Financial InclusionNews & Blogs

Co-written with Alejandra Martinez

In this post, we feature an interview with James Habyarimana, Associate Professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy, and William Jack, Vice Provost of Research and Director of gui2de, both at Georgetown University. They conducted a field experiment in Kenya to test whether access to a mobile bank account or a restricted, goal-based account (i.e commitment savings account – which encouraged users to hold onto the money until school expenses were due) could help parents save for their children’s education expenses. Here, they both share...

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The transition from informal, group-based, financial services to formal, individual-based, digital financial services may come about with some unintended consequences, such as the reduction of the positive effects linked to social pressure. A possible remedy to this problem is SMS messages. Beyond their ability to bring financial goals to the “top of mind,” SMS messages can be efficient and effective digital tools to build and maintain the positive effects of social pressure.

There is evidence from a number...

By Alejandra Martinez and Danielle Moore

Reducing transaction fees and increasing proximity to bank branches seems like a no-brainer for increasing account usage. And predictably enough, a body of research points to transaction costs broadly defined, including fees, distance from a bank branch, difficult administrative processes, as a major barrier to savings. However, for women in the developing world, experimental evidence paints a more complicated picture about the ways in which transaction costs may affect financial inclusion.

In one study, reinforcing conventional...

By: Gabriella Wong & Hugo Salas

According to statisticbrain.com, one of the most popular new year’s resolution for 2017 was to make better financial decisions. However, in Peru, nearly 1.2 million (16 percent of all the financial consumers that hold a debt in the regulated financial system), people who have debt are reported to be late on their payments. This could have negative implications for their financial future making borrowing harder or more expensive. This raises the question: can debtors be nudged towards better financial well-being?...

Editor's note: This post appeared originally on www.inclusivebusinesshub.org

The private sector, as employers, has a major role to play in women’s economic empowerment. But not necessarily one born of social responsibility. Electronic wage payments are one of the most promising ways to give women control over the money they earn and encourage the use of formal financial services. These digital transfers have also been shown to reduce costs for businesses. But there are still some significant challenges to overcome. Is the private sector ready to take...