Financial Inclusion
19 Resources
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Article
Article
Future Forward: Spotlight on the DSG Hub
Global Communities
2022
Future Forward: Spotlight on the DSG Hub
In this interview, Paula Rudnicka, the DSG Hub Program Manager and Sr. Technical Advisor for Gender Integration at Global Communities, shares her insights about financial inclusion, digital transformation, and the role of the Hub in promoting smart and gender-responsive digitization of savings groups.
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Multimedia
Multimedia
Recap And Recordings of Workshop On Digital Savings Groups (DSGs)
U-Learn
2022
Recap And Recordings of Workshop On Digital Savings Groups (DSGs)
This half-day workshop brought together key refugee response actors – including digital and financial service providers, policy makers, donors, implementers and humanitarian actors – to encourage stock-taking of the digital savings groups landscape in the Uganda refugee response, and foster critical reflection. The event was organized in April 2022 by UNCDF, the Uganda Inter-Agency Cash […]
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Tool
DSG Glossary: Key Concepts and Terms
By David Panetta, DSG Hub
Global Communities
2022
DSG Glossary: Key Concepts and Terms
The glossary is a compilation of definitions related to digitization of savings groups, created to help stakeholders working in the DSG sector use the right words and ask the right questions. DSGs lie at the intersection of savings groups, financial inclusion, and technology—each with their own body of knowledge and technical language. The purpose of […]
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Research
Unleashing the Potential of Digital Saving Groups to Build Financial Resilience in Rwanda
By Yi Nancy Liu & Emile Ndayambaje
UNCDF
2022
Unleashing the Potential of Digital Saving Groups to Build Financial Resilience in Rwanda
This case study examines two digital savings group solutions – Mvend and SAVE – promoted within UNCDF’s REFAD program in Rwanda. These solutions were adopted by REFAD partners to expand financial inclusion and improve resilience in refugee camps and host communities in Rwanda. The case study discusses some of the successes, enablers, and impediments on […]
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Research
Digitizing Savings Groups: Rethinking Financial Inclusion for the Poor
By Latif Amars, Sofie Blakstad & Anaïs Ndjavé
hiveonline
2021
Digitizing Savings Groups: Rethinking Financial Inclusion for the Poor
This white paper, from hiveonline, explores the case for digitizing savings groups. The paper examines the challenges of reaching remote, poor populations and provides a brief introduction to the history, scope, and basic elements of the Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) methodology. The paper notes that digitization of savings groups can result in the […]
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Brief
Digital Savings Groups
By Mark Staehle
SEEP Network
2020
Digital Savings Groups
This learning brief examines the design options and essential tradeoffs in solution development based on a survey of 12 digital savings group (DSG) solution providers. The findings are outlined in six sections: 1) Introduction; 2) The benefits of savings groups; 3) User experience; 4) The business of DSGs; 5) Consumer protection, and 6) What will […]
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Tool
Tool
Digital Financial Services
Digitization Benefits
Digitization Planning
Digitization Risks & Barriers
Savings Groups’ Linkages Toolkit
By Hermann Messan et al.
United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF)
2020
Savings Groups’ Linkages Toolkit
This toolkit offers practical guidance to financial service providers (FSP) which are already providing or intend to provide formal financial services, including digital financial services (DFS), to savings groups. Insights and lessons offered in this toolkit are based on the experiences of six FSPs, which are UNCDF’s MicroLead partners in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Malawi, […]
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Article
Article
Overcoming Distance When Digitizing Informal Savings Groups
By Paul Damocha & Anna Ferracuti
UNCDF
2019
Overcoming Distance When Digitizing Informal Savings Groups
This article shares key findings from qualitative research conducted by UNCDF Tanzania and CARE International on the digital financial services (DFS) that are most appropriate for informal savings groups. The authors outline two key findings. First, while mobile money is appropriate for individual accounts, there are difficulties around the validation of group accounts. Also, agent […]
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Article
Digital Savings Groups can Help Women Finally Bridge the Financial Gender Gap
By Sushmita Meka, Sally Ross & Daryl Collins
BFA Global
2018
Digital Savings Groups can Help Women Finally Bridge the Financial Gender Gap
This article discusses the persistent gender gap in access to financial services and digital technologies. The key to closing both gaps may be found in savings groups, according to BFA, the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF), Financial Sector Deepening Trust Tanzania (FSDT), and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Most savings groups are cash-based. But if […]