- Bankable Frontier Associates

Consumption, new livelihoods, and scalability are the elements that lead to democratizing commerce, making the benefits of a global economy accessible to all

~ C.K. Prahalad,
Forward to Business Solutions for the Global Poor

Poor people can save and want to save, and when they do not save it is because of lack of opportunity, rather than a lack of capacity.

~ Stuart Rutherford,
The Poor and their Money

Today, the farmer with access to a cell phone can comparison shop and check fluctuating prices with a few quick calls, putting himself in a far better position to demand a fair deal from the local merchant or middleman. Information is power, and the cell phone revolution is putting a little of that power in the hands of the rural poor.

~ Muhammad Yunus,
Creating a World Without Poverty

Although innovation is unpredictable, there is a lot that governments, private companies, and foundations can do to accelerate it.

~Bill Gates,
Co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation,
2010 Annual Letter from Bill Gates

We support key players in their efforts to extend a diverse array of financial services in markets across the globe. Our collective years of experience, combined with creativity and thought leadership enables us to apply unique perspectives towards overcoming the toughest barriers to financial inclusion.

Featured BFA Project:

Gateway Financial Innovations for Savings (GAFIS)

Description:

This program, which is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is incentivizing five banks from across Asia, Africa and Latin America to deliver savings products to the poor on a financially sustainable basis. BFA supports the banks around product design and channel delivery strategies, among other aspects of product development. We have provided each bank with customer-centric insights from both quantitative and qualitative research instruments. About 50,000 savings accounts have been opened across the five banks to date.

New BFA Publication:

CGAP Focus Note—Social Cash Transfers and Financial Inclusion: Evidence from Four Countries

A BFA research project resulted in four individual country reports and a Focus Note which examined four very large G2P programs (Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, South Africa) to determine both the level of financial inclusion in the payment systems utilized by the programs, and the value proposition for government, recipients, and payment service providers.
The research revealed that financially inclusive payments can be:

Less expensive for governments
Better for recipients if they understand them well
Financially attractive to payment providers

View More Publications in Our Library >

Stimulating Insights:

Portfolios of the Poor
Portfolios of the Poor continues to intrigue financial service providers and development experts as they discover the many ways that poor people intentionally manage their money. The book tackles the fundamental question of how the poor make ends meet, revealing implications for the design and expansion of financial services.

Thanks to a recent grant, Portfolios has been updated with Central- and South-American data, then translated into Spanish and reissued as Finanzas de los Pobres.

Visit the website >