Welcome to the Better Than Cash Alliance blog. We hope you enjoy our online community as we feature commentary from the Better Than Cash Alliance founders and partners and highlight successful stories from around the world about the shift from cash to electronic payments. Our blog will tell the ongoing story of how electronic payments are advancing global financial inclusion, empowering people and growing emerging economies. If you have questions or comments, please contact us. We welcome your feedback.
Kenya is moving towards emerging market status and the government’s focused strategy of creating an electronic payments economy is contributing to its growth. During a reception hosted by the Better Than Cash Alliance at the World Bank / IMF Spring Meetings, Better Than Cash Alliance Managing Director Dr. Ruth Goodwin-Groen asked Kenya’s Dr. Geoffrey ...
Dr. Ruth Goodwin-Groen, Managing Director, Better Than Cash Alliance The World Bank and the Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS) recently hosted the Third Meeting of the CPSS – World Bank Retail Payments Forum in Perugia, Italy. I was invited by Forum Co-Chair Massimo Cirasino, who is Head of Payments Systems Development Group at the World ...
By Matt Renaud, Chief Financial Officer, ACDI/VOCA At ACDI/VOCA we see firsthand how technological innovations are revolutionizing approaches to global economic development. This is particularly true for electronic payments. Around 2.5 billion people around the world are “unbanked.” Without access to financial services, they can’t save for the future, build assets or get credit. For ...
By: Ruth Goodwin-Groen, Managing Director, Better Than Cash Alliance At the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, this morning, the Better Than Cash Alliance hosted a roundtable discussion with Juan Jiménez Mayor, Prime Minister, Republic of Peru; Dr. Mauricio Cárdenas, Minister of Finance, Republic of Colombia; and Florencio B. Abad, Secretary of Budget ...
Alliance Accelerates Work to Transition from Cash to Electronic Payments Worldwide NEW YORK, November 27, 2012 — The Better Than Cash Alliance, founded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Citi (NYSE: C), Ford Foundation, Omidyar Network, the U.N. Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and Visa Inc. (NYSE: V), today ...
By: Doug Sabo, Visa Corporate Responsibility Around the world, 2.5 billion people lack access to formal financial services. As a result, most poor households live almost entirely in a cash economy. Shifting to electronic distribution of social benefits, humanitarian aid or payroll can advance financial inclusion and help poor people build savings while achieving cost ...
On September 24, 2012 the Better Than Cash Alliance was launched at an event at the Ford Foundation in New York. Watch the video from the event: Program Agenda: I. Welcome by Luis Ubiñas, President, Ford Foundation II. Announcement of the Better Than Cash Alliance Rodger Voorhies, Director, Financial Services for the Poor, Global Development ...
By: Bob Annibale This week, Citi helped to launch the Better Than Cash Alliance, a coalition of public, private and NGO partners that will call on governments, the development community and the private sector to adopt the use of electronic payments for programs that support the underbanked — and provide resources to those who commit to make ...
“We are excited to be joining our partners in announcing the Better than Cash Alliance today. Committed to moving the global community onto electronic payments in place of physical cash, the Alliance will help the world’s poorest families join the modern economy and realize the benefits of a more transparent, inclusive, cash-light world. I’m optimistic that this Alliance ...
VISA JOINS GLOBAL LEADERS IN NEW PARTNERSHIP TO PROMOTE ELECTRONIC PAYMENTS AND IMPROVE LIVES By: Doug Michelman Today, Visa joins with six partners from government, the private sector and the international development community to launch the Better Than Cash Alliance. Working together with our other founding members – the United Nations Capital Development Fund, the U.S. ...
