2017 ICT4D Conference

Cash transfers play a fast-growing role in both development and humanitarian programming, reflecting their strong evidence base. In the humanitarian sector, for example, cash transfers are currently just 6% of all programming, but many organizations are targeting ambitious growth -- by 2020 the International Rescue Committee seeks to convert 25% of its programming, while World Vision International is targeting 50%.

Yet scaling up cash often poses daunting challenges for program teams on the ground. Many beneficiaries are not yet part of the formal financial sector; to reach them, program teams must typically negotiate complex arrangements with local financial service providers (e.g. mobile money providers) - or resort to distributing envelopes of paper money. Secure, scalable technical systems to manage payments are not readily available, and must often be re-procured from project to project. Meanwhile, major funders such as USAID and DfID face pressure to improve auditability and efficiency on cash initiatives they back, increasing the reporting burden needed to secure re-funding.

Over the last three years, Segovia has partnered with leading international development organizations to address these challenges. Segovia provides seamless access to a global network of pre-positioned payments options, enabling its partners to start paying beneficiaries on day 1 in geographies across Africa, Latin America and South Asia. The Segovia platform provides a turn-key solution to mobile money payments, and allows an organization to provide dynamic reporting to funders (with a strong track record of re-funding.)

In his talk, CTO Satwik Seshasai will describe how Segovia’s partners are using our payment platform to scale cash transfers quickly and securely, reflecting back on lessons learned from tens of thousands of beneficiaries paid in 2016, and looking ahead to key challenges and opportunities.