Financial Inclusion- Opportunities & Risks for Donors. Insights from a Five-Country Savings Project

This paper focuses on how the lessons from the Gateway Financial Innovations for Savings (GAFIS) project might help individual and corporate donors, foundations, and public agencies interested in the field. The GAFIS project (2010-13) focused on sustainable financial inclusion-on developing savings accounts that could accommodate the needs of the 'unbanked' while also delivering a return that allowed banks to continue service. GAFIS offered grants to five banks which then worked on developing inclusive banking products, supply-side innovations, and in general, targeted the savings behavior. Key lessons learned include:

• Advances in electronic banking mean that cost-efficient opportunities can revolutionize access to financial services for the poor. Even then, technology may advance beyond the philanthropic strategy, rendering plans redundant;
• Partnership requires a donor who's willing not only to take risks, but to be a full partner in the process without driving it. A donor must cede some control to truly support collaboration, and that can make many feel vulnerable;
• GAFIS helped banks to choose leaders from within the institution to champion change. However, these people sometimes move on for reasons that have nothing to do with the project;
• Education can leverage impact though it is expensive and challenging.