Publications

Mar 22, 2019

Do agent networks help to boost savings? – Effects on institutional deposit mobilization and customer saving behavior

This report examines if agent networks do help to mobilize savings - one of the primary objectives of microfinance institutions that introduce agent banking channels. Mechanisms of effects are presented across multiple dimensions. Results suggest that agents help to boost savings but they cannot be expected to do so in every context. Culture, products, incentives, pricing and customer behavior are factors that have to be taken into account. Key recommendations are discussed how DFS providers can nevertheless realize agent networks’ potential for savings mobilization.

English | 28 pages | 2019 IFC

Mar 21, 2019

Bank Andara Case Study

Bank Andara is the first wholesale commercial bank focused exclusively on providing a wide range of wholesale banking services to microfinance institutions in Indonesia. Through this, effort, Bank Andara aims to deepen and expand financial services to low-income market segments through sustainable operations.

English | 2 pages | 2019 IFC

Mar 19, 2019

Credit to Merchants: Tienda Pago's Digital Solution for Fast-Moving Consumer Goods

This case study aims to extrapolate some preliminary lessons from Tienda Pago’s model, including its challenges and potential for scale. The study is informed by distributor and customer interviews and qualitative research, which sought to map characteristics of merchant clients and analyze both drivers and barriers to product usage and uptake.

English | 26 pages | 2019 IFC

Mar 8, 2019

Report: Moving Toward Gender Balance in Private Equity and Venture Capital

The study explores the link between financial returns and gender diversity; the lack of women in the industry; and steps needed to achieve gender balance. One of the key findings of the report is that private equity and venture capital funds with gender-balanced senior investment teams generated 10 percent to 20 percent higher returns compared with funds that have a majority of male or female leaders.

English | 2019 IFC

Feb 18, 2019

Digitizing Merchant Payments in Bangladesh

Bangladesh’s largest mobile financial services provider,bKash, added mobile merchant payments to its service offerings in 2014. Three years later, more than 50,000 establishments throughout the country were registered with bKash’s platform. While the Bangladeshi economy is still predominantly cashbased, bKash is helping to revamp the way that transactions are made.

English | 28pages | 2019 IFC

Feb 11, 2019

Report: Taking Women Entrepreneurs to the Bank in Romania

This report shows the impact of Garanti Bank Romania’s Women SME Banking Program. With support from IFC Banking on Women, the bank has loaned over €145 million to women-owned enterprises, with surveyed recipients experiencing an average real sales growth of over 5 percent per year, higher than the national average for firms in Romania.

English | 56 pages | 2019 IFC

Jan 18, 2019

The Unseen Sector: A Report on the MSME Opportunity in South Africa

Building small businesses that contribute to the economy and create jobs is one of South Africa’s biggest development opportunities. Small enterprises employ between 50 and 60 percent of South Africa’s work force and contribute around 34 percent of GDP. However, the small business sector has been relatively stagnant over the last decade, and only 14% of the country’s small businesses are formalized, capping their job creation and economic contribution potential. “The Unseen Sector” is a joint report between the World Bank and International Finance Corporation providing an in-depth assessment of the micro, small and medium enterprise landscape in South Africa and opportunities to support the sector’s growth. The report measures the small business sector size and illustrates key barriers small businesses face in terms of access to finance, access to skills and access to markets in South Africa.

English | 124 pages | 2019 IFC

Dec 21, 2018

Field Note #11 Granting Access: Leveraging Social Payments to Expand Digital Financial Inclusion in Cote d’Ivoire

Granting Access: Leveraging Social Payments to Expand Digital Financial Inclusion in Cote d’Ivoire captures the experience of piloting digital social grant payments in Cote d’Ivoire and concludes that merely paying social benefits into a digital account is not sufficient to lead to lasting financial inclusion, but that coupled with additional activities such as financial literacy campaigns and expanded agent networks it can have a positive impact on expanding adoption of digital financial services the poorest.

English | 13pages | 2018 IFC

Dec 19, 2018

Field Note #10 Women and Digital Financial Services in Sub-Saharan Africa: Understanding the Challenges and Harnessing the Opportunities

Women and Digital Financial Services in Sub-Saharan Africa: Understanding the Challenges and Harnessing the Opportunities also draws on several studies over the past six years and shows that there are pronounced differences in the way men and women engage financial services in Sub-Saharan Africa. The researchers recommend that providers offer simplified services for basic phones, emphasize marketing through social networks, and mimic the flexibility and social aspects of informal services to better reach women.

English | 14pages | 2018 IFC

Dec 17, 2018

Field Note #9 Banking on the Future: Youth and Digital Financial Services in Sub-Saharan Africa

Youth and Digital Financial Services in Sub-Saharan Africa summarizes insights on youth uptake and usage of DFS from a cross-section of studies over the last six years, and recommends, for example, that providers can better reach out to the youth by offering savings accounts, checking or prepaid accounts, and micro loans.

English | 15pages | 2018 IFC

Dec 7, 2018

Business Case Update: Lower NPLs for Women-Led SMEs

A recent survey conducted with IFC banking clients sheds light on the potential size and financial performance of women-led small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and why financial institutions should pay attention to this segment

English

Dec 6, 2018

MSME Finance Gap Report

MSME Finance Gap Report. Assessment of the shortfalls and opportunities in financing micro, small and medium enterprises in emerging markets.

Nov 19, 2018

Field Note #8 Changing Management: adapting internal and external culture in times of digital transformation

The changes involved when a financial institution ‘goes digital’ touches all levels of the business and may even challenge the established business model or institutional identity. The successful implementation of a digital channel thus requires a sound change management plan. In fact, many digital projects that failed or struggled have done so because they did not address the change factors related to digitizing different areas of the organization. This Field Note focuses on the ‘soft’ or interpersonal aspects of digital transformation in the financial sector.

English | 20pages | 2018 IFC

Oct 15, 2018

Raising $23 Trillion: Greening Banks & Capital Markets for Growth

In December 2015, at the Conference of the Parties 21 (“COP 21”) in Paris, France, 196 countries came together to forge a climate change agreement that pledged to keep global warming to 2 degrees Celsius or less. To bring the world to this 2-degree track, the International Energy Agency estimates that the cumulative investments needed in energy supply and efficiency reach $53 trillion. This paper analyzes the role of the banking sector and debt capital markets to provide the financing, given the results of IFC’s analysis—that there $23 trillion in climate-smart investment opportunities exist in emerging markets from 2016–2030.

English | 36 pages | 2018 IFC

Oct 9, 2018

Navigating Essential Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism Requirements in Trade Finance

A Guide for Respondent Banks

Aug 3, 2018

Aligning Expectations: The Business Case for Digital Financial Services

IFC and Mastercard have launched a research report providing insight into the case for Digital Financial Services (DFS) and financial projections from nine microfinance institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa. The four-year study includes a set of best practice financial modeling benchmarks that can be used as a valuable guide for financial institutions implementing DFS.

English | 17pages | 2018 IFC

May 9, 2018

PERSPECTIVES

IFC PERSPECTIVES draws on IFC’s unrivalled geographic reach and insight to explore the most innovative ideas in private sector development.

English

May 9, 2018

DBS BusinessClass Case Study

An Engagement Platform for SME Entrepreneurs. Case Study on Digital Non-Financial Services.

English

May 1, 2018

Digital Access: The Future of Financial Inclusion in Africa

Financial inclusion is one of Africa’s great success stories of the past decade. Just over 43 percent of adults on the continent now have access to formal financial services, compared to 23 percent in 2011. This is primarily due to the introduction of digital financial services and their contribution to the creation of a market for affordable, accessible and sustainable financial services for those who were previously excluded from access to traditional banking services. Over the past six years, IFC and the Mastercard Foundation have worked with 14 financial services providers across the continent to leverage new technology to build and test innovative business models for financial inclusion. We have gained valuable knowledge and experience in the process. This report captures the ongoing transformation of the financial sector in Africa, shares our most important lessons learned, and casts an eye at the future of financial inclusion in the region.

English

Apr 2, 2018

Women, Business and the Law 2018

Women, Business and the Law 2018

English

Mar 1, 2018

Driving Toward Equality: Women, Ride-Hailing, and the Sharing Economy

The report explores how women and men participate in ride-hailing, particularly in emerging markets. Using data from Uber and survey results of more than 11,000 drivers and riders, the report sheds light on how the emergence of ride-hailing is affecting women's work and mobility and how companies across the sharing economy can ensure women's equal participation and gain.

English

Feb 5, 2018

Understanding Key Mobile Money Users

Mobile money platforms are networked systems, and understanding key mobile money users is essential for mobile money providers, policy makers, and promoters of financial inclusion who seek to impact their future development. Are there especially active mobile money users with an outsize effect on the system? If so, who are these key mobile money users, what drives them to use the service extensively, and what is the nature of their influence? This report identifies this key user group and explores how the small group of very active users exerts substantial influence over system as a whole.

English | 34 pages | 2018 IFC

Feb 1, 2018

IFC in the South Pacific Building Digital Finance Infrastructure

The IFC has developed a comprehensive mobile banking program which aims to catalyze transformational impact across the Pacific region by scaling up support to three leading regional banks including BSP and ANZ. Since, IFC has been working with ANZ and BSP to increase access to final services and strengthen financial literacy areas among existing and potential clients, beyond main urban centers in the Solomon Islands. This case study examines the program and its impact.

Jan 1, 2018

Opportunities for Digital Financial Services in the Cocoa Value Chain in Cote d’Ivoire: insights from new data

This study explores what role digital financial services may play in extending financial services to rural populations in Sub-Saharan Africa, specifically looking at small-holder farmers in the large cocoa sector in Cote d’Ivoire. It offers unique insights into the financial behaviors of small-scale farmers and highlights possible opportunities for digital financial services providers to extend financial inclusion.

English | 30pages | 2018 IFC

Dec 20, 2017

Women and Insurance – The Next Frontier

The mission of the World Bank and IFC is to end extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity. The journey out of poverty is never easy, but when personal or natural disasters strike it can be a major setback. That’s why we believe that access to financial services, including insurance, has an essential role to play in achieving this goal of ending poverty.