IPA's Rebecca Rouse in The Daily Mail on Why More Low-Income Americans Live Unbanked
Media Coverage
January 04, 2019

IPA's Financial Inclusion Program Director, Rebecca Rouse, explains why many lower-income Americans live unbanked, without a checking or savings account. They are also more likely to rely on making payments in cash than middle-income and wealthier Americans who increasingly prefer to go cashless.
BBVA Features an IPA Report on Nudges for Financial Health
Media Coverage
January 04, 2019

Multinational banking group Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentari (BBVA) features an IPA report demonstrating how modifications in financial product design and services can "nudge" consumers towards improved financial health.
Peru’s Gestión on IPA Retirement Savings Study
Media Coverage
July 18, 2018

Peru’s Gestión reports on a study in development between that country’s pension fund administrator and IPA to test the impact of matching contributions on enrollment and contributions to pensions among workers in Lima.
Researchers Report on Mobile Money and Savings Results in Harvard Business Review
Media Coverage
July 18, 2018

Researchers Joshua Blumenstock, Michael Callen, and Tarek Ghani report on their work with IPA testing the effect of new mobile money platforms on long-term savings in Afghanistan. They describe how the nudge of defaulting employees into a savings program, and employer savings matches, increased savings significantly.
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Using Mobile Platforms to Save for the Future: Evidence from Kenya
James Habyarimana, William Jack
July 02, 2018

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...
Encouraging Retirement Saving in Peru
Media Coverage
June 29, 2018

Peru's El Comercio reports on IPA's work studying the effects of matching contributions on employees saving for retirement. Researchers Researchers from the University of Maryland and Universidad del Pacifico are testing whether matching contributions can encourage informal workers at small firms to save more.

 

El periodico de Perú, El Comercio, reporta el estudio de IPA sobre los efectos del matching contribution en los ahorros previsionales de los empleados. Investigadores de la U. del Maryland y Universidad del Pacifico están testeando si el matching contribution...
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CREDIT: 
CONSAR
Social Effects in the Age of Digital Finance
May 14, 2018

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CREDIT: CONSAR

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...
CONSAR Photo
CREDIT: 
CONSAR
Efectos sociales en la era de las finanzas digitales
May 14, 2018

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CREDIT: CONSAR

La transición de un modelo de servicios financieros informales grupales hacia servicios financieros digitales formales e individuales puede traer consigo consecuencias inesperadas, como lo es la reducción de los efectos positivos ligados a la presión social. Una posible respuesta a este problema son los mensajes SMS. Más allá de su habilidad de priorizar y recordar distintas metas financieras, los mensajes SMS pueden ser herramientas eficientes y efectivas para establecer y mantener los efectos positivos ligados a la presión social....
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To Fee or Not to Fee? Designing Inclusive Savings Products for Women
Silvia Prina
April 17, 2018

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...
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Mejorando El Bienestar Financiero con Información en Perú
April 04, 2018

Por Gabriella Wong & Hugo Salas

¿Pueden los mensajes de texto influir en el comportamiento financiero? IPA está trabajando en estrecha colaboración con SBS para descubrir cómo mejorar los puntajes crediticios en Perú.

Según statisticbrain.com, una de las resoluciones de año nuevo más populares de 2017 fue tomar mejores decisiones financieras. Sin embargo, en Perú, casi 1,2 millones de personas (16% de los que tienen alguna deuda con el sistema financiero regulado), están atrasadas en el pago de sus deudas. Esto podría tener implicaciones negativas para su futuro...
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CREDIT: 
Dario Rodriguez
Nudging People Towards Better Credit in Peru
Dean Karlan, Jonathan Zinman, Kareem Haggag, Xavier Giné
March 21, 2018

By: Gabriella Wong & Hugo Salas

CREDIT: Dario Rodriguez

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?...
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Nine Million US Households Choose to be Unbanked: Do We Understand Their Financial Health?
November 30, 2017

If buying a $20 subway fare card with a debit card can result in ten unexpected overdraft fees for $358, why would you choose using a checking account at all? For many consumers, there are important benefits and a perfectly rational logic to not taking part in a formal financial system. According to the FDIC’s most recent National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Household, almost 20% of Americans are underbanked, meaning that they hold an account at an insured institution but also use financial products outside of the banking system.

There is an argument that these consumers...
IPA Study on Mobile Money Featured in The Economist
Media Coverage
November 10, 2017

The Economist mentions the finding from an IPA study on mobile money in Kenya that the technology may have lifted as many as 2 percent of Kenyan households out of poverty between 2008 and 2014.
Closing the Gender Gap in Digital Finance: Tailored Products Are Not Enough
October 05, 2017

Editor's note: This post originally appeared on the African Microfinance Week site.

The mobile money revolution offers microfinance institutions and banks an opportunity to better serve their clients and reach new customer segments, especially women. New product innovations may have the potential to bring more women into the formal financial fold, but the expansion of digital financial services remains limited by women’s access to and use of mobile phones and other digital tools. Even when women do have access to mobile phones, they may not know how to use them, particularly...
ATM machine
CREDIT: 
Dario Rodriguez
The Potential Payoff of Electronic Wages: What Employers Need to Know
September 18, 2017

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

CREDIT: Dario Rodriguez

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...

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