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How development partners can enable an inclusive multi-bureau future

Posted on by Adityaraj

In the first part of this three-part blog series, we examined the fundamental challenge of data quality that Bangladesh’s new multi-bureau credit system faces. We established that financial service providers (FSPs) must report complete and standardized information to ensure borrowers’ repayment histories serve as verifiable financial assets across the entire market. Only through this commitment can the system realize its promise of inclusion.

In this second part, we focus on the architects of the system. The Bangladesh Bank, government ministries, and global development partners (DPs) must recognize the critical truth that this reform extends beyond the licensure of new credit bureaus. The objective centers on financial inclusion at scale. The architects of the reform must actively execute the following three essential elements to drive this systemic change:

  • Strong regulatory oversight;
  • Sequenced implementation;
  • Targeted technical assistance.

The Bangladesh Bank established a robust regulatory framework for the multi-bureau system. Comprehensive guidelines are now available, and the rules mandate full-file reports, shared data submission obligations, and reciprocity, which refers to the requirement that any institution accessing credit bureau data must also provide its own borrower data to the bureau. This ensures that all participating institutions contribute to and benefit from a comprehensive and transparent credit information system.

This framework is intentionally broad and includes all major lender segments, such as banks, nonbank financial institutions (NBFIs), microfinance institutions (MFIs), cooperatives, and digital lenders.

On paper, this foundation promotes broad market participation. In practice, however, the quality and coverage of data reporting depend heavily on the technical capabilities and existing incentives of individual lenders. While large commercial banks and leading MFIs operate centralized management information systems (MIS) that can integrate bureau reporting quickly and efficiently, this is not the case across the sector.

Many smaller MFIs and cooperatives rely on simple, branch-level systems. This infrastructure gap critically undermines how well they can deliver consistent, standardized, and timely reports. If these smaller institutions fail to report their client data, then the very clients they serve remain invisible to the new system. This would most significantly affect rural entrepreneurs, informal workers, and thin-file borrowers who have limited or no history in the formal banking system.

The introduction of private credit bureaus, therefore, will not automatically shift the system toward behavior-based assessment. Success depends entirely on the following three factors:

  • Enforcement of the regulatory architecture;
  • Consistent participation by lenders;
  • Protections for borrowers to prevent unintended exclusion.

Global DPs become an indispensable force at this juncture. Institutions, such as the World Bank and development finance institutions (DFIs), must provide strategic support for the transition. They must offer a carefully sequenced strategy, effective enforcement mechanisms, and technical assistance across a diverse set of lenders. These partners should actively support the Bangladesh Bank to strengthen both the regulatory environment and supervisory capacity.

These partners can strengthen the ecosystem through the interventions below:

  • Sequenced implementation: DPs should help the Bangladesh Bank segment lenders based on MIS maturity. The regulator can then define differentiated and time-bound minimum standards for each segment. Smaller institutions struggle with real-time systems. DPs can support the introduction of batch submissions as a practical interim solution.
  • Strengthened oversight: DPs can enhance the supervisory capabilities of the Bangladesh Bank and the Microcredit Regulatory Authority (MRA). This enhancement includes the following two priorities:
    • Harmonize data standards across all sectors: Disparities in data fields, definitions, and collection methods between the Bangladesh Bank-regulated banks and the MRA-regulated MFIs can lead to data fragmentation. DPs must support a unified approach to ensure that the bureaus effectively use and compare the information reported by all lenders.
    • Improve model governance oversight: The shift to a multi-bureau system will introduce multiple, privately developed credit-scoring methodologies. Supervisors must ensure that bureau score models remain transparent, explainable, and non-discriminatory. Strong oversight is essential to prevent automated decision-making from unintentionally excluding or unfairly pricing loans for specific borrower segments. Development partners can provide technical support and draw on international best practices to help strengthen model governance, supervisory review, and audit frameworks.

Bangladesh must embrace the responsible integration of alternative data. This action will open up the market for thin-file borrowers. Once the core credit system proves reliable, alternative data can substantially enrich bureau models. Data from mobile money transactions, merchant sales, and utility payments will all add value.

DPs should enable stakeholders to design standards for alternative data use. They must help develop interoperable data exchange formats that allow this non-traditional information to flow securely and efficiently.

Critically, DPs must help strengthen Bangladesh’s consumer protection framework. The system must embed the key borrower rights mentioned below to ensure trust and fairness:

  • The right to access and correct credit data;
  • Streamlined dispute resolution mechanisms;
  • Notice before adverse action protocols.

Finally, DPs should support national efforts in financial literacy. Borrowers must understand how lenders use their credit histories and how to proactively manage their own credit reputation. This education empowers borrowers and reinforces the integrity of the system.

Bangladesh’s multi-bureau reform is emblematic of a critical moment. This reform goes beyond a technological upgrade and constitutes an institutional transformation. Regulators and DPs must commit fully to achieve inclusion and growth. Strong regulation and support will establish the foundation for systemic stability. While this groundwork is vital, the ultimate success of this reform depends on the effective use of this rich new data. Lenders must assess risk confidently for millions of informal workers. Micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Bangladesh currently face exclusion from formal finance. This system can change that.

In the third part of this series, we will examine market incentives and global lessons that drive creditworthiness assessment through alternative data. This analysis will show how the new multi-bureau system can serve as a mechanism for the nation to achieve financial inclusion at scale.

Part 2: Moving climate-displaced persons to financial self-reliance

Posted on by Melya Findi Astuti

In Part 1 of this two-part blog, we explored the harsh realities faced by internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Tanzania, such as Asha, whose lives are upended by climate disasters. We highlighted how the lack of identification, limited access to agents, and systemic trust issues keep IDPs excluded from financial systems, despite the country’s high overall inclusion rates.

In Part 2, we turn from challenges to solutions. How can financial services be redesigned to meet the unique needs of displaced populations? And what roles can regulators, financial service providers (FSPs), and development partners play to transform financial access into genuine economic empowerment?

Asha’s struggle underscores that financial services must be intentionally designed around their lived realities to serve displaced populations effectively. This calls for simpler onboarding processes, flexible and relevant product bundles, trusted grievance redressal mechanisms, and gender-sensitive financial literacy initiatives.

We must promote coordinated action across multiple sectors to create financial services that truly support the underserved. We can redesign financial inclusion strategies to reflect the realities of displacement, which can help Asha and many more turn hope into tangible economic empowerment.

 

Collaborative pathways toward financial empowerment

Global evidence shows that displaced persons can thrive when they are supported with the right financial tools within an inclusive financial system. Achieving this, however, requires coordinated action.

FSPs can design flexible, low-cost products customized to the realities of displaced populations, products that meet their immediate needs, and build pathways to long-term resilience.

Governments and regulators should create supportive frameworks that address identification and access barriers, which enhance grassroots consumer protection.

NGOs and FinTechs are vital in order to promote trust, deliver effective localized financial education, and codesign community-centric and relevant financial solutions.

Donors play a crucial role by funding pilots that innovate and test new solutions.

  • Investment in innovation: 122 million people have already been forcibly displaced. These shocking numbers are expected to rise as climate events become more frequent and severe. Donors should invest strategically in innovative, displacement-focused financial inclusion initiatives. These initiatives include decentralized and locally led financing mechanisms that empower communities. Donors should also support green and inclusive financial policies that target vulnerable groups, and link funds to performance for transparency and impact on resilience.

Way forward

The challenge of financial displacement is urgent, but it can be solved. Governments can adopt inclusive policies and integrate displaced populations into national strategies, while regulators can allow alternative IDs and flexible risk assessments.

In turn, FSPs can design products that meet real needs, rather than focus solely on perceived risks. Technology providers can also extend digital solutions to remote areas and settlements.

Development partners can de-risk investments, fund digital infrastructure, and support blended finance mechanisms. Additionally, civil society can amplify the voices of displaced individuals, provide financial education, and serve as a bridge between communities and FSPs.

Financial displacement strips Asha and those many others of their agency and dignity. Financial inclusion can restore both. The choice is whether we continue with short-term aid or build systems that give displaced persons the tools to become self-reliant and contribute fully to their communities. The latter seems to be the most inclusive and empowers the path forward.

Part 1: Advancing financial inclusion for climate-displaced persons in Sub-Saharan Africa

Posted on by Melya Findi Astuti

A sudden flood, cyclone, typhoon, drought, earthquake, or tsunami can force you to leave your home in an instant. Your bank account becomes unreachable overnight. Your documents vanish, and your ability to earn an income disappears. This is the reality for Asha and the other 122 million people worldwide who have been forcibly displaced by mid-2025. In Tanzania alone, more than 46,000 people were displaced by climate-related disasters in 2024. These people are not only statistics. They are parents looking for ways to provide for their children, young people eager to continue their studies, and entrepreneurs trying to restart small businesses. Yet, they face barriers that lock them out of the very financial systems that could help them rebuild their lives. 

We often focus on food, shelter, and humanitarian aid. But financial access rarely makes the headlines, even though it may be one of the most powerful ways to restore dignity and hope. Displacement does not just strip away homes and belongings. It also erases critical connections to social and financial systems. Although Tanzania reports an 89% financial inclusion rate, this statistic conceals a harsh reality: Internally displaced persons (IDPs) are systematically excluded from the financial services that could help them rebuild their lives. 

 

The hidden cost of displacement 

Displacement disrupts lives in many ways. Beyond the loss of housing or safety, IDPs lose access to money and the ability to manage daily expenses. Without formal identification, they cannot open bank accounts, and without stable addresses, credit becomes unattainable. In such contexts, mobile money is often cited as a lifeline. Yet, even mobile solutions remain frustratingly out of reach for those displaced far from urban centers. 

A joint diagnostic study by MSC, the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI), and the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) on financial inclusion for climate-induced IDPs in Tanzania revealed the extent of these challenges: 

  • Documentation and regulation: Many displaced people, especially women, lack valid identification, which makes it difficult to meet bank requirements. Rules designed to prevent money laundering or terrorism financing often block them from opening accounts or accessing services. 
  • Physical access: Camps and settlements are usually far from bank branches, and digital connectivity is weak or unreliable. Mobile money agents, crucial access points in rural and peri-urban areas, are scarce, and travel distances are very long. Even where they exist, liquidity problems make transactions unreliable. 
  • Perceptions and product fit: Financial service providers (FSPs) often see displaced persons as high risk or low value. Products are not designed for irregular income or people without collateral. 
  • Lack of gender specificity: Women face compounded exclusion and are often less likely to possess formal identification, own mobile phones, or control household financial decisions. Displacement disproportionately affects women’s economic autonomy and places them at greater risk. Solutions for financial inclusion that overlook these gender-specific challenges risk the perpetuation of inequality rather than its resolution. Stakeholders should design inclusive financial services that recognize and address the unique hurdles women face in displacement scenarios. 
  • Trust: Without knowledge of consumer protections, recourse mechanisms, or even basic financial literacy, displaced people remain reluctant to engage with formal financial systems fully. More than one-third of IDPs from MSC’s diagnostic study had trust-related concerns. 

Consequently, financial services remain distant dreams rather than accessible realities. The impact is a cycle of dependency. Without access to safe savings, credit, or insurance, displaced people remain vulnerable to shocks and unable to rebuild. 

The difference financial inclusion makes for IDPs 

When climate disasters strike and IDPs lose their homes and their financial identities, access to financial services becomes more than just a matter of money. It represents choice, control, and the possibility to plan for a future beyond survival. Savings accounts can help families avoid harmful coping strategies, such as selling off essential assets during times of crisis. FSPs must effectively communicate how to maintain key physical and digital IDs and financial documents, and change their processes to allow account recovery after climate events. 

Credit enables small businesses to recover and expand. Small businesses create livelihood opportunities in both displaced and host communities. Insurance cushions against health shocks and climate-related risks, while digital payments reduce fraud and provide safer, faster ways for people to receive the funds they need. 

Yet, despite this potential, MSC’s work shows that financial services remain significantly out of reach, as 62% of the diagnostic study’s IDP respondents do not save, and 87% do not borrow formally. As a result, many turn to informal coping mechanisms. Hence, 36% of the study’s IDPs save, and 77% borrow informally, respectively. These include borrowing small amounts from neighbors or selling productive assets. Traditional banking models require collateral, steady income, or credit history requirements that displaced people, by their very circumstances, cannot meet. While informal stopgaps may provide short-term relief, they ultimately deepen vulnerability and erode resilience in the long run. 

This gap is where inclusive digital financial services can make a tangible difference. Mobile money accounts, agent networks, community savings groups, and flexible credit products customized to displaced populations can bypass traditional barriers. Partnerships between banks, FinTechs, humanitarian agencies, and regulators already show how displaced persons can be integrated into formal systems. This integration restores their livelihoods as well as their dignity. 

When customized appropriately, financial tools offer hope. In East Africa, the World Food Programme’s digital cash transfers reduced fraud and gave women greater control over household finances. Platforms, such as M-Pawa in Tanzania and Timiza in Kenya, show how simple, mobile-based savings and micro-credit services can provide access without collateral or credit histories. These platforms prove their effectiveness even in fragile contexts. Their benefits extend far beyond individuals like Asha, who achieve their dreams. When displaced people actively participate in local economies, they contribute to growth, reduce dependency on aid, and promote social cohesion. Host communities gain new customers, business partners, and entrepreneurs, transforming displaced populations from being seen as burdens into being recognized as vital economic actors. 

The relevant stakeholders must commit to these solutions and design with the intention to scale. They should build agent networks that reach camps and host communities. They need to offer products in local languages, which will ensure consumer protection, and coordinate across humanitarian and financial stakeholders. For Asha and countless other displaced persons, financial inclusion becomes more than an economic tool. It charts the pathway to resilience, dignity, and shared prosperity.  

Way forward 

Displacement robs people of more than just homes. It strips away financial identity and independence. Despite Tanzania’s high financial inclusion rate, internally displaced persons (IDPs) remain mainly excluded, which leaves them trapped in cycles of vulnerability. We need to work toward solutions that close the gaps in basic access and address the realities of displaced communities effectively. 

In Part 2, we will explore how financial inclusion can empower IDPs through practical strategies, collaborative efforts between governments, financial service providers (FSPs), NGOs, and gender-sensitive approaches. We can transform financial systems into lifelines and help displaced communities move from survival to self-reliance. This shift will restore dignity, rebuild opportunities, and enable long-term resilience. 

Bangladesh’s bureau reform turns repayment history into portable assets

Posted on by Adityaraj

For years, millions of borrowers in Bangladesh have remained invisible to the formal financial system. These borrowers include microfinance clients, informal workers, and small business owners. Their creditworthiness, demonstrated through consistent repayment in non-bank systems, has failed to earn formal recognition. This invisibility has limited opportunities for both borrowers who seek capital and lenders who look for reliable clients.

Yet, we may see an inflection point emerge in Bangladesh’s financial landscape, with Banks transitioning from the single-bureau model of the Bangladesh Bank’s Credit Information Bureau (CIB) to a multi-bureau framework. The Bangladesh Bank has issued Letters of Intent (LoIs) to Creditinfobd, TransUnion, bKash Credit, First National Credit, and City Credit, but TransUnion and bKash have chosen to form a joint venture. As a result, four private credit bureaus, namely, Creditinfo BD, the TransUnion–bKash joint entity, First National Credit, and City Credit, are now set to enter the market as CIBs.

This shift promises to democratize credit data and reorient credit assessment away from collateral and institutional ties toward actual repayment behavior. In this first part of this blog series, we examine the ecosystem-wide implications of this reform for financial service providers (FSPs), who will be instrumental in determining its success.

The problem: The CIB’s limited scope

Bangladesh’s credit information system has long relied on the Bangladesh Bank’s CIB, which provides exposure data to banks and nonbank financial institutions (NBFIs). Yet, the CIB’s coverage remains fundamentally constrained, which leaves critical segments of the economy undocumented and underserved.

Some of the data currently captured by the CIB are listed in the table below:

Source: Bangladesh Bank 

Crucially, systems, such as microfinance, cooperative lending, merchant credit, and digital credit, remain largely outside the CIB’s scope. As a result, many economically active borrowers, even those with strong repayment histories in these non-bank systems, are reduced to thin-file or no-file clients in the formal system, which renders them functionally invisible to traditional lenders.

The multi-bureau operational model as an opportunity

The four licensed private credit bureaus will fundamentally reshape access to financial inclusion by using alternative data from telecoms, utilities, and retail businesses to generate comprehensive credit scores for individuals with thin files or who are unbanked.

Under this new model, data flows are fundamentally restructured:

Proposed operational model of the new private credit bureau framework. Source: Bangladesh Bank’s “Guidelines on Licensing, Operation and Regulation of Credit Bureau” 

The Bangladesh Bank will supervise the bureaus under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2024. This new approach enables the bureaus to incorporate alternative data, such as spending patterns and low-value transactions, to build credit profiles for previously excluded segments. This structural shift introduces a critical innovation of portable credit history, which in turn supports credit ratings and improves borrowers’ ability to negotiate fairer terms.

For the first time, borrowers can accumulate “reputation collateral” that transcends individual institutions. A microfinance client’s consistent repayments, a merchant’s reliable utility payments, or a gig worker’s transaction patterns become transferable assets. This portability enables borrowers to use their financial behavior to access better credit terms, lower interest rates, and expanded financial opportunities across the formal sector.

The core challenge: foundation before innovation

Alternative data can enhance credit scoring only once comprehensive, real-time reporting of traditional credit data is completed from all formal lenders, such as banks, NBFIs, MFIs, and cooperatives. At present, Bangladesh’s credit information infrastructure suffers from critical structural weaknesses. Data updates lag by weeks or months, submissions remain incomplete across institutions, and reporting formats lack standardization. Sophisticated alternative data models built on this fragmented foundation risk the amplification of existing gaps rather than their closure.

Bangladesh must first ensure full-file, frequent, and standardized reporting across all lender types to make bureau scoring robust, supported by MIS upgrades, data-quality checks, and uniform submission protocols. Only after the core architecture is reliable can transaction-level alternative data from platforms, such as bKash, meaningfully enrich bureau models.

The shift to a multi-bureau framework represents a defining moment for Bangladesh’s financial sector. Done right, it will establish “reputation collateral” for millions of potential clients who remain invisible to traditional credit assessment, unlock new market opportunities, and drive financial inclusion at scale.

The success of this transformation to a multi-bureau framework rests squarely with FSPs. Without full participation from banks, NBFIs, MFIs, and digital lenders and without their commitment to rigorous data quality standards, the system cannot fulfill its promise. The data practices FSPs adopt today will determine whether this reform expands market access or merely redistributes existing constraints tomorrow.

This brings us to the question: How can global development partners, such as the World Bank and development finance institutions, strengthen the regulatory framework and enable this inclusive multi-bureau transition?

In Part 2 of this series, we will examine the crucial role of development partners, regulatory framework enhancements, and oversight mechanisms required to ensure the reform effectively drives upward mobility for all segments of the financial ecosystem.

 

Introducing the alliance for inclusive AI: an open global coalition to build AI that serves billions, not just the few

Posted on by harshita

Washington DC / London / Nairobi / New Delhi / Singapore — 8 December 2025

Today, BFA Global, Caribou, and MSC—organizations whose work spans more than 150 countries— launch Alliance for Inclusive AI, an open coalition committed to ensuring that the next wave of artificial intelligence (AI) expands opportunity. By 2030, the Alliance aims to deliver responsible, practical AI solutions to 100 million people and mobilize US$100 million in blended finance.

AI is set to reshape economies and public systems, yet new divisions are emerging: between countries that can afford the necessary technology and those that cannot; between enterprises able to adopt AI tools and those left out; and between people who can access these tools and those who cannot. Without leadership from emerging markets, AI will be built on assumptions that fail to reflect how most of the world actually lives and works.

Ajay Banga, World Bank Group President, cautioned that “Big AI will create a bigger disparity between the developed world and the developing world at the start. On the other hand, ‘small AI’ – local models delivered on local devices – is going to be amazingly productive.”

The Alliance is an open, collaborative, practitioner-led effort to bring inclusive AI into the workflows of financial inclusion, agriculture, climate resilience, and digital public services across the Global South.

Prateek Shrivastava, MD of BFA Global, said: “Only by joining forces to mobilize resources can we bring meaningful AI infrastructure and solutions to hundreds of millions of people globally.”

Jessica Osborn, CEO of Caribou, said: “AI will reshape how people earn, learn, and access services. It will only deliver real impact when marginalized communities shape it. This Alliance ensures local actors build and use AI in ways that reflect their realities.”

Working at the intersection of global development and AI innovation, the Alliance’s work is organized around six pillars:

  1. Create foundational AI infrastructure tailored to emerging markets.
  2. Deliver practical, small-AI solutions that cater to the needs of the underserved.
  3. Partner with universities to develop local talent for responsible AI.
  4. Develop operational tools that work in low-resource, low-connectivity environments.
  5. Support governments, DFIs, regulators, and regional bodies to design and implement inclusive AI strategies.
  6. Create shared repositories of datasets, case studies, and toolkits.

Technology providers, DFIs, investors, governments, research institutions, and civil society organizations are invited to join.

Graham Wright, Co-Chair and GMD, MSC, warned: “Countries that lack digital infrastructure, skilled workforces, and supportive policy frameworks may find themselves further marginalized.”

BFA Global is a global impact innovation firm that combines research, advisory, venture building, and investment expertise to build a more inclusive, equitable, and resilient future for underserved people and the planet. We partner with leading public, private, and philanthropic organizations to catalyze innovation ecosystems for impact across emerging markets.

Caribou is a global digital development consultancy that helps foundations, companies, and governments design and deliver responsible, inclusive digital systems. With expertise in data governance, digital identity, youth employment, and responsible technology, Caribou strengthens the policies, programs, and ecosystems that shape equitable digital futures.

MSC is a global inclusion consulting firm that works with governments, providers, and innovators to enable social, financial, and economic inclusion for everyone in the digital age. Its local teams in 70+ countries bring practical expertise across finance, technology, agriculture, and social protection. We help clients seize the digital opportunity, address the mass market, and future-proof operations.

Media Contact
Parul Seth
parul@microsave.net

This article was also published on ANI, The Wire and Tribune India.

This press release was published across 105 media websites.

 

 

Agent lifecycle playbook

Posted on by Adityaraj

“Agent Lifecycle Playbook” is a comprehensive guide to ensure high-performing, resilient, and inclusive agent networks. This playbook is based on global insights, which outline effective practices across the full agent lifecycle. These include recruitment, onboarding agents, strengthening capability, liquidity, safety, and long-term viability. This playbook integrates a strong gender lens that offers strategies to support and scale women agents. It equips providers, policymakers, and ecosystem actors with actionable tools to enhance agent productivity and improve last-mile financial service delivery. 

This playbook is developed as part of the project, “Scaling agent viability and quality,” funded by the Gates Foundation from 2023 to 2025.