Engaging DFS customers through personalized targeting and segmenting the most promising client base (the case of Juntos)

Oleksiy Anokhin (based on original case authored by Minakshi Ramji)
30 Jul 2018

Author: Oleksiy Anokhin (based on original case authored by Minakshi Ramji) Smartphone users are overwhelmed with access to information through multiple channels – websites, social media, and messages. As a result, people can become inured to numerous everyday messages, which they may perceive as spam. How can a provider approach their customers using these digital channels without irritating them? The case of Juntos, a Silicon Valley technology company that partnered […]

Expanding Financial Inclusion Through Mining Social Media Data (the case of Lenddo)

Oleksiy Anokhin
28 Jun 2018

Author: Oleksiy Anokhin, adapted from a case study by Dean Caire Introduction Digital Financial Services provide an enormous opportunity to deliver formal financial services to underserved individuals.  Large obstacles remain toward meeting this goal, such as customers who lack identification cards; or, for example, on the national level, inadequate credit bureaus.   These types of barriers push users to seek financial services from the informal sector, which can carry higher risks and costs. […]

Does Greater Inclusion Lead to Financial Health? New Research Raises Pointed Questions for the Industry

Sonja Kelly and Evelyn Stark
22 Jun 2018

By Sonja Kelly, CFI, and Evelyn Stark, MetLife Foundation What conditions create physical health? We know more now than we ever have—working out, eating lots of vegetables and limiting alcohol intake seem to be healthy decisions. But there is no one agreed-upon set of conditions for physical health and wellness. Rather, there is a body of literature that provides clues about different aspects of health. For instance, nutrition literature makes […]

Using Findex Wisely: Understanding the Strengths and Weaknesses of the World’s Biggest Financial Inclusion Dataset

Daniel Rozas
22 Jun 2018

By Daniel Rozas The publication of the 2017 Global Findex has generated much reflection on the state of financial inclusion – and plenty of analysis of the data, looking for the buried treasure of some new trend or pattern. This yields important insights. The Financial Inclusion Hype vs. Reality report by the Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI) is particularly worth reading for its in-depth and honest reflection of what Findex tells us. But when […]

Global investors join efforts to accelerate investments in responsible digital financial services

20 Jun 2018

June 20, 2018, Amsterdam: over 50 global investors and digital finance innovators launched Guidelines for Investing in Responsible Digital Financial Services. The co-founding Signatories are working to collaborate for solutions, refine investment tools or innovate with strategic partners.  All potential, new and current Signatories are encouraged to proactively engage, such as at the 9th Annual Responsible Finance Forum on Oct 2, 2018 in Dar es Salaam. Why this matters now Innovations in digital technology have created new and exciting opportunities to reach unbanked and underbanked low-income customers […]

Data, AI and financial inclusion: the future of global banking

Teresa Alameda
18 Jun 2018

Chris Skinner and Carlos Kuchovsky during the event at Torre Espacio, Madrid. By: Teresa Alameda, BBVA Fintech expert Chris Skinner shared the stage with Carlos Kuchkovsky, CTO New Digital Businesses at BBVA, at Desafío Ingenia, where they debated the arrival of technologies such as artificial intelligence, the importance of data and new entrants in the financial services market. Traditional banks have millions of customers, are worth billions and are hundreds of […]

Bank-Led Digital Finance: Who’s Really Leading?

Stefan Staschen
18 Jun 2018

Photo: Moksumul Haque, 2016 CGAP Photo Contest In 2006, CGAP distinguished two broad models of digital financial services (DFS) — one led by banks, the other by nonbanks. We quickly realized, however, that many of the so-called bank-led models were not actually led by banks. Rather, nonbanks were taking the lead in establishing and implementing DFS, even though banks remained the legal providers of these services. We therefore began to refer to […]

The Biometric Balancing Act in Digital Finance

Paul Makin, Chrissy Martin
15 Jun 2018

Photo: Marie Hortense Raharimalala / IFC By: Paul Makin and Chrissy Martin, CGAP Biometric technologies are rapidly changing how financial services providers (FSPs) verify people’s identities and meet know-your-customer requirements as well as customer due diligence (CDD) requirements more broadly. India’s use of biometrics is perhaps the best-known example, but it is not the only one. According to an estimate by Juniper Research, over 600 million mobile devices around the world […]

The value of having a data centric approach to set up a high performing DFS agent network

Morne van der Westhuizen
30 May 2018

Introduction Africa is at a turning point. It has been growing at a significant rate over the past years, but the economic growth has not transformed into the same level of financial inclusion. Economic growth has resulted in more opportunities for low income households, but with this comes a need for more affordable and accessible financial services. DFS providers have been playing a vital role in servicing the market segment […]

Caveat Venditor: A New Model for Buyer Selection in Responsible Microfinance Equity Exits

Daniel Rozas and Sam Mendelson
23 May 2018

For most, socially responsible investing means just that – investing in a manner that not only generates financial returns but also produces positive social value. But what does it mean for an investor to be “responsible” when selling their holdings? How does one stay responsible at the very moment when one ceases to be an investor? This is a basic challenge facing investors seeking to “exit,” i.e. sell their equity […]