Competitive Fund on Financial Capability

Access to financial services is improving across the world, thanks to technological innovations and the expanded operations of microfinance providers. However, financial capability, or the ability to make informed decisions about the use and management of one’s money, has not kept pace with these advances. This "financial capability gap" threatens the progress of financial inclusion for low- and moderate-income individuals across the world.

The competitive fund seeks to incubate, develop, and rigorously study products and product-linked interventions to improve the financial capability of the poor. The focal research areas of the fund are (1) product-linked financial education; (2) incentives for behavior change and use of financial services; and (3) product design as a way to encourage appropriate use of financial instruments.

Over two competitive rounds, the fund will support several randomized evaluations of products and programs that improve financial capability with approximately 1.7 million USD in research awards. The first competitive round awarded approximately $770,000 to six randomized evaluations and $70,000 to six promising applicant teams to further develop their proposals. Of the latter, five teams formed during the fund's matchmaking program to facilitate new partnerships between researchers and practitioners.

The fund’s selection committee will consider projects in all countries except the United States and has a particular interest in projects from emerging markets such as Brazil, China, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Russia, South Africa, and Turkey.

Applications must be presented by teams consisting of at least one researcher and one implementing financial service provider. For more information on partnership development opportunities offered by the Citi IPA Financial Capability Research Fund, including past events and activities in anticipation of the second competitive round, please click here.