Art Appraisal Blog

Rural agent networks are critical to “last mile” financial inclusion. This reading deck for policy makers does two things: (i) it shows how rural Cash-in/Cash-out (CICO) agent network expansion is key to ensuring poor people can capture the benefits of digital financial ecosystems; and (ii) it presents a set of policies that have been effective in enabling rural CICO in a way that benefits vulnerable segments, like rural women, and...

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in vast numbers of people in need of social assistance, many of whom were not previously covered by social safety nets. To meet this unprecedented level of need, governments quickly scaled social assistance reaching over 1.7 billion people in low- and middle income countries. Scaling up social assistance presented two separate but related challenges: first, adapting targeting and registration to reach individuals not commonly included in...

The COVID-19 shock has underscored the importance of digital tools for enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of social protection systems. Cross-country evidence suggests that digital IDs linked with bank and/or mobile money accounts can improve the delivery of social protection programs and better reach eligible beneficiaries. Using data from the Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey, we present micro simulations on the welfare gains of digital social protection during the pandemic....

This policy brief outlines why cross-border interoperability of payment platforms across Africa is important, where the opportunities and challenges lie, and how international partners such as the EU can support African efforts. It traces some of the solutions that are being applied both at the continental and at the regional levels, explores some of the lessons to be learned from these different cases, and proposes initial policy recommendations for the...

Digital technologies are changing how the world interacts and transacts. From opening bank accounts to parents enrolling their children in school and social safety net programs verifying a new beneficiary, to businesses applying for licenses, day-to-day activities are becoming increasingly automated and integrated. Apart from reducing costs and spurring innovation, this creates opportunities to make better services available to more people, such as by removing the need to physically go...

This case study synthesizes the social protection response to the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia in 2020. It is part of six country case studies developed as part of the Social Protection Approaches to COVID-19 Expert Advice Helpline’s (SPACE) learning and documentation approach. By capturing country-level social protection responses to COVID-19, the case studies aim to inform the global audiences as to what has happened, what has...

This paper discusses the main opportunities and challenges associated with digital social protection, drawing on trends pre-Covid and since the onset of the pandemic. It offers eight lessons to help social protection actors capitalize on technology’s potential in a risk-sensitive manner.

Does channeling government-to-person (G2P) payments through bank accounts encourage financial inclusion and use? This paper explores the factors that have driven the adoption of digital payments in India by beneficiaries of PMGKY, the large-scale COVID-19 relief program launched in May 2020. India’s 2013 move to pay social benefits through direct transfers into bank accounts significantly increased account ownership, but uptake of digital payments has been slower, although it has accelerated...

This policy research brief analyses how digitalisation can facilitate rural populations’ access to effective and adequate social protection and economic inclusion in Latin America and the Caribbean. It investigates the region’s social protection response to COVID-19 and highlights three good practices in providing digitalised social protection to vulnerable rural populations during the crisis. Based on this analysis and considering the local obstacles to digitalised social protection in rural areas, recommendations...

This note describes the phases of the COVID-19 SP response in the Philippines and assesses the performance with a focus on social assistance. It provides estimates of the coverage, adequacy, targeting accuracy, timeliness, and payment delivery of COVID-19 social assistance in the Philippines based on several household surveys and studies. The note pays special attention to the Philippines’ flagship social protection program, the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), and the...