Financial Inclusion Program at Innovations for Poverty Action

Deadline: 29 April 2016

The Financial Inclusion Program at Innovations for Poverty Action is currently accepting Expressions of Interest (EOI) from teams of researchers and financial service providers to conduct rigorous research on financial product innovations for low-income households in developing countries.

Supporting Areas

• Designing financial and non-financial services linked to digital finance channels, including payments for health and education services.
• Increasing women’s use of (and empowerment through) digital financial services.
• Testing cash transfers and graduations programs which connect people to digital channels.
• Addressing the specific needs and cash-flow challenges of farmers and micro-entrepreneurs.
• Improving take-up and usage of formal financial services by the poor through product design, regulation, or other policy levers.
• Incorporating behavioral insights into financial product design.

Funding Information

This call for Expressions of Interest (EOIs) marks the second competitive funding round of a four-year, $4.1 million

Eligibility Criteria

• Applicants: Each application must be presented by a team consisting of:
  • one or more researchers involved in the design of the intervention and responsible for carrying out a rigorous evaluation of the program.
  • one or more practitioner institutions from the financial sector who will partner with the research team on the proposed intervention.
  • Researchers must be affiliated with a research institution or a university and either hold a PhD or be currently pursuing a PhD in a relevant social science or engineering discipline. They must demonstrate experience in field research and randomized evaluations.
• Geographic Focus: The fund encourages research projects in developing countries.
  • Projects in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, as well as applications from research teams with one or more researchers working full time in these regions, are particularly encouraged.
• Research: All submissions must present a rigorous study design for a randomized evaluation and a clear set of hypotheses.
• Submissions proposing to conduct field-based data collection should specify the research implementing partner organization that will assist the research team with the management and implementation of the randomized evaluation.
• The organization must demonstrate experience implementing randomized evaluations and have a presence in the country.

How to Apply

Applicants must complete the Expression of Interest (EOI) application form via given website and submit the completed application and other required attachment via email.

For more information, please visit Call for EOIs.

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