Financial Inclusion

Better tools for managing money—from mobile payments, to digital credit and insurance—can help low-income households save, transact, and grow their businesses.

In the absence of secure and reliable ways to save, borrow, and make payments, low-income households and small businesses often rely on costly and informal methods of managing their finances. Lack of traditional credit scores can further limit the ability of unbanked households to borrow money, perpetuating intergenerational cycles of poverty. Improving access to secure financial products and services—many of which leverage digital payment platforms—can lead to investments in durable assets and income-generating activities. Yet there remains a lack of evidence on the mechanisms by which these products and services alleviate (or further entrench) poverty. To fill this gap, CEGA mobilizes researchers to design and test secure financial products and services, regulatory approaches, and related consumer protection mechanisms. Our research informs decisions about product, program, and business model development, as well as the design of regulatory solutions that protect consumers.