1. Savings Research: A new RCT looks at microsavings impact in Kenya among poor women. When provided with access to mobile savings accounts, those in the treatment group increased savings account balances and reduced transfers within their risk-sharing network. While the authors did not find negative welfare effects, the study raises questions on the relationship between formal financial access and informal financial systems. The World Bank
2. Mobile Money: A new report explores the growing popularity of the mobile money service Zaad and its implications on the state building process in Somaliland. IMTFI
3. Impact Evaluation: Chris Blattman worries about the direction of experimental social sciences, while David McKenzie is frustrated by a double standard for evaluating evidence. Although some might argue to abandon research altogether since we should apparently reject results that don't align with our personal experience.
Week of November 23, 2015
1. Wealth Creation: Research from the US Financial Diaries finds households rely on the financial support of family and friends to get by. However, familial obligations can also be a financial burden that hinders growth of intergenerational wealth, especially for minority households. The Atlantic
2. Financial Inclusion: Accelerating Pathways, a new research initiative, explores how the economic environments of 35 global cities create opportunities for young people and the factors contribute most to youth's economic success. Citi Foundation
3. Digital Financial Services: The ability to prove one's identity is key to accessing digital financial services but as FAI affiliate Ignacio Mas and David Porteous explain, the idea of digital identity should expand to promote financial inclusion and allow the poor to meet KYC requirements. Innovations
Week of November 16, 2015
1. Financial Inclusion: "In the midst of the accelerating growth in complexity and scale of payment sectors worldwide, we find that the biggest constraint today is not shortage of funding...the biggest global constraint is human: a shortage of the capabilities and competences which undergird capacity within organizations new and old, public and private." CFI
2. Credit: A review of consumer credit data from more than 5 million customers over a five year period offers some surprising findings - auto debt in combination with any other debt generally indicated a lower credit score and younger borrowers with a mortgage and student loans have higher scores than their older counterparts with the same debt combination. Urban Institute
3. Microinsurance: A preliminary review of the microinsurance landscape in sub-Saharan Africa indicates growth in both number of policies and products, with the largest growth in health and agricultural coverage. Microinsurance Network & Munich Re Foundation
Read MoreWeek of November 9, 2015
1. Financial Inclusion: A new report explores the "economic factors driving financial products and why the status quo fails to meet the financial needs of lower-income consumers." ideas42 and Oliver Wyman
2. Development Research: David Evans puts us to shame by providing summaries of over 150 papers from the 2015 NEUDC, all in handy tweetable formats. Development Impact Blog
3. Student Debt: Are private investors the answer to rising student debt or just an oversimplified "solution" to a very complex problem? Urban Institute
Week of November 2, 2015
1. Impact Evaluations: David McKenzie's new paper on matching grant evaluations is really about drawing lessons from not implementing research. Development Impact Blog
2. Credit Scoring: An in-depth look at products that use non-financial data to predict creditworthiness in emerging markets reviews the challenges they face and the experiences of early adopters. Omidyar Network
3. Housing Finance: A new report draws upon survey data from 48 financial institutions from around the world to sketch a picture of the current state of housing microfinance. While demand for housing finance is strong and growing, implementation challenges to offering products that work well for poor clients remain. Habitat for Humanity
Week of October 26, 2015
1. Financial Inclusion: Germany announced a new law that will make it easier for migrants to access financial services. Under the new rules, everyone will have the right to open accounts at any bank, enabling them to deposit and withdraw cash, conduct transfers, and use payment cards. But what will the implications be for anti-money laundering and KYC regulations? Reuters
2. Payday Lending: Is the future of payday lending more regulation of lenders or more regulation of banks? Federal Reserve of New York and The New York Times
3. Mobile Money: "Digital financial service providers often make the mistake of assuming that the solutions they offer exist in a vacuum. The reality is that any solution intended for the mass market will be co-opted or adapted to reflect the current behaviour and motivations for that behaviour." Microsave: Part 1, Part 2, & Part 3
Week of October 19, 2015
1. Microcredit in India: A recent review of the Indian microfinance space found MFIs are increasingly serving urban customers, albeit with better assets, at the expense of those in rural communities. Livemint
2. Incarceration and Poverty: We've discussed how the bail process is leading to increasingly high incarceration rates for the poor. But once in jail, those with child support obligations are hit with an even bigger debt burden, complicating their financial situations after they serve their sentences. The Washington Post
3. Credit Scoring: In life imitating Nineteen Eighty-Four news, China announced plans to create a mandatory "credit score" for all citizens by 2020. The score will link to national ID cards and incorporate data from social networks as well as a metric for "political compliance." CFI
Week of October 12, 2015
1. Field Experiments: In honor of Angus Deaton's Nobel prize win, FAI Managing Director Timothy Ogden released a chapter from his forthcoming book, Experimental Conversations, that includes an interview with Deaton discussing his thoughts on evidence and how we learn in economics. Medium
2. Financial Inclusion: An in-depth discussion with Mani Nandhi, who is studying the complex financial lives and decisions of rickshaw pullers in New Delhi, reveals insights that could inform the development of innovative financial products for India's poor. IMTFI
3. Urban Economic Development: According to a new report, young people ages 15-24 will make up 60% of urban residents by the year 2030. As cities struggle with absorbingpopulation growth, how can programs help to promote youth economic empowerment and employment? Making Cents International
Week of October 5, 2015
1. Microcredit: Kiva announced it will scale back Zip, its P2P lending program in Kenya, due to operational challenges. While it works on trying to crack the code of direct P2P lending in low-income environments without middlemen, Zidisha is enjoying success in doing just that. NextBillion - Zip and Zidisha
2. Mobile Money: Samsung announced a data breach of its mobile payments technology. Although the breach occurred around March, Samsung did not discover it until August and does not know if any information was taken. Incidents like this beg the question - Where are the risks in mobile payments? Payment Eye and CGAP
3. Debt Collection: An analysis of five years of debt collection lawsuit data from three metropolitan areas — St. Louis, Chicago and Newark — shows that even accounting for income, the rate of judgments was twice as high in mostly black neighborhoods as it was in mostly white ones. ProPublica
Week of September 28, 2015
1. Financial Education: A new study investigates the link between the "ABCs" of financial education (attitudes, behavior, and cognitive biases) and financial outcomes. The results report significant effects of both counseling and goal setting on real financial outcomes with no impact from "pay-for-performance" interventions. SSRN
2. Cash Transfers: Berk Özler sifts through the literature on cash transfer and graduation programs as he addresses the increasingly trendy development question – should we just give people cash? The World Bank
3. Asset Limits: Poor households face many challenges in building up savings for the long-term...and Maine just added another one. Starting November 1, individuals can only hold up to $5,000 in savings and other assets in order to receive food stamps. The Washington Post
