CGAP

CGAP Transforming Lives with Financial Inclusion

06/02/2026

Women are central to India's future. But even as India's financial system has expanded dramatically, women remain on the margins of meaningful financial engagement. 👭🏽🇮🇳

What will it take for finance to truly serve women's lives?

Our new video breaks down three powerful levers for change: better data, digital systems women can trust, and stronger asset ownership. Together, they can turn into real economic empowerment for women across .

Watch now 👇

05/29/2026

Three out of four adults in low- and middle-income countries now have access to formal financial accounts. But 1.3 billion remain unbanked, 4 billion are uninsured or underinsured, and many remain financially vulnerable.

We are at the threshold of a new wave of inclusive finance. The future of financial inclusion depends on timely, forward-looking policy as much as technology. Financial services are becoming ubiquitous, modular, and embedded in everyday platforms and apps. This offers transformative promise, but also new risks.

Policy choices made today—on data governance, AI, payment infrastructure, and institutional capacity—will determine whether this wave becomes a force for shared prosperity or deepens existing divides.

CGAP's latest research presents a policy roadmap for navigating this wave of technological change, outlining six key priorities for financial sector authorities. Read the paper here: https://cgap.pub/4e9OjTy

05/26/2026

This week, CGAP's Council of Governors gathers to chart the next chapter of inclusive finance. As we look ahead, we're also looking back at 30 years of turning evidence into impact.

For three decades, CGAP has evolved in response to new technologies, changing financial systems, crises, and growing awareness of financial inclusion's transformative power. From proving microfinance works to advancing digital finance to positioning inclusive finance as an enabler of development outcomes such as food security, climate resilience, and women's economic empowerment.

Our new video traces CGAP's journey across seven strategy cycles—showing how an innovation lab adapts while staying true to its mission.

Watch to learn more 👇

05/22/2026

What is open finance — and why does it matter for financial inclusion?

Open finance enables financial service providers to share and use customer data (with consent) to improve products like credit, insurance, personal finance management, and investments, and to extend them to more people.

It can also:
✔️ Empower customers
✔️ Increase competition
✔️ Drive innovation

But as more countries adopt open finance and more data is exchanged, risks can grow. Strong public policy and safeguards are essential to ensure open finance advances responsible financial inclusion — especially for those traditionally excluded and underserved.

Watch our new video to learn more.

How can financial ecosystem stakeholders tackle fraud while preserving innovation?CGAP's new paper offers curated soluti...
05/21/2026

How can financial ecosystem stakeholders tackle fraud while preserving innovation?

CGAP's new paper offers curated solutions & practical considerations to seize opportunities & address trade-offs.

Read the full paper: https://cgap.pub/4tGgKwU

CGAP is launching a Financial Literacy Solutions Sprint with the support of the U.S. G20 Presidency! The goal: Scale sol...
05/20/2026

CGAP is launching a Financial Literacy Solutions Sprint with the support of the U.S. G20 Presidency! The goal: Scale solutions to help millions.

Financial literacy affects everything from a person’s ability to make informed financial decisions to their contributions to sustained economic growth – two key priorities under the U.S. G20 Presidency. However, too many people are still left behind.

Innovators are using technology to change this: From tools that help individuals manage day-to-day financial decisions to platforms supporting small businesses in building financial resilience. The ideas are there; the challenge is scaling them.

To meet this need, our Financial Literacy Solutions Sprint will connect the most promising solutions with the partnerships and pathways needed to reach millions of people. If you are building a technology-enabled financial literacy solution — and you are ready to scale — this could be for you.

Applications close 15 June 2026 (11:59PM EST). For more information on eligibility criteria and to apply: https://cgap.pub/4dy8067

Weak competition remains a key barrier to deeper financial inclusion. While digital innovation has intensified competiti...
05/19/2026

Weak competition remains a key barrier to deeper financial inclusion. While digital innovation has intensified competition concerns in financial markets, many authorities remain unsure about how to act, either because they lack a formal competition mandate or because competition issues slip through institutional gaps.

CGAP's Focus Note argues for financial sector authorities to act on competition concerns using their existing mandates and regulatory toolkit--by applying a competition lens, authorities can promote competition in ways that advance financial inclusion while safeguarding stability, integrity, and consumer protection.

Drawing on country experiences from , , , , , , , and the , the Focus Note identifies six practical policy considerations for authorities seeking to advance competition for financial inclusion.

Read the full paper here: https://cgap.pub/42DW5Ph

As e-money scaled rapidly in the 2010s, a critical question emerged: How do you protect customers' funds if a provider o...
05/18/2026

As e-money scaled rapidly in the 2010s, a critical question emerged: How do you protect customers' funds if a provider or bank holding the float fails?

For over a decade, CGAP has worked to bring clarity and coherence to this challenge. We developed a framework to answer this—and in 2026, the International Association of Deposit Insurers (IADI) explicitly acknowledged and adapted it, issuing official guidance on e-money protection for the first time.

Read our latest influence story on how CGAP helped shape global standards for customer fund protection 👇

Building climate resilience for rural women isn't just the right thing to do — it's also good for business. 👩🏽‍🌾🌱CGAP an...
05/13/2026

Building climate resilience for rural women isn't just the right thing to do — it's also good for business. 👩🏽‍🌾🌱

CGAP and 's initiative has identified 7️⃣ business drivers that simultaneously support rural women and strengthen commercial performance. From women's groups and digital tools to male allyship and access to productive assets, these drivers offer a practical roadmap for businesses and funders working in agricultural markets.

The best part? Businesses can pick and tailor the combination that works best for their context — there's no one-size-fits-all approach.

Read more in the poster below, and the report: https://cgap.pub/4opalDZ

Despite rapid advances in capabilities, the underlying foundations have not kept pace.CGAP found that AI adoption is...
05/12/2026

Despite rapid advances in capabilities, the underlying foundations have not kept pace.

CGAP found that AI adoption is fundamentally constrained by the strength, inclusiveness, and usability of underlying data – not as much by the sophistication of algorithms.

Institutions that invest in building richer, more representative, and better-governed data ecosystems will not only unlock AI’s potential but will also define what responsible and inclusive AI looks like in practice.

Learn more: https://cgap.pub/4tuWBKm

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