The initiative entails multidisciplinary research that quantitatively evaluates interventions including financial incentives, policy mandates as well as financial/institutional arrangements that drive digital financial inclusion including women’s access to digital financial services.

The initiative seeks to catalyze collaborations among researchers, policymakers, and financial service providers to experiment with practical solutions for expanding the reach of mobile money and banking agent networks that are essential for connecting low-income households, women, and vulnerable populations to formal financial services. It commits to support projects in Asia and Africa in a manner that fosters real collaboration between researchers in the Global South and Global North.