Digital financial services for smallholder households
By IFAD
Recent advances in technology and telecommunications have the potential to make financial services more accessible and affordable for smallholder households in rural areas. With digital platforms such as mobile phones, smallholders can now use financial services without having to visit a bank branch. The number of digital financial services (DFS) is increasing, including smallholder- specific ones, as well as the number of countries in which services are available. However, there are still many barriers to uptake and use of DFS by smallholder households in most parts of the world, such as smallholders’ lack of trust in digital products, limited uses for digital money and limited network coverage in rural communities. Nonetheless, DFSs hold great promise for expanding financial inclusion among smallholder households. Recent experimentation offers key lessons for the design and delivery of suitable digital finance options for smallholder households.
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