Refugees and Their Money: Assessing the Business Case for Providing Financial Services to Refugees

BFA Global supported by FSDA carried out a macro and microanalysis to build a better understanding of the financial needs of displaced populations in Rwanda. The study had two objectives: first, to provide market intelligence to build a sound business case for financial institutions to profitably serve the forcibly displaced persons (FDPs) population; and second, to better understand the financial needs of the FDP population in Rwanda to enable financial service providers (FSPs) to effectively target the segment.

The BFA team engaged with financial service providers to better understand the risks and barriers in offering financial services to displaced people. Through a market sizing exercise, a segmentation matrix was developed using existing data sets. With insights from the financial institutions, BFA conducted fieldwork with FDPs to understand the need for formal financial services. The fieldwork sought to understand the access to and usage of commercially provided financial services. The results of the research and the business case were then shared with the financial service providers. Five FSPs were then selected to go through a three-day design sprint where they developed a paper prototype and tested it out with FDPs in one of the camps. The BFA team led the design sprint. The team in collaboration with FSDA, UNHCR and AFR developed a communications plan that ensured the results would be disseminated to different financial services providers in the region.