Top Ten Blog Posts of 2022
In 2022, the FinDev Blog featured the insights and experiences of over 50 community members on a range of topics from gender lens investing to consumer behavior, from post-COVID education finance to child labor and from artificial intelligence to humanitarian assistance. We explored the issue of climate change through a four-part series on Climate Change and Financial Inclusion which looked at the issue from the perspective of clients, MFIs and policymakers. There were posts that questioned the inclusiveness of fintech or its ability to serve the needs of people living in poverty. And we saw how current issues, such as global inflation and the war in Ukraine, were affecting the microfinance sector,
In the top ten most read blog posts from 2022, the sector's move to digital - from agent networks to remittances to the digital transformation of MFIs - featured prominently, especially with a focus on women and how to make services work for them. There was also a lot of discussion around savings groups, looking at how to build on members' capacity to direct their own development while sharing risk more equitably. Underlying many of these blog posts were the themes of financial health and resilience.
2022 brought us a lot of interesting ideas and experiences which were shared on our blog, and we invite you to join our growing community of blog writers by sharing your thoughts. Below, check out the most popular blog posts from the past year.
The most-read blog posts of 2022
Agent Gender Matters
Our most popular blog post from 2022 weighs in on the ongoing debate about whether the gender of the agent matters for business performance and for women’s financial inclusion, sharing the growing evidence of a positive relationship between cash-in cash-out (CICO) network quality and gender inclusiveness.
The Path to Financial Inclusion Must Include Saving in Small Groups
Coming in at number two, this blog post argues that the sector needs to transition from the idea that financial inclusion means borrowing (and sometimes saving) in a financial institution and give more power to informal savings through the millions of groups that already exist.
How Do Digital Remittances Contribute to Women’s Financial Health?
The third most popular blog post shares results from a UNCDF survey which make clear the need for more gender-smart and migrant-centric remittance products.
Four Ways to Design Agent Networks That Work for Women
Innovations around agent networks present an opportunity to significantly improve women’s experiences and help build their confidence and access to digital financial services.
How Do Savings Contribute to Financial Health?
A meta-review leads to two mental shifts in approaches to savings research.
A Guide to Global Findex 2021: What You Need to Know
This FinDev guide highlights some of the most recent analytical pieces on the newly released Global Findex database 2021 and will continue to be updated as new publications become available.
How Can Microfinance Institutions Help Their Clients Build Climate Resilience?
In the second post of the FinDev Blog Series on Climate Change and Financial Inclusion, we look at how both financial and non-financial services will be crucial in helping MFI clients adapt to climate change.
What 18,000 Clients Say About Their Microfinance Experience
A new Microfinance Index captures client-level outcomes across five dimensions of impact, providing us with key insights that help us understand how client outcomes vary with different types of microfinance services.
Digital Transformation: Who Is in the Driver's Seat?
The role of executive leadership is key for microfinance institutions to move successfully towards the digital future.
Sharing the Risk: “Micro Equity” for Savings Groups
DreamStart Labs is re-thinking assumptions about how to design solutions for people in emerging economies, starting with a new product which aims to distribute risks more fairly.