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The Mastercard Foundation Savings Learning Lab The MasterCard Foundation Savings Learning Lab The MasterCard Foundation works with visionary organisations to provide The MasterCard Foundation Savings Learning Lab is a six-year initiative greater access to education, skills training and financial services for people living implemented by Itad, in partnership with the SEEP Network. The Lab's aim is to in poverty, primarily in Africa. As one of the largest private foundations, its work support learning among the Foundation’s savings sector portfolio programmes is guided by its mission to advance learning and promote financial inclusion to through increased alignment and effectiveness of monitoring and evaluation, and create an inclusive and equitable world. through the generation, synthesis, curation and dissemination of knowledge. www.mastercardfdn.org Itad’s purpose is to provide insight and Itad, as the Learning Partner, will work ideas to drive more effective use of resources across and with the Foundation's partners, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH in international development through monitoring Foundation staff, and with the wider Savings and evaluating what works, where and why. Sector, to support actionable learning, and will: Itad provides independent, professional advice 1 Develop and maintain a dynamic to organisations looking to scrutinise their aid Learning Framework for The MasterCard programmes. Itad’s work provides accountability Foundation Savings Portfolio. to the ultimate funders of the programmes, whether they are taxpayers or philanthropists, 2 Synthesise and aggregate learning as well as learning for the broader international across the portfolio and sector. community to improve the way that 3 Conduct and/or manage development is done. complementary research. WITH SUPPORT FROM 4 Facilitate learning and knowledge sharing with key audiences. WHERE THE LEARNING Morocco PARTNERS WORK CARE POWER AFRICA CARE Aims to increase the financial inclusion of 480,000 direct Mali beneficiaries and their households through forming savings groups, financial education, and linking mature groups to (4) formal financial institutions in 4 countries in Africa. Senegal Burkina Faso Benin OPM SAVINGS AT THE FRONTIER (SatF) Nigeria Ethiopia OXFORD Aims to expand the range of savings products and services available to POLICY Code people living in Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia by testing and implementing d’Ivoire Ghana MANAGEMENT Liberia business models that sustainably deliver those products and services to Cameroon (3) savings groups and users of other informal savings mechanisms. Uganda Kenya CRS EXPANDING FINANCIAL INCLUSION (EFI) IN AFRICA Rwanda CATHOLIC Aims to expand the depth of poverty outreach of Savings and Burundi RELIEF Internal Lending Communities (SILC) so that vulnerable households SERVICES experience greater financial inclusion to increase their resilience. Tanzania (4) WSBI MAKING SMALL SCALE SAVINGS WORK WORLD Aims to establish the viability of low-balance savings accounts and use of customer- Malawi SAVINGS AND The MasterCard centric approaches to address barriers faced by low-income individuals and Zambia RETAIL BANKING Foundation Savings households in seven countries in Africa in access, usage and affordability of savings INSTITUTE Learning Partnership services. It will do so by working with partner banks to increase savings amongst is a six-year initiative (8) these people, and to reach scale and sustainability with their low balance accounts. implemented by Itad, in partnership with UNCDF MICROLEAD the SEEP Network. UNITED Challenges financial service providers (FSPs) to develop, pilot and scale deposit NATIONS services for low-income, rural populations, particularly women. It works with CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT 18 FSPs in ten countries in sub-Saharan Africa (plus three FSPs in Myanmar). FUND By deploying alternative delivery channels, such as agency banking and digital financial services, and predominantly working through informal community groups, MicroLead is helping to build the business case for FSPs to reach (10) what were previously considered unbankable populations. (NO. OF COUNTRIES) CARE OPM 1 2 OXFORD 1 CARE POLICY CANADA 3 MANAGEMENT 4 3 PROMOTING OPPORTUNITIES FOR 1 COTE D'IVOIRE SAVINGS AT THE FRONTIER 1 GHANA 2 WOMEN'S ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT 2 ETHIOPIA Savings at the Frontier will identify high potential business 2 ZAMBIA 3 RWANDA 3 TANZANIA IN AFRICA (POWER AFRICA) models – including the innovative use of technology – and 4 BURUNDI This four-year project aims to increase the financial inclusion deliver support, in the form of funds, technical assistance 2015–2021 of 480,000 direct beneficiaries and their households by 2013–2017 and monitoring to approximately eight selected financial LEARNING TO DATE working across the financial inclusion ladder through forming service providers (FSPs) in the three countries. The FSPs will LEARNING TO DATE Infographic: Savings at the savings groups, financial education, and linking mature groups implement and test the business models to deliver financial Frontier Countries in Context to formal financial institutions. With a strong focus on POWER Africa services to individuals who currently only have access to empowering women and girls, these savings groups provide rolling profile videos informal ones, thereby establishing effective links between Blog: Can Insights from Informal Groups help us move from a platform for additional trainings and community initiatives Participatory Video Research – users of informal savings mechanisms (ISMs) and the formal access to usage? on gender equality and can act as a space for women to share Is VSLA methodology adaptable financial system. It will scale access to financial services for for adolescent girls in Burundi? Blog: From analysis to action: skills and advice. POWER Africa also engages mobile network at least 250,000 rural and semi-urban households. A robust operationalising learning operators to pilot ways of increasing access to financial www.carepowerafrica.com monitoring, research, evaluation and learning framework and adaptation in Savings at the Frontier services, particularly in hard-to-reach areas. In Ethiopia, will capture insights on what works and what doesn’t in Linking users of informal financial the majority of beneficiaries are women and women-headed different contexts. This learning will be constantly fed services with formal financial households, while in Burundi the project specifically targets KEY LEARNING ? back into programme design to course-correct as needed services: A Review of the Evidence adolescent girls (75% of outreach). In Rwanda, the project is QUESTIONS to achieve the greatest possible impact. Learning in the working with mature facilitated savings groups, the majority • What is the household impact programme will also contribute to the wider knowledge base of whom are women, to link them to financial institutions. of formal financial inclusion and on financial inclusion, helping to construct a set of effective, In Cote d’Ivoire, the project works with men and women in linkage for VSLA members? scalable approaches that open the door to meaningful www.opml.co.uk/projects/ rural and peri-urban areas. financial services for excluded populations around the world. savings-frontier • What is the impact of formal financial linkage and VSLA platforms on business development and growth? KEY LEARNING QUESTIONS ? • What is the impact on household • What are the different segments of users/clients of the informal savings mechanisms economic conditions when VSLA is and how do they differ from each other? combined with market engagement • How do the financially excluded and underserved users (e.g. women, young people, strategies? smallholder families and people living in remote areas) of ISMs respond to linkage experiences • Are VSLAs an appropriate platform and opportunities and how can the mutual value proposition of linkage for ISMs be shared for adolescent girls in accessing with FSPs? financial services? • What can we learn from the SatF supported models on how best to serve the financially • Do VSLA members have more resilience excluded and underserved? to withstand drought and/or political • What are the challenges and opportunities for financial institutions to contribute towards instability than non-VSLA members? and manage the formation and acquisition of informal savings mechanisms and how can • What is the business case for FSPs the mutual value proposition of linkage for FSPs can be shared with ISMs? to develop and deliver products for VSLAs and their family members? 1 WSBI CRS 3 1 2 2 WORLD 5 CATHOLIC SAVINGS AND 4 RELIEF RETAIL BANKING 3 SERVICES INSTITUTE 6 7 8 EXPANDING FINANCIAL INCLUSION IN AFRICA 1 SENEGAL 4 MAKING SMALL SCALE SAVINGS WORK 1 MOROCCO Expanding Financial Inclusion (EFI) in Africa is a four-year 2 BURKINA FASO Making Small Scale Savings Work builds on a 2008-2016 2 SENEGAL 3 UGANDA 3 MALI project funded by The MasterCard Foundation whose core ten-country programme aimed at doubling the number of 4 ZAMBIA 4 COTE D'IVOIRE goal is to expand the depth of poverty outreach of Catholic savings accounts for low-income people at partner banks. 5 NIGERIA 2013–2017 Relief Services’ Savings and Internal Lending Communities The new programme will test and apply new business models 6 UGANDA (SILC) to ensure that vulnerable households experience arising from economic analysis around price sensitivity and 7 KENYA 8 TANZANIA LEARNING TO DATE greater financial inclusion to improve their resilience. demand, targeted on low-income unbanked segments,
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