Recent Blogs
The Road Ahead for Platform Gig Workers’ Financial Inclusion
Gig platforms offer financial inclusion potential for their workers, but roadblocks remain. Learn how funders and the financial inclusion community can better support innovation and impact on gig platforms.
On Gig Platforms, Women Workers Face Triple Barriers to Inclusion
The type of work that women do on gig platforms makes it harder to connect them to financial services that will translate their income into longer-term gains. We studied six platforms to understand why fintech innovation does not reach women workers.
Why Don’t Fintechs Have a Larger Share of Peru’s MSE Credit Market?
CGAP market sizing research in Peru found that fintechs are only responsible for 0.3% of the MSE credit market. Here, we ask why fintechs have such a small segment of the MSE credit market and posit how that share can be increased.
Maturing India Stack Drives Digital Financial Inclusion of Gig Workers
India Stack, India’s robust DPI, supports a host of financial services products for harder-to-reach segments like gig workers – a good example for other countries that want to leverage digitization of work for financial inclusion of informal workers.
Digital Credit in Côte d'Ivoire: A Double-Edged Service
Digital credit can provide opportunities for financial inclusion and improved resilience, but new survey data from Côte d'Ivoire shows the need for greater consumer protection.
High Tech, High Touch: Bringing Formal Loans to Rural India
Despite its success developing digital public infrastructure to enable inclusive financial development, India still faces challenges in bringing formal credit to rural and low-income households. A new app supported by CGAP aims to provide a solution.
State of the Climate-Responsive Financial Product Landscape
EMDEs are hit hardest by climate-related disasters and environmental impacts and will need a variety of financial services to adapt and grow more resilient to climate change. Are they getting them? Our product scan provides preliminary insights.
BNPL in Nigeria: Emerging Fintech Innovations for MSEs
Findings from our recent research suggest BNPL is becoming a significant lending mechanism for Nigerians – especially for micro, small and medium enterprises and self-employed individuals who would not otherwise have access to credit.
Savings at the Pump: Financing Solar Irrigation to Support Rural Women
Solar water pumps can be a sustainable, low-cost solution for irrigating farms. Asset financing from organizations like PEG Africa could help more women to obtain these cost- and time-saving tools.
The Essential Role of Finance in Education, Housing and Health Care
CGAP’s research suggests that financial services are important tools for advancing equitable access to quality essential services like education, housing and health care.
As PAYGo Solar Matures, Funders Can Do More to Close the Energy Gap
Pay-as-you-go (PAYGo) solar has enabled energy access for around 27 million customers. Funders can help PAYGo providers further close the energy access gap — while advancing financial inclusion — by focusing on these priorities for the sector.
How Bangladesh Democratized Its Savings Culture
Bangladesh may be best known within financial inclusion circles as the birthplace of modern microcredit. But it has also democratized savings by developing formal savings instruments that are used today by many of the country’s poorest households.
Two Sides, One Coin: Credit Risk Management and Consumer Protection
For companies that offer asset financing for everything from solar panels to bicycles, consumer protection measures aren't just good for customers; they can also help companies to manage credit risk and improve their loan portfolios.
The Social Impact Credit Trap in Asset Finance
Rapid growth in credit sectors, even if motivated by a desire for social impact, can lead to overindebted customers and insolvent lenders. For funders, it is important to recognize that investing in asset finance is investing in risk management.
Does PAYGo Solar Improve Women’s Lives? A Look at the Evidence
Pay-as-you-go (PAYGo) solar financing has electrified the homes of more than 100 million people. What does the available evidence say about its impact on women?
Flipping the Switch: How Locking Assets Unlocks Credit for the Poor
A new study out of Uganda offers strong evidence that lock-out technology can enable providers to sustainably lend to low-income customers, who may need credit for school fees and other critical expenses.
In Uganda, Solar Home Systems Help Students Stay in School
A pay-as-you-go (PAYGo) solar provider in Uganda is proving that an often-overlooked benefit of PAYGo – financial inclusion – can also affect education outcomes by keeping kids in the classroom.
Harnessing Fintech in the Arab World: An Opportunity Worth Billions
New research suggests that fintechs in the Arab world could help millions of people and small businesses and generate billions in revenue by serving excluded customers.
How Financial Services Can Help the Poor in the Climate Transition
Early evidence suggests that the financial sector could play a key role in helping low-income people prepare for and participate in climate transition. However, greater coordination among funders and other sector stakeholders is needed.