Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) has joined the Mojaloop Foundation Global Partner Program, adding a strong research voice to a group that includes GFTN, Visa, Finternet, Cenfri, GLEIF, FNA, MOSIP and the AfricaNenda Foundation.
Innovations for Poverty Action is a global research and policy nonprofit dedicated to identifying effective ways to reduce poverty in low- and middle-income countries. A major part of its mission centers on financial inclusion. Its Financial Inclusion Program (FIP) produces rigorous evidence on what works to improve the quality, choice, and utilization of financial tools and policies.
IPA’s approach emphasizes rigorous evaluation. Since its founding in 2002, IPA has worked with over 600 leading academics to design and evaluate more than 550 potential solutions to poverty problems, with another 280 more evaluations currently in progress. To date, FIP has implemented and/or funded more than 130 completed and ongoing randomized evaluations in 29 countries. These studies explore how people access and use financial services, what design features matter most, and how providers and policymakers can expand usage in a sustainable way.
Hussam Razi, Associate Director of the Financial Inclusion Program at IPA, explained that the vision guiding this work is straightforward: “We want to ensure that high-quality financial tools and policies are aligned with the real financial management needs of individuals, households, and firms.”
IPA shares its findings through publications, webinars, matchmaking events, and direct policy partnerships so the evidence can inform product design and regulation, helping effective interventions to reach scale.
Why IPA Chose to Partner With the Mojaloop Foundation
IPA’s interest in instant payment systems is central to its decision to join the Global Partner Program. Instant payment systems (IPS) allow users to transfer funds in real time, and IPA has been leading a research initiative that examines their design elements (such as pricing) and real-world impact.
The initiative covers five IPS platforms in five countries: the Tanzania Instant Payment System (TIPS), InstaPay in the Philippines, RAAST in Pakistan, Pix in Brazil, and the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in India. The goal is to understand how these systems are being used, which features encourage adoption, and what outcomes they produce for consumers and businesses.
“We believe that the rigorous evidence generated from our current studies will be instrumental in designing new payment systems, ensuring that they impact the lives of underserved populations, while enabling financial sector sustainability,” Razi said.
He noted that the Mojaloop Foundation’s continued expansion of instant payment technology across sub-Saharan Africa makes this partnership especially timely. “IPA anticipates that its research will help Mojaloop refine design choices, while Mojaloop’s market presence will allow IPA to explore emerging questions in regions where open source payment infrastructure is taking root.”
IPA is also looking forward to collaborating on joint publications and contributing to broader knowledge-sharing efforts related to digital public infrastructure (DPI).
How IPA Approaches Digital Financial Solutions
Many of IPA’s insights apply directly to organizations developing new digital financial products. Razi emphasized that any effort to reach underserved or unserved populations must be guided by research: “Only by understanding what works — and what doesn’t — can we ensure that digital finance truly serves consumers.”
This principle applies across product design, regulation, and long-term sustainability. IPA argues that rigorous evidence is not an optional layer; it is the foundation for improving consumer welfare, mitigating risks, and expanding access to meaningful financial services.
What Trends in Payment Systems Are Most Promising
IPA’s team studies IPS deployments across multiple regions, giving the organization a view of global trends. Razi described the rapid spread of IPS platforms across sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and Latin America as one of the most significant developments in recent financial sector innovation.
“Some systems have achieved widespread usage, while others remain early in their growth. IPA sees cross-market insights as essential because understanding what leads to strong adoption in one context can guide design decisions in another.”
Razi also emphasized that more rigorous research will help identify the conditions that enable digital financial services to scale when built on instant payment rails.
Learn More About IPA’s Work on Digital Public Infrastructure
IPA recently published a blog exploring how to measure the real impact of digital public infrastructure in financial services, outlining current progress, research gaps, risks that need mitigation, and priority areas for future study. You can learn more about their work by reading it on their website.
