Project Implementation

This tool is designed to help DSG implementers ask technology providers the right questions about their data security policies and protocols, with the goal of protecting the data privacy rights of DSG members.   Digital solution providers (e.g., fintech companies) are de facto custodians of group and member data, which can be prone to hacking, manipulation […]

This special report, by AFI’s Digital Financial Services Working Group, examines the role of digital financial services (DFS) in enhancing and sustaining the access, use, and overall quality of financial services for women. The report includes a comprehensive analysis of the current body of knowledge and case studies of countries that have accelerated DFS policy […]

This checklist is designed to help implementing organizations gauge their own preparedness to digitize savings groups and to do so in a gender-responsive manner. The checklist will help implementers understand what they need to do to take on the technology, identify required training and support and address gender considerations in digitization projects. These include strategies […]

This tool includes sample job descriptions (JDs) for key digitization project staff with a focus on knowledge, skills and abilities related to mobile and digital technology as well as gender integration. The tool includes both “Roles and Responsibilities” and “Qualifications,” which can be added to existing JDs to ensure they have adequate skills to support […]

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 […]

The DSG Toolkit, also available in Kinyarwanda, consists of seven practical tools to support safe, effective, and gender-responsive digitization of savings groups. These tools include practical guidance for implementers and trainers across multiple aspects of digitization, such as: Each tool can be used by implementers just beginning to think about their first DSG project and […]

In this short interview, Tamrat Abera explains how Mercy Corps is piloting an app from Jamii.one to digitize the record-keeping in savings groups in Ethiopia. He explains the pilot objectives, the current status of the pilot, key challenges and lessons, and plans for the next 12 months. This is the first in a short series […]

This blog series looks at the most common mistakes that microfinance institutions (MFIs) make when digitizing so that other MFIs can avoid them. The articles examine the common pitfalls of not getting the business case right, not listening to the customer, getting bogged down in technology, underestimating change management, and overlooking the regulatory environment.   […]

This guide summarizes key components and concepts in digital financial capability (DFC) and explores key principles in the design of DFC programs. By leveraging the five principles (Who, What, When, Where, and How) and their associated design elements, financial services providers, policy makers, and other stakeholders can help women customers take the journey toward confident […]

This document is one of three research briefs that highlight key insights from a study of digital savings groups (DSGs) conducted in rural Tanzania from August 2019 through February 2020. The research was conducted by the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) working with savings groups supported by PCI and their Women Empowered (WE) […]