An Introduction to Digital Credit: Resources to Plan a Deployment

The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) has been tracking the proliferation of digital credit services over the past two years. It is obvious that there is huge innovation and creativity in this area, but (as should be expected) there are many cases where basic fundamental miscalculations have occurred.

With this introductory course, CGAP aims to help address some of the early learnings on the subject, created for those who aim to design and deliver digital credit: banks, payments providers, mobile operators, microfinance lenders or third party fintech firms. Donors, regulators and policymakers will also find this a useful introduction. The course material outlines basic concepts and provides an overview of new, emerging models. It provides tools to help practitioners and regulators better understand how the products work, including design and financial considerations. The course is divided into five main sections:

1. Introducing digital credit;
2. Credit scoring and uses of new alternative data;
3. Product and service design considerations;
4. Financial considerations;
5. Building partnerships.