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Catalyzing Financial Inclusion: The Case of Grameen Foundation’s Community Agent Network Program in the Philippines

Offering digital financial services to women and men in low-income and rural areas requires much more than a technology solution. It also involves activities that encourage client adoption, a robust agent network and reliable digital platforms, and a viable business for financial technology providers. This report shares key lessons from Grameen Foundation’s Community Agent Network (CAN) in the Philippines with respect to these areas.

CAN combines a mostly female agent network that works out of small local businesses, such as sari-sari shops, with a digital financial services platform that connects people with banks, utility companies, government agencies, and other businesses. As of April 2018, the CAN network includes over 1,800 trained agents, more than 75 percent of whom are women. It has enabled up to one million low-income people in the Philippines to benefit from formal financial services.