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Photo: A woman enacting a transaction at an ATM in the Philippines. © Glenn Joseph Villarama / Unsplash

Shifting Trends: The Decline of Women's Financial Account Ownership in the Philippines

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Ria Zapanta

The Philippines, once a leader in women's financial inclusion, is experiencing an unexpected shift. Ria Zapanta, Research Manager of IPA's Financial Inclusion Program, reflects on the decline of women's edge in financial account ownership. Recent data shows a greater disparity between the number of and the types of accounts men and women hold. This blog explores the trends behind this change, including the rapid growth of mobile money accounts, and discusses how mobile financial services could potentially advance gender equality in finance moving forward.

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Photo: Elizabeth Vargas Vilca runs a shoe-manufacturing company in Peru. As a woman entrepreneur, she found it difficult to secure a bank loan due to a lack of collateral and credit history. (Photo courtesy of CARE)

​​​Unlocking Credit Access for Women Entrepreneurs

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Daniela Graney and Lauren Perlik

Women often face significant and unique challenges when trying to access capital. These challenges include social and cultural barriers, lack of collateral, and insufficient credit history, making it harder for them to secure formal loans compared to men. To better meet their needs, it’s crucial to identify the most effective credit options and financial products for women entrepreneurs. But where do gaps persist and what areas of research still need more exploration? IPA reviewed over 20 studies on financial innovations that provide valuable insights into what works—and where more research is needed—to empower women in their entrepreneurial journey.

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Research Highlight

Does Price Impact Consumer Demand for Off-net Payments in the Philippines?

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Photo: Cashless payment users. © David Dvoracek / Unsplash

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Joaquin Emmanuel J. Gonzales, Phillip Roessler, Russell Toth, and Hsin-Tien (Tiffany) Tsai

With IPA and a leading commercial bank, researchers are assessing the relationship between the price of instant account-to-account ("off-net") payments and their use by consumers in the Philippines. Users of the instant payment platform InstaPay will be randomly assigned to be able to make transactions for free, at a low price, a medium price, or a high price. Researchers will estimate the influence of the varying price levels on demand for off-net payments and identify the effects of off-net payments on consumer welfare.

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Policy Insight

IPA's Embedded Evidence Lab with the Central Bank of Nigeria

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Photo: CBN staff collect field data on financial transactions. © 2024 Henry Chukwu

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Henry Chukwu and Brian Mwesigwa

IPA and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have established an Embedded Evidence Lab within the bank’s Consumer Protection Department to analyze market trends and serve as a “single source of truth” across different teams. CBN uses these insights in conducting sustainable, data-driven conduct supervision and engagement with industry stakeholders, supporting Nigeria’s financial inclusion efforts, informing policy and program decisions, and cultivating a data-centric culture within the bank. IPA is currently in the process of scaling this work across other financial regulators within Nigeria, ensuring that financial supervision and consumer education programs across the country are grounded in the latest evidence.

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READ MORE ABOUT THE LABS

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Links of Interest

Enabling Stage-Based Learning: A Funders' Guide to Maximizing Impact

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IPA's Right-Fit Evidence Unit developed this comprehensive guide to help funders optimize learning at each stage of an intervention’s journey toward scale. Read the full guide

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to learn how stage-based learning can enhance data-driven decisions and lead to better intervention outcomes. Alternatively, download the one-pager

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for a brief overview of stage-based learning.

Differentiated Learning

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This newly launched IPA webpage serves as a comprehensive collection of content and update resources around Differentiated Learning, which blends targeted instruction with universal design for learning and active play-based pedagogy to improve learning outcomes for students.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Crime and Violence Reduction

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Another recent landing page on some of IPA's most impactful work covers the use of cognitive behavioral therapy to reduce crime, violence, and antisocial behavior in targeted communities. One of the most successful programs in Liberia which combined therapy with cash transfers has held a sustainable effect 10 years later. This evaluation continues to inform programs in the U.S., Canada, and Latin America.

Empowering Consumers: The Impact of Legal Aid on Mobile Money Disputes

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Silver Kayondo, a fintech lawyer in Uganda, has witnessed time and time again ordinary people in Uganda struggling with mobile money issues and receiving little to no help from mobile network operators. To address the dearth of consumer challenges, researcher ​​Matthieu Chemin, with support from IPA's Consumer Protection Research Initiative, partnered with Silver to provide free legal aid to resolve complaints.

IPA's Peace & Recovery Initiative: Emerging Insights from Over Seven Years of Evidence-Building

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Since 2017, IPA’s Peace and Recovery Initiative has contributed to the evidence base on how best to address and recover from conflict, violence, and humanitarian crises. As we launch our eighth call for proposals, we encourage innovative research proposals and present five key insights from our portfolio of 80 impact evaluations and related research projects focused on responding to and preventing fragility.

Emerging Evidence from the 2024 World Bank-UNHCR Joint Data Center’s Research Conference on Forced Displacement

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The Joint Data Center’s Third Research Conference on Forced Displacement brought together key stakeholders to connect innovative academic research with policy and practice to improve outcomes for forcibly displaced populations and the communities that host them. In this blog, we unpack this research and identify key lessons for policymakers and practitioners.

Improving Solutions to Forcible Displacement Through Evidence: Learning from Impact Evaluations in East Africa

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This blog collaboration between IPA's Peace & Recovery team and the UNHCR reflects on a growing number of rigorous impact evaluations on programming for displaced and host populations.

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Events



UPCOMING



Webinar Series | Best Bets in the Philippines

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November 21



2024 Ghana National Education Week and Evidence Summit

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November 18-22

RECENT

IPA Presents on Best Bets at the Sexual Violence Research Initiative 2024 Forum

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October 25



SEE ALL EVENTS HERE

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IPA in the News

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Sound of Africa Covers IPA Evidence on Child Growth Stunting in Zambia

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Dissemination on Food Security Featured in Liberia's Daily Observer

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Employment Opportunities

Project Manager - Tanzania Affordable Digital Finance Research Initiative | Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

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Drive the initiative by building relationships with key stakeholders and promoting the use of actionable research for decision-making



(Associate) Research Manager | Liberia

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Oversee an existing research portfolio that spans the sectors of human trafficking, education, and agriculture



(Sr.) Institutional Giving Manager | Washington, DC or New York, NY

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Identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward new institutional donors while maintaining relationships with existing institutional donors



SEE ALL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

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