Digital Services

What is it?

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Articles

This Articles section includes research papers, news articles, and other information published on the Internet.

• “The Exclusionary politics of Digital Financial Inclusion: Mobile Money, Gendered Walls“ by Serena Natile. This  book  provides a  feminist  critique  of digital  financial  inclusion  which  considers  the  history  of  colonialism,  the implications  of  development  discourses  and  interventions,  and  structural inequalities and power relations. It does this through a focus on Kenya’s digital financial project, M-Pesa, which uses the mobile phone infrastructure to provide access to money transfers and financial services.

• “Financial exclusion and digital exclusion often go hand in hand“ by Good Things Foundation. APLE Collective are working as part of a coalition of partners with Good Things Foundation, Clean Slate, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Mastercard to offer immediate support to digitally and financially excluded people in the UK, with a focus on those in poverty hit hardest by the impact of Covid-19.

• “Breaking down the barriers to digital equity and financial inclusion“ by Vijay Guntur / HCL Technologies. The world is moving in a clear trajectory towards a digital future. Organizations are prioritizing digital transformation and governments are embracing digital technologies to create smart, sustainable cities. Early iterations of the metaverse – an immersive and universal virtual world – also point to a scenario where many physical interactions and transactions could take place in a digital environment. It is essential that digital equity is built into the foundation of this digital era as more and more services are switching to completely digital setups.

• “Digital footprints as barriers to accessing e-government services“ by Kira Allmann and Roxana Radu / Global Policy. The article argues that the requirements for a digital footprint creates a double disadvantage where a lack of digital footprint is the result of pre-existing barriers and is invisible to digital-by-default systems, and when marginalized users establish a digital footprint it is more onerous to manage personal data over the long term.

• “COVID-19 Boosted the Adoption of Digital Financial Services“ by World Bank Group. An occurrence which arose almost out of a lack of other options, 2/3rds of the world now does banking digitally. Interestingly, this also boosted initiatives by governments to enable digitization services in rural areas of certain developing countries. Digitization creates an opportunity to make the already existing services more accessible for marginalized groups, and in this case allows them to take advantage of financial services like savings, payments, and access to credit.

• “The exclusionary politics of Digital Financial Inclusion: Mobile Money, Gendered walls“ by Serena Natile. Research conducted in Kenya, points to the fact that widespread adoption of a new service by people also creates a widespread exclusion. Highly digital interfaces for services are welcome, but they must consider the margins as well, otherwise its purpose will not be served.

• “Digital financial inclusion: evidence from Ukraine“ by Svitlana Naumenkova, Svitlana Mishchenko, and Dmytro Dorofeiev / Investment Management and Financial Innovations. When the general population lacks access to formal financial services, it reduces the level of citizens’ welfare and their social protection, leads to increased social tension in society; which ultimately slows the development of the country’s economy as a whole. The use of modern digital infrastructures is a key factor in increasing public access to formal financial services. In view of this, there is a need to assess the level of digital financial inclusion that is based on providing high mobility for financial services.

• “Taking Down the (Entry) Barriers to Digital Financial Inclusion“ by Ignacio Mas / The Brookings Institute. Reports have highlighted how mobile-based financial services are transforming banking and payments in places such as Kenya. It is conceivable that purely digital financial transaction could be handled at small unit costs; however, there is still a cost at the interface of the new digital and legacy (cash) payments systems; cash in/out points.

• “Open Banking and Financial Inclusion: A New Hope for Underserved Communities?“ by Finance Magnates. By allowing third-party providers to access financial data and offer new services to customers, open banking has the potential to revolutionize the financial system. Financial inclusion for marginalized areas is one area where open banking can have a huge impact. However, there are other considerations to make, such as the digital divide, data privacy and security, trust, and legal restrictions.

• “Rethinking digital financial inclusion: Evidence from Bangladesh“ by Abdul Aziz and Umma Naima / Technology in Society. Digital financial services do reduce the constraints induced by the lack of access to physical services, but this is still a job half done, due to the fact that digital services have various dependencies. A few of them being technological understanding, financial literacy, basic awareness and understanding. Thus it is important to critically analyze the different constraints and barriers that arise with the advent of the digital revolution.

Experiences

This Experiences section includes stories, perspectives, and experiences submitted by people experiencing disabilities or is Deaf. Where necessary, personal information have been changed to protect the privacy of the people involved.

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External groups

The External Groups section contains links to organizations or individuals who are working, advocating, or innovating in this space. The parties mentioned in this list are not endorsed by the IDRC.

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