Disha Bhavnani

Manager

Disha Bhavnani is a Manager in the Digital Financial Services - Payments and Distribution domain of MSC.

Disha Bhavnani has over seven years of experience in the inclusive finance sector gained through projects with banks, agent network operators, mobile money operators, government departments, insurance agencies, clean energy product manufacturers, international funding agencies, MFIs, and community-based institutions in India, Bangladesh, and Samoa Islands. Her latest work at MSC includes launching of MSC's in-house dashboard on payment trends-MSC - PIN Rails Before joining MSC, Disha was an Assistant Manager at ESAF Microfinance—a microfinance institution based in Kerala that is now a small finance bank. She has worked on projects commissioned by FMO Netherlands, BMGF, CGAP, AFI, Nathan Associates, NITI Aayog, JP Morgan Chase, PFIP, among others.

Posts by Disha Bhavnani

The evolution of payments in India—looking ahead

The previous blog discussed the state of India’s digital payments ecosystem. This blog looks at where and how it may evolve further.

The evolution of payments in India—the state of play

In recent years, India has moved to a leading position in digital payments and developed an ecosystem that enables the uptake and usage of digital payments. Many countries now seek to replicate India’s payments systems, particularly the Unified Payments Interface (UPI). This blog highlights the evolution of India’s payments landscape and looks into issues and ideas that contributed to this evolution. It briefly discusses the controversial waiver of the merchant discount rate (MDR) to increase the number of use cases in the person-to-merchant (P2M) category.

Retail digital payments in India: A massive opportunity worth at least INR 45 billion (USD 608 million)

This blog is the second in a three-part blog series. The blog highlights use cases where digitizing even a conservative 10% of the current cash-based transactions presents service providers with a supplemental opportunity worth more than INR 45 billion (~USD 608 million).

How digital payments drive financial inclusion in India: Abridged report

India’s digital payments landscape has transformed dramatically over the past five years. This report, published in collaboration with the National Payments Corporation of India, provides a detailed outlook on India’s journey of digital payments, factors affecting the adoption of digital payments among the LMI segment, and products that have revolutionized the space.

The last-mile reach: Postal banks across the globe that serve the rural and the remote

Postal banks have existed and played a key role for different customer segments in several countries. In this blog, the second of this series, we highlight the best practices postal banks across different countries have adopted and implemented to serve their customers under the 2T2P approach.

How digital payments drive financial inclusion in India

Digital payments in India have grown phenomenally in the past decade. This report highlights how digital payments in the country grew and charts the path ahead. We look at the journey of digital payments in India, major events and entities that contributed to it, and products that revolutionized the digital payments space. We also identify barriers to the digital payments sector and analyze the future of digital financial inclusion through payments for the low- and moderate-income segments in India.

Postal banks: A stepping stone to the formal financial system?

This blog is part 1 of a two-part series. The blog highlights the immense potential of postal banks to spearhead financial inclusion. It covers parameters that financial institutions, including postal banks, should address to serve low- and moderate-income customers effectively. We look closely at the challenges postal banks face across the globe and how they manage them. We highlight approaches and practices that can guide postal banks in their journey of innovation and mission to improve the lives of the unserved—especially in emerging and transitioning economies.

Lessons from Frontier Markets: Surpassing gender norms to build a tech-driven and self-starter marketplace model to onboard the next half-million rural women

This blog highlights the journey of Frontier Markets, a startup that uses its social-assisted rural e-commerce marketplace, digital infrastructure, services, and solutions to empower rural women from the SHGs and help them augment their family incomes. It focuses on lessons from Frontier Markets’ growth for other village entrepreneurship platforms that intend to scale operations.