Mayada El-Zoghbi

Press Release

<strong>Washington, DC, September 9, 2019</strong>—Global nonprofit Accion announced today that <a href="/bio/mayada-el-zoghbi">Mayada El-Zoghbi</a> has joined as new Managing Director of the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion (CFI), an action-oriented think tank that develops insights, advocates on behalf of clients, and collaborates with stakeholders to achieve a comprehensive vision for financial inclusion.

“Throughout her career, Mayada has been at the forefront of the inclusive finance community,” CFI Advisory Council chair Paul Tregidgo said. “This alignment with the focus of the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion, and her recent work on emerging topics in financial inclusion – like the relationship between financial services and well-being, and ways to extend financial services to the most excluded like women, youth and the forcibly displaced – uniquely position her to lead the Center into the future.”

“For more than a decade, CFI has played an important role, challenging and engaging the financial services industry to better serve, protect, and empower people around the world. I am pleased that Mayada El-Zoghbi has accepted to join as the new managing director. Her extensive experience in research and advocacy position her as the right leader to build on CFI’s strong foundation of innovative, industry-shaping work,” said Accion CEO and President Michael Schlein.

Mayada has been a leader in financial inclusion for some time. She comes to CFI from CGAP, a World Bank-based think tank, where she served as Lead for Strategy, Research &amp; Development, and previously managed CGAP’s work with the donor and investor community. From 2002 to 2009, Mayada founded and then managed a development consulting firm. She has also led numerous technical assistance, evaluation, and research assignments; served as a research director for a USAID initiative; and lectured at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). She started her career working with several nonprofit organizations establishing inclusive financial institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, and the Palestinian Territories.

Mayada holds a master’s degree in international affairs from SIPA at Columbia University and a bachelor's degree in business from the University of Minnesota. A dual national of Egypt and the United States, she is fluent in English and Arabic.

In its first decade, the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion established itself as a powerful advocate for the protection and empowerment of underserved clients. It established the world’s first global consumer protection campaign - the Smart Campaign - which has set standards for inclusive financial services that have now been adopted by 100 institutions serving over 40 million people around the world. Its other initiatives include executive leadership training opportunities like the Africa Board Fellowship Program and Harvard Business School-Accion Program on Strategic Leadership in Inclusive Finance; the Financial Inclusion Equity Council, a membership organization for equity investors in microfinance institutions; and extensive research on emerging issues related to financial inclusion.

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<strong>About the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion</strong>

The Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion (CFI) is an action-oriented think tank that engages and challenges the industry to better serve, protect, and empower clients. We develop insights, advocate on behalf of clients, and collaborate with stakeholders to achieve a comprehensive vision for financial inclusion. We are dedicated to enabling 3 billion people who are left out of – or poorly served by – the financial sector to improve their lives.
<a href="http://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/">www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org</a>
<a href="https://twitter.com/CFI_Accion">@CFI_Accion</a>

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<strong>Media Contact</strong>

Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion
<a href="/bio/virginia-moore">Virginia Moore</a>
<a href="mailto:vmoore@accion.org">vmoore@accion.org</a>
+1 202.393.5113

Mayada El-Zoghbi Is the New Managing Director of the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion

With support from the Citi Foundation and FMO, CFI launches board effectiveness program for leaders at the nexus of social enterprise and financial services. 

<strong>WASHINGTON, DC, August 27, 2019</strong> – The Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion (CFI) has launched an executive education program for financial service providers serving low-income communities in emerging markets. Through peer learning and exchange, the <a href="/about/what-we-do/board-leadership-for-impact-program">Board Leadership for Impact Program</a> will empower executives and board members to foster client centricity, lead digital transformation, sustain business growth and drive social impact. In partnership with the <a href="https://www.citigroup.com/citi/foundation/">Citi Foundation</a> and <a href="https://www.fmo.nl/">FMO</a>, the Dutch development bank, supporting program implementation and participant scholarships, the Board Leadership for Impact Program will offer multiple in-person workshops per year coupled with a robust virtual portal.

Derived from CFI’s five-year <a href="https://content.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/about/what-we-do/africa-board-fellowship-program/">Africa Board Fellowship Program</a>, which fostered the growth and development of more than 300 executives and board members of financial service providers serving more than 10 million clients in Africa, the Board Leadership for Impact Program will now expand to include early stage to mature companies offering financial services to underserved customers that operate in emerging markets around the world.

“Our experience with leadership development through peer exchange will inform our efforts through this new program to cultivate a community of leaders who have the skills and the network to help their organizations thrive,“ said <a href="/bio/deborah-drake">Deborah Drake</a>, Vice President, Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion. “Tackling challenges like achieving sustainable growth or pursuing digital transformation, particularly as a mission-driven organization, takes strategic leadership at the board level.”

Through role play, simulations and facilitated discussion, participants will gain new perspectives, skills, and knowledge on topics critical to social enterprise growth and impact, including risk management, board dynamics, digital transformation and inclusive digital finance. They will join an active community of alumni of the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion’s <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/get-involved#fellow-exec-ed">executive education programs</a>.

“By developing and strengthening leadership skills that drive business growth and social impact, our partnership with the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion will help accelerate financial inclusion and economic progress around the world,” said Florencia Spangaro, Director of Programs, Citi Foundation.

“FMO is a proud partner of Accion for over a decade and we realize that creating a lasting impact starts in the board room. Strengthening the management of financial service providers and enterprises will help ensure business longevity and commitment to underserved customers,” said Gerbrich Salverda, Capacity Development Officer at FMO.
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<strong>About the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion</strong>

The Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion (CFI) is an action-oriented think tank that engages and challenges the industry to better serve, protect, and empower clients. We develop insights, advocate on behalf of clients, and collaborate with stakeholders to achieve a comprehensive vision for financial inclusion. We are dedicated to enabling 3 billion people who are left out of – or poorly served by – the financial sector to improve their lives.
<a href="http://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/">www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org</a>
<a href="https://twitter.com/CFI_Accion">@CFI_Accion</a>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>###</strong></p>
MEDIA CONTACT

Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion
<a href="/bio/virginia-moore">Virginia Moore</a>
<a href="mailto:vmoore@accion.org">vmoore@accion.org</a>
+1 202.393.5113

The Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion Launches Executive Education Program for Financial Service Providers to Enable Business Growth and Social Impact

Citi Foundation provides $1.2 million to CFI to strengthen leadership development and capacity building globally.

<strong>WASHINGTON, DC, February, 12, 2019</strong> – The Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion (CFI) and the <a href="https://www.citigroup.com/citi/foundation/">Citi Foundation</a> announced a new partnership to strengthen financial institutions specializing in reaching underserved communities in emerging markets. The Citi Foundation is providing $1.2 million in funding to support the three-year initiative.

“Our partnership with the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion will help develop and strengthen the next generation of financial inclusion leaders who in turn will accelerate financial inclusion and economic progress for families and communities across the world,” said Florencia Spangaro, Director of Programs, Citi Foundation.

Through peer-to-peer learning and executive education programs, CFI builds organizational and human capacity around the globe to deepen and sustain financial inclusion. Its programs include the <a href="/about/what-we-do/hbs-accion-program-on-strategic-leadership-in-inclusive-finance/">Harvard Business School (HBS)-Accion Program in Strategic Leadership in Inclusive Finance</a> (SLIF), an intensive week-long course providing management and leadership training to those shaping the microfinance industry; and the <a href="/about/what-we-do/africa-board-fellowship-program/">Africa Board Fellowship Program</a> (ABF), a governance focused six-month peer learning and exchange program for board members and executives of African financial institutions serving low-income clients. Citi Foundation funding will support both programs, supporting scholarships for HBS-Accion SLIF participants who demonstrate financial need and supporting the optimization and expansion of ABF.

“We are grateful to the Citi Foundation for recognizing the importance of investing in leaders who are working on-the-ground toward financial inclusion,” said <a href="/bio/deborah-drake">Deborah Drake</a>, Vice President, CFI, and head of the governance portfolio. “ABF and HBS-Accion SLIF alumni gain useful skills and knowledge, particularly around governance issues, as well as new relationships and strong networks that they can use immediately and draw on over time.”
<p style="text-align: left">Additionally, the Citi Foundation’s support will contribute to the launch of a new global executive education program to help C-suite leaders and board members of financial institutions effectively and sustainably serve underserved communities. Arriving in fall 2019, with seminars in Asia and Africa, this new program will focus on governance, risk management, growth, client centricity and other mission-critical issues.</p>

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<strong>About the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion</strong>
The Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion (CFI) is an action-oriented think tank that engages and challenges the industry to better serve, protect, and empower clients. We develop insights, advocate on behalf of clients, and collaborate with stakeholders to achieve a comprehensive vision for financial inclusion. We are dedicated to enabling 3 billion people who are left out of – or poorly served by – the financial sector to improve their lives.
<a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org">www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org</a>
<a href="https://twitter.com/CFI_Accion">@CFI_Accion</a>

<strong>About the Citi Foundation </strong>
The Citi Foundation works to promote economic progress and improve the lives of people in low-income communities around the world. We invest in efforts that increase financial inclusion, catalyze job opportunities for youth, and reimagine approaches to building economically vibrant cities. The Citi Foundation's "More than Philanthropy" approach leverages the enormous expertise of Citi and its people to fulfill our mission and drive thought leadership and innovation. For more information, visit <a href="https://www.citigroup.com/citi/foundation/">www.citifoundation.com</a>.

<p style="text-align: center"><strong>### </strong>

MEDIA CONTACT

Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion
<a href="/bio/virginia-moore">Virginia Moore</a>
vmoore@accion.org
+1 202.393.5113

The Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion and the Citi Foundation Announce Partnership to Strengthen and Expand Executive Leadership in the Financial Inclusion Sector

New technology is delivering considerable benefits to the financial inclusion market – but is also creating new risks that service providers need to manage if they are to succeed. This is the main conclusion of a new survey of the risks (or Banana Skins) in the provision of financial services to people in emerging markets who have little or no access to these services.

Technology Risk Is High in Financial Inclusion Market

<strong>Washington, D.C. (June 25, 2018)</strong> — The Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion (CFI) and the Institute of International Finance (IIF), with support of MetLife Foundation, released a report that examines how new types of data and new data tools present an unprecedented opportunity for financial service providers to understand and serve clients—particularly credit-seeking "thin-file" clients who are otherwise excluded from the formal financial sector

New Report: Banks Increasingly Embrace Data to Reach Underserved Customers

Press Releases

Jacqueline Foelster

Tanwi Kumari

Providers should put clients' voices front and center. A novel survey collection technique may make that easier, especially during these challenging times. 

Blog Post

The Cambodian microfinance sector has undergone significant changes in recent years. Many of these changes were implemented in the spirit of improving outcomes for borrowers. For instance, in March 2017, the National Bank of Cambodia imposed an <a href="https://www.nbc.org.kh/download_files/legislation/prakas_eng/Prakas-on-Interest-Rate-Cap-Eng.pdf">18 percent interest rate cap</a> on loans provided by microfinance institutions, citing the need to curb high levels of over-indebtedness. However, investors and financial service providers (FSPs) responded by highlighting the <a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/20494/WPS7070.pdf?sequence=1&amp;isAllowed=y">inefficiencies</a> of such a cap as a policy tool as it would render operations virtually <a href="https://www.syminvest.com/news/interest-rate-cap-rattles-cambodias-microfinance-industry/2017/3/24/6527">unsustainable</a> in rural areas.

Largely missing in this dialogue about client protection is the client perspective. This is where FSPs can play a critical role. In doing so, FSPs can demonstrate a clear commitment to the adequate standards of care enshrined in CFI's <a href="http://www.smartcampaign.org/about/smart-microfinance-and-the-client-protection-principles">Client Protection Principles</a>, even during these challenging times.
<blockquote>CFI launched the Client Voices survey project in Cambodia to explore the suitability of IVR.</blockquote>
With this in mind -- and with support from the <a href="https://mastercardfdn.org/">Mastercard Foundation</a> and in partnership with the <a href="https://www.cma-network.org/">Cambodia Microfinance Association</a> -- CFI launched the Client Voices survey project in Cambodia to explore the suitability of interactive voice response (IVR) as a cost-effective and scalable solution to more readily understand risks faced by clients (see also the <a href="https://centerforfinancialinclusion.org/client-voices-rwandans-speak-on-digital-financial-services/">Rwanda Client Voices</a> report, the most recent in the series).
<h2>What Is IVR?</h2>
IVR is a technology that relies on an automated system to transmit pre-recorded information to callers, who in turn provide their input via the touchscreen or keypad of their mobile phone. For this project, we used Verboice – an open-source IVR platform built by <a href="https://instedd.org/ilabs/">InSTEDD</a> – to deploy a 15-question survey to clients of AMK, HKL, and MAXIMA, three Cambodia-based FSPs.

To understand how IVR works in the context of the Client Voice survey, consider the following vignette:
<h6 style="text-align: left;"><em>After a hard day’s work, Leakhena, a client, settles into her chair and picks up her phone to dial the number featured on the brochure she received from her loan officer earlier in the week. On the other end of the line, a recorded voice -- named Srey Pov -- informs her about the purpose of the survey and prompts Leakhena to disclose her gender. Leakhena presses “1” on her keypad to indicate that she is a woman. She listens and responds to the next 14 questions – such as whether, over the past 12 months, she has had to cut her expenses on necessities such as food and school fees to repay her loan – before Srey Pov bids her farewell. In the span of five to seven minutes, and from the comfort of her home, Leakhena could share feedback on her borrowing experience with the FSP.</em></h6>
This ongoing project is poised to reveal client experiences in Cambodia, and, in the process, has also offered critical insights into how providers can best integrate IVR into their client feedback mechanism.
<h2>Insight #1: Don’t Let Jargon Stand Between You and Your Clients</h2>
To drive client engagement, it is useful to keep in mind a basic principle of behavioral design: use simple and clear language.

By applying this fundamental to the design of an IVR survey, we can deduce that clients are more likely to respond to a voice that sounds like them. We employ the term “voice” broadly to encompass the various components that may catch the ear of survey respondents. These elements include intonation and speech tempo, and, as we discovered early in the project, semantics.

Our partners took the lead in formulating the questionnaire and hiring local voice talent to record it. Preliminary rounds of cognitive testing revealed that the original version of the questionnaire used jargon for certain words such as “loan officer,” “receipt,” and “complaint” that clearly fell on deaf ears. While these words were assumed to be commonplace in Khmer (the national language of Cambodia), clients would either ask for clarification or skipped the question altogether.
<blockquote>Words such as “loan officer,” “receipt,” and “complaint” fell on deaf ears.</blockquote>
Recognizing that the success of IVR surveys depends on providers adopting the voice that clients use themselves, we replaced the technical survey jargon with vernacular terms before recording a second batch of audio files.
<h2>Insight #2: Consider Ways to Defray the Cost Clients Must Bear to Participate</h2>
Providing feedback can have considerable cost implications for clients. The average monthly income of farmer households in Cambodia – who constitute a sizeable share of microfinance clients in the country – is approximately $110 USD. While prepaid airtime credit can be purchased for the equivalent of $0.50, clients might view their phone balance – however big or small – as an opportunity cost, especially considering that most of them are stretching their income to cover other essential expenses, such as food, electricity, and school fees.

Understanding that a client’s phone balance can have some bearing on their ability and willingness to participate in a phone-based survey, we programmed the platform to assure clients that would not incur any charges for airtime used while completing the survey. To further incentivize participation, we entered all respondents into a lottery draw for a chance to win airtime credit. Despite these efforts, we quickly observed that waiving airtime charges was not sufficient to guarantee the participation of all clients.

An initial examination of our survey results showed that the volume of in-network calls, i.e. calls between clients subscribed to the same mobile network operator (MNO) as the one through which we secured the dedicated survey phone lines, outnumbered the volume of out-of-network calls. Although there are many reasons an uneven split between in- and out-of-network callers could occur, we suspected that the most likely explanation is that the latter group can initiate a call to an out-of-network number only if a minimum balance is held on their device.

We since have been coordinating with our partner MNO to convert the survey telephone lines into toll-free numbers. Whenever possible, FSPs should look for creative ways to minimize the cost that clients have to bear to share their feedback, even if that cost is as seemingly small as a minimum balance.
<h2>Insight #3: Be Prepared to Navigate a Complex Mobile Landscape</h2>
A country’s mobile landscape, as well as the diversity in phone specifications, can bring <a href="https://www.healthynewbornnetwork.org/hnn-content/uploads/JMTM_OperationalChallengesInMHealth_Cambodia.pdf">operational hurdles</a> when deploying an IVR survey. For example, <a href="https://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/kingdoms-sim-cards-hit-193m">SIM card registrations</a> significantly outnumber the country’s population, which makes contacting customers all the more challenging. Also, the majority of phones do not support Khmer script, which can disproportionately affect the user experience of those clients with lower levels of literacy.

In advance of launching Client Voice, the FSP field staff – comprised of loan officers and branch managers – met with and distributed flyers to clients to promote awareness of the survey. During this period, they also had clients confirm whether they had access to a mobile device and, if they owned one, to provide the phone number they most frequently use.

Additional data collected by one FSP further illustrates the complexity of mobile ownership and access. Thirty-nine percent of their clients own a smart phone and 61 percent own an analog device. The same FSP also noted that 73 percent of their clients own a personal phone, 25 percent share a phone within their household, and the remaining 2 percent do not own a phone but have access to one.
<blockquote>Knowing the level of digital literacy and mobile access of clients helped field staff tailor survey-related messaging.</blockquote>
By knowing the level of digital literacy and mobile access of their clients, the field staff were able to better tailor their messaging about the survey. For example, for those clients who were less digitally literate, field staff explained each step with the support of a flyer and gave a live demonstration on how to dial into the survey line. While this degree of hand holding is not always required, it is certainly helpful to ensure the participation of clients who might be otherwise excluded.
<h2>An Ideal Method During These Challenging Times</h2>
CFI has been thinking a lot about <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/how-should-fsps-respond-to-the-covid-19-pandemic">how providers can respond to the COVID-19 pandemic</a>. At the time of writing, the Cambodian government was considering declaring a <a href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/emergency-03252020181626.html">state of emergency</a> due to the coronavirus. We believe this makes IVR technology even more appealing given social distancing constraints. By using IVR, providers can successfully collect data in real time, at greater scale and lower cost, even in the midst of a global pandemic or other negative externalities that makes traditional survey work difficult.

As for this survey, we look forward to sharing our findings, so we can offer a more complete view of the Cambodian microfinance landscape – one that features client voices – in the coming weeks.

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Amplifying Client Voices Using Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Technology: Insights from Cambodia

Good practice calls for FSPs to have business continuity plans for emergencies. But this time it's different. What’s your organization’s pandemic continuity plan?

Over the years, there have been many efforts across a wide set of stakeholders in the inclusive finance field to support FSPs to prioritize disaster preparedness and response, including The SEEP Network’s <a href="https://seepnetwork.org/Initiatives-Post/disaster-risk-reduction">Disaster Risk Reduction training</a>, UNCDF’s <a href="https://www.preventionweb.net/publications/view/2064">publication on surviving disasters</a>, and World Vision’s <a href="http://visionfundmedia.org/DisasterResilience/Disaster-Resilience-full-report.pdf">guidance</a>.

But the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to require much more than any well laid out business continuity plan. Its systemic nature means that tools that extend beyond any individual FSP are needed for recovery.
<blockquote>The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to require much more than business continuity plans.</blockquote>
This post focuses on the role of FSPs as a key stakeholder in the response process, with the caveat that it will take action from others – governments, donors, investors, and the nonprofit sector – to deal with the ricochet of impacts that the pandemic is creating.
<h2>Start with Ensuring Safety and Security of FSP Staff</h2>
Safety videos on airlines tell us to prioritize our own oxygen masks before helping others. It is the same for the FSP response in the pandemic: FSPs must prioritize the safety and security of their staff. The number of CEO letters and statements that have been made on the topic of staff safety and security – by not only the corporate sector but also the inclusive finance industry – is impressive (here’s an example from <a href="https://www.equitybank.com/health">Equity Bank</a>). In China, microfinance institutions like Grassland have <a href="https://www.accion.org/five-crucial-insights-from-china-for-facing-the-pandemic">prioritized staff health</a> by providing information on how to protect themselves, enabling home-based work, and giving them tools for how to stay connected to their clients digitally. This McKinsey report offers suggestions for <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/financial-services/our-insights/leadership-in-the-time-of-coronavirus-covid-19-response-and-implications-for-banks">augmenting day-to-day business to add layers of safety</a>, and this Accion Venture Lab <a href="https://www.accion.org/coronavirus-response-recommendations-for-the-accion-venture-lab-portfolio">open letter to portfolio companies</a> offers some quick actions to take to improve safety for staff. What is unclear is how smaller institutions in other countries -- MFIs, cooperatives, postal networks or other providers -- are doing to protect their staff.
<h2>Advocate for Direct Assistance to Communities Served</h2>
<p style="text-align: left;">In my <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/pandemics-and-natural-disasters-what-can-we-learn-from-past-disasters-to-help-with-todays-pandemic">earlier post</a>, I noted that the impacts on households and firms will be extensive and that the systemic nature of the pandemic means that these impacts are long term. This means that there is no reasonable response to the pandemic that does not involved direct support to individuals. Not only have there been well-documented direct assistance measures taken in the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/03/25/trump-senate-coronavirus-economic-stimulus-2-trillion/">U.S.</a> and <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2020/03/canadas-covid-19-economic-response-plan-support-for-canadians-and-businesses.html#Income_Support_for">Canada</a>, but also in developing economies, in the form of <a href="https://www.wfpusa.org/news-release/wfp-expands-food-assistance-in-egypt-to-include-refugees-from-multiple-countries/">food assistance in Egypt</a>, and <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/india-unveils-23bn-package-poor-hit-covid-19-lockdown-200326140110407.html">cash assistance and food transfers</a> to the vulnerable in India.</p>
Financial institutions should encourage governments and humanitarian organization to provide this type of direct assistance. This is good for their customers and good for overall economic recovery. In fact, in other crisis situations FSPs that have assisted in direct humanitarian response have seen tangible benefits (see this <a href="https://gfdrr.org/sites/gfdrr/files/publication/Microfinance and Disasters-Preparing for the Worst.pdf">WBG case study</a> and this <a href="http://visionfundmedia.org/DisasterResilience/Disaster-Resilience-full-report.pdf">VisionFund report</a>) in the forms of increased trust, loyalty and improved reputation. In disaster situations, FSPs have served to quickly identify communities and clients who are in need of relief assistance and assisted with distribution.
<blockquote>Financial institutions should encourage governments and humanitarian organization to provide direct assistance.</blockquote>
However, when FSPs have distributed grants directly, this can lead to some confusion among clients about their debt obligations, and few FSPs are able to manage grant and loan initiatives simultaneously. Typically, some separation between these activities has proven to be more effective.

In the case of the pandemic, when help is coming in the form of cash assistance, infection testing, or health care, there may be more limited roles for FSPs to play, other than facilitating direct cash transfers from governments or humanitarian organizations. As in the case of the Ebola pandemic, the <a href="https://btca-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/294/english_attachments/BTC-Ebola-Case-Study-ExecutiveSummary.pdf?1514360781">role of digital delivery channels</a> may be more relevant for cash transfers for markets where digital infrastructure is already available. Both <a href="https://www.findevgateway.org/paper/2017/05/landscape-report-mobile-money-humanitarian-cash-transfers-and-displaced-populations">GSMA</a> and the <a href="https://www.calpnetwork.org/">Cash Learning Partnership</a> (CaLP) have learned important lessons that can be brought into designing the right responses for this pandemic.
<h2>Restore (or Keep Up) Services Essential to Customers’ Coping Strategies and Rebuilding Efforts</h2>
Provided FSPs are able to remain open during the pandemic as providers of essential services, it is important that FSPs do not retrench their activities at this critical time. Deposit institutions are of critical importance during pandemics. People will need immediate access to their savings and FSPs must ensure that this critical lifeline is not disrupted. We are seeing some institutions taking incredible measures to keep operations open and safe for their customers. For example, the <a href="https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2020/03/296438/covid-19-moroccos-banks-group-order-limit-on-client-numbers/">banking association of Morocco</a> issued new guidelines on the number of customers that can be in a branch at any one time and encourages customers to use digital channels, including ATMs.

Money transfer services are also of critical importance during this time. Time and time again, remittances have been the critical lifeline. While the global nature of this pandemic means that impacts are likely affecting both senders and receivers of money, impacts are nonetheless staggered across regions in a country and between countries. A recent webinar co-hosted by Cenfri and the Digital Frontiers Institute estimates that <a href="https://cenfri.org/articles/covid-19-and-remittances-to-africa-what-can-we-do/">remittance flows between Europe and Africa may decline between 5 to 25 percent</a> as a result of the pandemic. Keeping this important channel open will be an essential element of the coping strategies for people who are impacted. This means ensuring that agents have the right protective measures to stay healthy themselves and have sufficient liquidity to meet daily needs. It will be interesting to see what providers are doing to maintain their agent networks strong.
<blockquote>Remittance flows between Europe and Africa may decline between 5 to 25 percent.</blockquote>
One of the most sensitive financial products in crisis situations is credit services. Existing credit customers may not be able to repay on time given the pressures on their health, income sources, and overall economic contraction. How should FSP’s address this issue? Good practice from other crisis environments has been consistent and is likely to be applicable during this pandemic. These include:
<h3>1. Focus on understanding the impacts on different types of customers.</h3>
For example, farmers and market vendors may be impacted differently. Food businesses may be able to operate if they are able to deliver or can remain opened; whereas hair salons are likely to be severely impacted.
<h3>2. Tailor the response to the needs of the customers.</h3>
Determine which customers are likely able to recover quickly once economic activity resumes and which ones cannot and take the appropriate measures.
<ul>
 	<li><strong><em>Consider rescheduling for viable businesses.</em> </strong>For customers that have the ability to restart their businesses quickly, offer to reschedule their loans.</li>
 	<li><strong><em>Consider new loans for critically important or high-growth businesses.</em></strong> Certain small businesses may be vital and have the capacity to grow during the pandemic. Delivery services, groceries, health care businesses, and those that are selling on e-commerce platforms may be able to grow during this period with increased capital injections. FSPs should consider altering their policies to increase the available resources for these businesses.</li>
 	<li><strong><em>Consider forgiveness for nonviable businesses.</em> </strong>If customers are engaged in small businesses that are not viable, consider working with humanitarian assistance organizations to offer grants. Consider forgiveness of these loans without impacting the client’s credit history for future borrowing from the FSP.</li>
</ul>
<h3>3. Be careful with blanket responses for all customers.</h3>
Issuing blanket responses – on restructuring or forgiveness for all customers, for example – is typically not best practice. While it may seem to be the most humane response, it may also lead to the wrong consequences down the line. Humanity can be shown in other ways, including facilitating humanitarian assistance, canceling late fees, or not reporting late payments to credit bureaus given the extraordinary nature of this crisis.
<h2>Invest in Resiliency</h2>
The one silver lining of this pandemic is that there is no FSP today that does not see the importance of preparedness plans and business continuity measures. I anticipate that more FSPs will focus on improving their management information systems, their use of remote-work technologies and their cybersecurity measures to ensure that their systems are secure and accessible for extended periods of time off-site. I also anticipate that there will be more efforts by FSPs, their boards, and their investors to put in place liquidity facilities that could step up during future crises to address liquidity shortages. This has been a typical response in prior crises situations, such as the <a href="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/877371468179638089/pdf/99061-BRI-IFC-27827-SMART-LESSONS-Box393181B-PUBLIC-20150507T121143-2015-The-Need-for-Speed.pdf">financial crisis in 2008</a>, but it is not clear how many FSPs will have access to them today.
<h2>Remain Optimistic: We Will Recover Stronger</h2>
I have been incredibly impressed with the many acts of kindness that people are exhibiting everywhere. From <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kenbensinger/amid-desperate-shortage-of-medical-supplies-to-fight">volunteers in New York</a> that are finding and donating medical supplies to hospitals; to <a href="https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/random-acts-of-kindness-going-viral-too/287-1db051a3-6e1f-47a5-982a-b84f386ae0ac">people helping deliver food</a> to the elderly; or to the new wave of ‘<a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/future-development/2020/03/19/caremongering-in-the-time-of-coronavirus-random-acts-of-kindness-and-online-enrichment/">caremongering</a>’ that is en vogue in Canada.
<blockquote>The donor community is stepping up like I have never seen before.</blockquote>
The donor community is stepping up like I have never seen before. In the US, many foundations are doing their part to support their partners through a recent <a href="https://www.cof.org/news/call-action-philanthropys-commitment-during-covid-19">call to action</a> organized by the Council on Foundations. International development donors and development finance institutions are also reaching out to their partners and looking for ways that they can contribute in this extraordinary time. <a href="https://www.omidyar.com/spotlight/how-were-supporting-our-network-during-covid-19-pandemic">Omidyar Network</a>, <a href="https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/about-us/news-media/the-rockefeller-foundation-commits-20-million-in-covid-19-assistance-to-strengthen-global-pandemic-preparedness-and-support-vulnerable-communities/">Rockefeller Foundation</a>, <a href="https://www.citigroup.com/citi/news/2020/200319a.htm">Citi Foundation</a> and others have all announced special funding and measures to support the COVID-19 response. This gives me hope that we will get through this and be strengthened by this experience.

Our next blog posts in this series will focus on how donors and investors can best structure their support during this critical time.

<em><strong>In the comments below, let CFI know what your institution is doing, and stay healthy! </strong></em>

How Should FSPs Respond to the COVID-19 Pandemic?

Ethan Loufield

Shweta Vashisht

Factoring capacity constraints into the design and implementation of data protection laws is the topic of the final post in the “Data Protection and Financial Inclusion: Why It Matters” series.

New data protection legislation in many countries has gotten a lot of attention in recent years. But we hear less about what happens after these laws are passed. Although the substance of new data protection laws is important, implementation is where the rubber meets the road. Any new law is only as good as the implementing capabilities of regulators and providers, so it’s important to take those capabilities into consideration when developing the law’s provisions, subsequent rules and institutional structures that must be put in place to bring it to life.

This point was underscored in a recent <a href="https://www.dvara.com/research/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Policy-Brief-Implementing-the-Personal-Data-Protection-Bill-in-India.pdf">policy brief</a> issued by the <a href="https://www.dvara.com/research/future-of-finance/">Future of Finance Initiative at Dvara Research</a> that provides a blueprint for actions that will need to be taken by India’s central government and the new Data Protection Authority (DPA) that will be created after passage of the <a href="https://prsindia.org/billtrack/personal-data-protection-bill-2019">Personal Data Protection Bill</a>. In total, the government and the DPA will need to address <a href="https://www.bloombergquint.com/opinion/a-blueprint-for-implementing-indias-personal-data-protection-law">at least 82 action points</a> to implement the new law. This observation begs the question: will regulators have the capacity needed to implement and enforce this new law?
<h2>Bridging a Gap of Understanding and Interpretation</h2>
As mentioned in the <a href="https://centerforfinancialinclusion.org/data-protection-and-financial-inclusion-why-it-matters-introduction/">introductory blog post</a> to this series, a common theme that surfaced during interviews we conducted last year with various data protection stakeholders in India, Ghana and Peru (as part of a <a href="https://www.credit-suisse.com/careers/en/articles/careers/sharing-expertise-201712.html">Credit Suisse Global Citizens volunteer project</a>) is that there is a gap that needs to be bridged between governments and providers on the issue of data protection.

For example, in Ghana, which has had a data protection law in place since 2012, any entity that handles personal data must register with the country’s Data Protection Commission as either a data controller or a data processor. However, according to Elorm Allavi, founder of<a href="https://syecomp.com/"> SyeComp</a>, an agricultural intelligence tech startup, it’s not necessarily clear which classification to register under and what the implications may be for the registration fees to be paid. He also described the data protection requirements as being “very one sided” and expressed a desire for the Bank of Ghana and data protection regulators to take steps to better comprehend the changing digital landscape and how fintechs use data. He felt that their lack of understanding limits their ability to assess the risks and can lead to unwarranted regulations.

On the government side, we’re grateful to Clarissa Kudowor at the Bank of Ghana (BoG) for providing a written response to some of the questions we had submitted regarding the overall legal and regulatory environment around data, as well as the BoG’s new <a href="https://www.bog.gov.gh/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/CYBER-AND-INFORMATION-SECURITY-DIRECTIVE.pdf">Cyber &amp; Information Security Directive</a>. In her response, she recognized the need for innovation in financial services and the role of proportionate regulations and regulatory sandboxes in helping to create an enabling regulatory environment. But despite this enabling spirit, there was also a clear undertone throughout her remarks that compliance with the provisions of the law is paramount, though there was no mention of any specific engagement with providers that would help to facilitate that compliance. Moreover, Ms. Kudowor had to refer some of our questions to the Data Protection Commission, which sits within the Ministry of Communications. This was understandable, since Ghana’s data protection law applies to all sectors and not just the financial sector, but our efforts to get a response from the commission weren’t successful. This perhaps was indicative of the kinds of concerns providers often express about having multiple regulators to answer to.

We encountered similar concerns in Peru, where Mariano Fuentes, a Legal Advisor with <a href="https://www.asbanc.com.pe/">ASBANC</a>, the association of private financial institutions in Peru, told us about five member banks that were appealing sanctions by the National Data Protection Authority (NDPA) over differences in interpretation of consent requirements, suggesting a lack of regulatory clarity. Raising a separate concern, Elias Vargas, Head of Market Conduct Supervision at SBS (the Peruvian banking superintendent), spoke about overlaps in the mandates of the SBS and the NDPA and suggested that in some cases the SBS may be better positioned than the NDPA, which resides in the Ministry of Justice, to provide oversight of the financial sector on certain data protection issues. And in India, where the new data protection bill is looming large, Tejamoy Gosh, Head of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence with Aye Finance, also emphasized the need for regulatory clarity when he said that he would like to see “a list of ‘don’ts’ rather than a list of ‘dos,’ so we can be sure of what not to do absolutely.”
<h2>Provider and Other Stakeholder Capacity Needed, Too</h2>
All of the above issues are reflective of the enormous complexity of data, which brings us full circle to the need for policymakers and regulators to take capacity into account when designing and implementing new data protection frameworks. This doesn’t mean just regulatory capacity, but also provider capacity. In order to do this, it’s important for those doing the regulating to consult with those who will be regulated throughout the policymaking process so that all data protection stakeholders can be set up for success. Based on the feedback we obtained through the interviews described above, it appears that much more deliberate action is needed to make this happen.
<blockquote>It’s important for those doing the regulating to consult with those who will be regulated.</blockquote>
As <a href="https://www.bloombergquint.com/opinion/a-blueprint-for-implementing-indias-personal-data-protection-law">noted</a> by the team at the Future of Finance Initiative at Dvara Research, “Developing robust and timeless regulation will require collaboration between regulators, entities processing data, civil society, researchers and technologists.” We couldn’t agree more. As our interviews showed, there’s a divide between regulators and providers that intentional and ongoing collaboration can help to bridge. They also suggest that governments need to do more to ensure that regulatory bodies not only have the technical expertise to deal with data issues writ large, but also the sectoral expertise to be able to effectively deal with data issues that are specific to each sector. Designing and implementing data protection frameworks is no small task, and governments should do all they can to enlist the support of external stakeholders to develop frameworks that truly set everyone up for success.

Avoiding Capacity Overload in Data Protection Frameworks

Everything has changed.

Over the past few weeks, despite trying to focus on business as usual, it’s apparent that the COVID-19 pandemic will affect every aspect of our lives, not just from where we work.

Partly because of my work on prior disasters – like the response to the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia, and the Pakistan earthquake in 2013 – I have received several requests from donors, colleagues and others to reflect on how the lessons from these natural disasters may or may not be relevant for the current pandemic.
<h2>Impact on Households: Severity and Duration</h2>
There is clearly a lot of similarities between a shock created by a natural disaster and one created by disease. In the paper <a href="https://www.cgap.org/research/publication/role-financial-services-humanitarian-crises">The Role of Financial Services in Humanitarian Crises</a>, which I cowrote with colleagues from the World Bank and CGAP in 2017, we opened with the following:

<em>“Whether caused by conflict, natural disaster, climate-related events, or some combination of the three, crises have been steadily increasing in frequency, severity, and complexity. While the nature and incidences of these crises vary significantly, they affect millions of people, particularly the most vulnerable….Poor people have fewer assets to support their livelihood, consume close to subsistence levels, and often cannot rely on savings to ensure health and education outcomes are maintained during periods of crisis.”</em>
<blockquote>Households experience shocks similarly, regardless of the cause.</blockquote>
While this paper did not specifically address pandemics as a shock, the message is the same: households experience shocks similarly, regardless of the cause. This experience often manifests as:
<ul>
 	<li>Loss of income</li>
 	<li>Depletion of savings</li>
 	<li>Negative coping strategies like reduction in food intake or sale of productive assets</li>
 	<li>Borrowing to support consumption as a result of job loss</li>
</ul>
What differentiates one crisis from another is the duration and severity of the shock. This influence’s people’s ability to withstand its effects on their livelihoods. In a natural disaster, the shock is often one-off and highly localized in a particular region or in specific sectors like agriculture. In a pandemic, where the shock is widespread, the duration is prolonged and systemic in nature and thus the impacts may look more like a financial crisis.
<h2>Systemic Shocks: The Real Economy and FSPs</h2>
The systemic nature of the shock means there are also severe impacts on firms, or what we often call the “real economy,” and the financial institutions that serve them.
<blockquote>The systemic nature of the shock means there are also severe impacts on firms and the financial institutions that serve them.</blockquote>
With regard to firms, social distancing and closures are having significant effects, both short and long term. While not all sectors will be affected equally, there is no question that travel, leisure, and service industries will be greatly impacted. Other sectors, like agriculture, may show delayed effects. My colleague Eric Noggle mentions in his latest blog post how some <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/can-financial-inclusion-moderate-impacts-to-coronavirus">micro-entrepreneurs in countries affected by the Ebola crisis were impacted</a>. Firms without the cash flow to withstand long-term closures are likely to shutter their doors or their owners may be forced to find alternative livelihoods. At CFI, we are looking to expedite <a href="https://centerforfinancialinclusion.org/what-financial-health-means-for-small-business-owners/">research already planned</a> to understand the financial health of micro and small enterprises in developing countries. We are hoping to roll out this research and explicitly capture the effects of COVID-19 in several countries including Columbia, India, Indonesia, Mexico and Nigeria.

With regard to financial services providers, Tim Ogden’s latest <a href="https://www.financialaccess.org/faiv/2020/3/23/week-of-march-23-2020">Weekly FaiV</a> highlights how the institutions that serve the most vulnerable in the US, the Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), are the most likely to be forgotten by stimulus packages and, like the people they serve, are already vulnerable to shocks.

The parallels are many in developing countries. The financial institutions that serve the BOP – microfinance institutions, cooperatives, some banks, even some fintechs – are all highly vulnerable to systemic shocks and are likely not to benefit from central bank stimuli. The effects of crisis manifest most immediately in:
<ul>
 	<li>Impacts on staffing and the ability of the institution to respond to the needs of their customers</li>
 	<li>A slowdown or halting of repayments and an increase in defaults for credit providers</li>
 	<li>Liquidity shortfalls</li>
</ul>
There has been a lot written on how providers are affected by crises and there have been numerous campaigns to support these institutions to put in place preparedness and response plans. <a href="https://63b1919e-e929-43c7-99cb-6b5402c996ea.usrfiles.com/ugd/63b191_12a8b1812a654c3b8fbd835c87b9f025.pdf">Here</a>, <a href="https://www.findevgateway.org/guide/2017/01/minimum-economic-recovery-standards-third-edition">here</a> and <a href="https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/183633/disaster-resilient-microfinance.pdf">here</a> are just a few of the resources on how institutions that serve the BOP should deal with crisis preparedness and response. In a nutshell, financial services providers should have business continuity plans in place. They should have pre-established access to liquidity facilities, backup IT systems, back up staffing plans for ill or otherwise impacted personnel, and so on.

But despite efforts to get providers prepared, sadly, many will not be. This means that many providers are learning about crisis response in real time and have to figure out what to do. A subsequent post will synthesize the lessons for FSPs that are in this learning-by-doing phase, while highlighting what may be different during a pandemic.
<h2>A Tipping Point for Platform Financial Service Provision?</h2>
In today’s world, the platform actors, whether e-commerce, social networks or gig marketplaces, that are already operating digitally and with minimal “touch” are well placed to seize the moment and expand their financial offerings, potentially accelerating their expansion into finance services to the BOP.

A <a href="https://bfaglobal.com/insight-type/blogs/gig-workers-have-powered-wuhans-response-to-covid-19/">recent article by BFA</a> noted that the gig workers in Wuhan operating on various delivery platforms, like Meituan, have seen marked increases in demand for their services. Amazon recently announced that it is <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-amazon-com-exclusi/exclusive-amazon-raises-overtime-pay-for-warehouse-workers-idUSKBN2180Q1">hiring 100,000 warehouse and delivery workers</a>, in addition to increasing overtime pay and regular wages. While many of these platforms have been focusing on their ability to respond to the COVID-19 crisis by improving the safety protocols for their workers and meeting the growing demand for their services, it will be interesting to see whether and when they expand their role in supporting the many gig workers and merchants that operate on their platforms. As highlighted in a CFI blog post from February, many platforms are already <a href="https://centerforfinancialinclusion.org/financial-inclusion-and-future-jobs-what-the-market-in-indonesia-tells-us/">offering financial services</a> in some countries, notably Indonesia, but also in China and <a href="https://www.techiexpert.com/top-5-financing-platforms-for-msmes-smes-in-india/">India</a>.
<h2>This Time, It’s Different</h2>
The current COVID-19 situation is not just systemic at the country level: it is systemic at the global level. We are seeing contraction in both developed and developing countries simultaneously, something that has not been seen since the depression. This is presenting a new challenge for all of us: what is the right response for investors, for donors, for FSPs, and for other stakeholders that support these market actors? In coordination with our partners, CFI will share some emerging thinking on these issues in subsequent posts.

Pandemics and Natural Disasters: What Can We Learn from Past Disasters to Help with Today’s Pandemic?

Eric Noggle

Financial inclusion is about to get a major stress test. 

As of March 19, the World Health Organization reported <a href="https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200316-sitrep-56-covid-19.pdf?sfvrsn=9fda7db2_6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">191,000 confirmed cases</a> of coronavirus and an estimated 7,800 deaths globally. Most of these cases are concentrated in China, Italy, South Korea, and Spain with cases in Western Europe and United States growing exponentially. In the meantime, the virus is continuing its unstoppable spread across the globe into markets with more poverty and less developed public health infrastructure to respond to the challenge.

So far, the number of reported cases in these countries is low. In Sub-Saharan Africa, there are less than 250 confirmed cases. However, most experts agree that the <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/ticking-time-bomb-scientists-worry-about-coronavirus-spread-africa">number of actual cases is much higher</a> or will be very soon. Several African nations have <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/17/world/africa/coronavirus-africa-burkina-faso.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">taken early steps to block the virus’s advance</a>, but given the limited public health infrastructure, there’s a pervasive fear that the effects of the virus will be crippling when they hit. The need to flatten the curve in Africa is arguably more pronounced than in Western nations, where the capacity of hospital systems is lower (Kenya, for instance, <a href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/eamj/article/view/118829" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">only has 7,000 beds and 130 intensive care units</a> for a country of 50 million people) and there are almost <a href="https://www.afro.who.int/health-topics/hivaids" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">30 million people living with HIV/AIDs</a> (in addition to other high-risk segments).

As we’re seeing in Europe and North America, the virus is likely to have profound economic impacts as the health effects of the virus multiply and the movement of goods and people is increasingly constrained in response. If the evidence on natural disasters is any indication, <a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/22787/9781464806735.pdf?sequence=13&amp;isAllowed=y" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">low-income households will be disproportionally affected</a> by this shock.
<blockquote>Low-income households will likely be disproportionally affected by the coronavirus shock.</blockquote>
Despite being less contagious but much more deadly, the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa likely provides our best corollary for understanding the economic havoc coronavirus could wreak in developing countries. In a report examining Ebola’s impact on poverty, the UNDG noted that <a href="https://www.undp.org/content/dam/rba/docs/Reports/ebola-west-africa.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">food insecurity and undernourishment increased dramatically</a> as a result of the “restriction of movements of goods and services, the quarantine of communities that are food baskets of the affected countries, the fear of trading with affected areas, [and] the closure of borders and international stigmatization.” Sound familiar? The report noted Ebola significantly altered forecasts for changes in poverty levels, flipping them on their heads to projected increases in poverty by as much as 17 percent.

Ebola challenged the microfinance sector in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. In Sierra Leone, <a href="https://www.findevgateway.org/sites/default/files/publications/files/sierra_leone_the_impact_of_ebola_crisis_on_the_microfinance_sector.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">one study of microentrepreneurs</a> suggested their revenues dropped by 35 percent and that their households had to cut consumption by just as much. MFIs lending to them decreased loan disbursements by 40 percent compared to the previous year, and portfolio at risk doubled in six months. <a href="http://www.globaldeliveryinitiative.org/sites/default/files/case-studies/rflessonslearned_10-25-17.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">BRAC suspended operations</a> in these countries completely for seven months.

However, there were some bright spots. The <a href="https://btca-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/186/english_attachments/BTCA-Ebola-Case-Study.pdf?1502739794" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">digitization of payments to health care workers</a>, especially in rural areas, was a critical component in maintaining the public health infrastructure and <a href="https://centerforfinancialinclusion.org/learning-from-ebola-how-mobile-money-can-prevent-health-crises/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">providing care</a> to afflicted communities. And when BRAC restarted operations, there was a large demand for credit and repayment rates were high.

Coronavirus is not Ebola and this pandemic is going to present unique challenges to the financial sector. It will likely go on longer and infect and kill more people than Ebola by several orders of magnitude. Hundreds of millions of people will face restricted movement and with them, commerce will—and is already—slowing. What is the role of financial inclusion in such times? The financial inclusion community needs to do two things: get money to the people who need it as fast as we can, and keep as much money in their hands as possible.
<blockquote>The financial inclusion community needs to do two things: get money to the people who need it as fast as we can, and keep as much money in their hands as possible.</blockquote>
Getting money to people quickly is critical. To the degree that government and private institutions are able, they should keep lending and processing insurance payouts. Banks and agent networks need to maintain liquidity throughout their networks so households can cash out when they need to, and more importantly, we need to continue to promote digital transfers and payments across ecosystems to lessen the need for physical cash. Unconditional, litmus test-free cash transfers should be sent early and often.

It’s also important that we reduce demands on low-income households’ cash by delaying and/or reducing repayments and fees. This will ensure that the cash these households have available can focus on smoothing consumption and supporting health care costs in the near term and not servicing debt. On this latter point, I’ve heard of many lenders in our industry discussing how they can do just that. In Kenya, Safaricom and other <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/16/kenya-turns-to-its-mobile-money-dominance-to-stem-the-spread-of-covid-19/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">mobile money providers are waving fees and raising limits</a> on mobile money transactions, which is a prudent measure (also because it removes cash as a medium for transporting the virus).

These are critical steps and financial service providers (FSPs) who are on the frontlines of serving clients will need support from governments, development finance institutions, investors, and donors. FSPs committed to getting money to low-income households and keeping it there need the same consideration.

We also need to begin preparing now for when restrictions on movement will ease and commerce starts functioning more normally to maintain the poverty-alleviation gains the globe has achieved. After Ebola, MSMEs were eager to borrow to jumpstart their livelihoods when the crisis was over. And more generally, the evidence shows that a real strength of financial services is in <a href="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/687701493270597254/pdf/114634-WP-P162629-PUBLIC-ForumTheRoleofFinancialServicesinHumanitarianCrises.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">helping households be resilient in the aftermath of disasters and humanitarian crises</a>. Cash transfers, credit, insurance, and savings all have high degrees of efficacy in helping households restore their well-being. Low-income households with access to these tools tend to outperform households that do not on revenue generation, consumption, and health measures.

This is going to be a major stress test for financial inclusion, but we mustn’t delay: the time to act is now. It’s only a matter of days until these markets face this unprecedented economic, social, and public health crisis.

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Can Financial Inclusion Moderate Impacts of Coronavirus?

Latest Blog Posts

A leading Colombian news outlet featured a photo of the CFI Managing Director speaking at FOROMIC, an annual conference on microfinance and entrepreneurship in the Latin American and Caribbean region. The Global Microscope 2019 was formally unveiled at the conference. 

News

The <a href="https://www.elespectador.com/economia/colombia-lidera-entorno-para-la-inclusion-financiera-regional-articulo-888988">article</a> (in Spanish) notes that Colombia -- along with Peru, Uruguay and Mexico -- lead the <a href="https://centerforfinancialinclusion.org/global-microscope-2019/">Global Microscope 2019</a> rankings this year. Supported by CFI and the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation, an updated Microscope is published every year by the <a href="https://www.eiu.com/n/">Economist Intelligence Unit</a>. It assesses the enabling regulatory environment for financial inclusion in 55 countries worldwide.

<a href="https://events.iadb.org/calendar/event/20252?lang=en">FOROMIC</a> is hosted annually by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

In El Espectador: CFI, Mayada El-Zoghbi Mentioned in Microscope Coverage

Eric Noggle, Senior Research Director, talks to Good ID about the intersection between good digital ID and broader socio-political change. 

Following the <a href="/id2020-summit-2019">ID2020 Summit</a> in September, Eric Noggle, Senior Research Director, talks to Good ID about the intersection between good digital ID and broader socio-political change. Read more in <a href="https://www.good-id.org/en/articles/everything-connected-making-good-id-matter/">Everything Is Connected: Making Good ID Matter</a>.

Eric Noggle, Senior Research Director, on Making the "Good ID" Movement Matter

Watch

Mayada El-Zoghbi poses the question to Her Majesty from the Netherlands during a UN General Assembly event on financial inclusion in September 2019. 

Mayada El-Zoghbi poses a question to Her Majesty from the Netherlands during a UN General Assembly event on financial inclusion in September 2019. 

The event, “<a href="https://www.unsgsa.org/resources/news/unsgsa-queen-maxima-world-leaders-participate-unga/">Financial Inclusion for Development: Building on 10 Years of Progress</a>,” included the participation of António Guterres, UN Secretary-General; David Malpass, President of the World Bank; Melinda Gates, Co-Chair of the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation; Dan Schulman, President and CEO of PayPal; and Ajay Banga, President and CEO of Mastercard.

Watch Mayada ask Queen Maxima about measuring financial inclusion's progress within the framework of the SDGs, and how financial inclusion contributes to achieving the SDGs by 2030. Queen Maxima is the <a href="https://www.unsgsa.org/">United Nations Secretary General's Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development</a>.

More video coverage of the event can be found <a href="http://webtv.un.org/search/financial-inclusion-for-development-building-on-10-years-of-progress/6089500721001/?term=finance%20for%20development&amp;lan=english&amp;sort=date">here</a>.

&nbsp;

CFI Managing Director Asks Queen Maxima About Financial Inclusion's Role in the Sustainable Development Goals

Hema Bansal

Consumers are being charged sky-high interest rates on easy credit, leading to desperation—or worse—according to the piece. 

Bansal, the <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/about/what-we-do/the-smart-campaign">Smart Campaign</a>'s Senior Director in South and Southeast Asia, notes that the problem over-indebtedness is more severe in the island country than elsewhere.

She also points out that the government's decision to write off business loans of up to 100,000 rupees falls short.

"One-off measures will not do, says Ms Bansal: Sri Lanka needs properly enforced rules that prevent over-indebtedness and ensure fair treatment of borrowers."

<strong>Read the <a href="https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2019/08/15/microfinance-is-driving-many-sri-lankan-borrowers-to-despair">full article</a> (soft paywall).</strong>

In The Economist: Hema Bansal on Over-Indebtedness in Sri Lanka

Learn More

Isabelle Barrès

The CFI Vice President notes that Facebook's Libra presents an opportunity to answer key questions about protecting the underserved. 

Barres's questions that Libra's developers should consider when innovating for the new cryptocurrency are:
<ul>
 	<li>What would data privacy agreements look like if we wanted them to be understandable, fair and with an option to opt out?</li>
 	<li>How would algorithms that did not discriminate be set up?</li>
 	<li>How might fully transparent, low-cost and high-quality products and services that truly solve problems be brought to bear?</li>
</ul>
Read the <a href="https://www.euromoney.com/article/b1g0hvpnhqmyg0/cryptocurrency-facebook39s-libra-is-this-how-we-get-to-responsible-fintech">full article in Euromoney</a>.

In Euromoney: Smart Campaign's Isabelle Barres Poses Questions About Libra

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