Market landscaping for agent lending and recruitment

• Sep 4, 2025
• 1 min

Cash-in and cash-out (CICO) agents are crucial to increase financial inclusion, yet they remain underfinanced across developing markets. These agents face persistent credit and liquidity gaps that hinder their business sustainability and expansion.

MSC conducted a study to understand how the digital financial services (DFS) agent distribution network functions. The study also focused on how emerging business models can reduce liquidity and credit constraints among agents. This study was conducted across the nine countries of Bangladesh, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, and Uganda.

The structure, constraints, and opportunities within agent lending ecosystems across nine low- and moderate-income countries (LMICs).

MSC led a two-phase research and diagnostic engagement. In the first phase, MSC conducted comprehensive market mapping, ecosystem profiling, firm-level analysis, agent recruitment mapping, and market sizing. In the second phase, we interviewed stakeholders, developed business models, and identified key lending constraints, such as institutional reluctance, data fragmentation, and regulatory opacity.

We released a report, “Lending to cash-in and cash-out (CICO) agents: An untapped frontier in microenterprise lending,” which identified a USD 500 million to 1 billion financing opportunity. The findings offer actionable insights to improve agent viability, align incentives among ecosystem players, and unlock targeted credit solutions to scale inclusive financial services.

The Gates Foundation commissioned this project.