Since 2007, IFC has actively invested in branchless banking services such as WIZZIT in South Africa and FINO in India and provided advisory services to financial institutions, MNOs, and third party payment service providers. IFC’s interest in payment service providers stems from the recognition that payment services provide an entry point to access to a [...]

How can governments effectively support mobile financial services (MFS) expansion?  Over the past ten years, the U.S. government (USG) has provided both direct and indirect support for MFS program development.  Here are some examples of how the USG has acted as an indirect catalyst to support program development and implementation. USAID has worked closely with [...]

The Pacific has not been a hospitable place for traditional microfinance.  Challenging terrain, great distances, dispersed populations and absent infrastructure make labor-intensive operations difficult and “brick and mortar” service points impractical.  What the Pacific lacks in strong MFIs and roads, it makes up for in strong regional banks, a few rapidly expanding mobile network operators [...]

Public funders have been instrumental in promoting and developing the microfinance industry; close to 70% of cross border public funding going into microfinance comes from public sources.  Currently, the financial inclusion world is abuzz with excitement about branchless banking and the potential of services like M-PESA in Kenya to dramatically reduce costs and increase access [...]