistan, and the Philippines.

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

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.

The next frontier in Asia payments

Despite the near-term disruption to revenue growth related to the COVID-19 pandemic, Asia’s payments sector remains positioned for long-term success and is poised for a swift return to healthy growth.

Mobile Banking for Empowerment Muslim Women Entrepreneur: Evidence from Asia (Indonesia and Bangladesh)

Through an extensive literature review, the paper provides evidence about role of mobile banking as well as branchless banking is significant for women entrepreneur’s empowerment, especially for financially including them.

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.

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.

$18 billion merchant retail digitization opportunity in India's North East region

New Report “Catalyzing Responsible Digital Payments in India’s North East Region” by UN based Better Than Cash Alliance

Catalyzing Responsible Digital Payments in the North East Region of India

Taking stock of the digital payments ecosystem with a 7-point action plan to expand the merchant acceptance network

Investing In Girls: Opportunities for Innovation in Girl-Centered Cash Transfers

This paper suggests policymakers and other stakeholders should leverage trends toward financially-inclusive e-payments as a means to achieve multiple potential objectives for bringing financial inlcusion to adolescent girls.

Leveraging Public-Private Partnership in the Philipines for Digital Financial Inclusion

His Excellency Jose L. Cuisia Jr., Ambassador of the Republic of the Philippines to the United States of America, and Mr. Paolo Eugenio Baltao, President, G-Xchange (a subsidiary of Globe Te…

2017 State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money

The mobile money industry is now processing a billion dollars a day and generating direct revenues of over $2.4 billion. With 690 million registered accounts worldwide, mobile money has evol…

Mobile for Development Utilities Annual Report

What are the key barriers to success in the mobile phone-enabled utility space? In this report, GSMA shares key trends and insights from its work with more than 40 organizations operating primarily in our member countries in Africa and Asia.

Fintech and Financial Inclusion: Lessons Learned

CGAP worked with 18 fintech pilots across Africa and Asia. This set of case studies describes for each pilot the service that was piloted, the nature of its testing, and emerging lessons. Th…