Resource Library

The Resource Library serves as a broad resource hub, including over 1000 documents, training materials, wikis, and curated reports to increase readers' awareness, understanding, and proficiency of several topics in market systems development. Users have access to proposals, evaluation materials, and USAID policy updates, as well as training modules and wikis to boost skills and knowledge.

These resources are bolstered by the inclusion of curated USAID reports published on the USAID Development Experience Clearinghouse (DEC) which serves as a repository of reports from completed or ongoing USAID development projects around the globe. The full USAID Development Clearinghouse website can be accessed here.

Mobilizing Investment for Development with Transaction Advisory Services: Learning Brief

July 21, 2023
USAID's Private Sector Engagement (PSE) Policy recognizes that private sector resources and capabilities are required to work at the scale needed to address development challenges effectively and sustainably. Mobilizing private capital has become an increasingly important part of this effort.
  • By: Kristin Jangraw
Read more
An EKOTEK customer uses solar lights to work at night.

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mSTAR/Bangladesh Final Evaluation

mSTAR's activity in Bangladesh ran from September 2013 until September 2017. Its primary objective was to assist USAID/Bangladesh to integrate digital payments in the programs and operations of implementing partners, as well as to support expansion of the digital payments industry in ways that are beneficial to USAID programs and USAID’s broader development objectives at an ecosystem level.

Opportunities for Digital Financial Services for Agricultural Mechanization in Bangladesh: A Market Landscape Assessment

The mSTAR/Bangladesh project, working with the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia - Mechanization and Irrigation (CSISA-MI) project, conducted an assessment in six districts of southwest Bangladesh to look at opportunities for digital financial services integration in agricultural mechanization services. This included an examination of potential financial products that could be proposed to financial institutions for creating opportunities for mechanization service providers and users to access financial support through digital channels.

Dispute Landscape & Market Governance

This report investigates how frequently disputes occur, their underlying causes, and avenues for recourse function vis-a-vis a market's governance structure.

Mobile Financial Services in Rural Bangladesh: Common Challenges and Possible Solutions

Although Bangladesh is one of the world’s largest markets in terms of active mobile financial services (MFS) users (with more than 25 million active accounts as of April 2017), accessing those services is still a challenge for many Bangladeshis, particularly in rural areas. This infographic shows some of the many challenges that rural Bangladeshis face using MFS and some potential solutions.

Increasing Operational Efficiency and Farmers’ Savings: Milton’s Story

Sub-Assistant Agricultural Officer (SAAO) Milton Boiragi has been working with USAID’s Agriculture, Nutrition and Gender Linkages (ANGeL) project since 2016. In addition to being responsible for providing technical training to 25 farmer households on improving their agricultural productivity and promoting the consumption of nutrition fortified agricultural products, Milton also processes requests to disburse training allowances to those households. This story tells of his experience after the ANGeL project began making training allowances directly to households using mobile money.

Increased Income Earning Opportunities: Bala’s Story

Kuber Chandra Bala is a fish farmer who had previously participated in trainings offered by USAID's Aquaculture for Income and Nutrition (AIN) project. In 2014, AIN began paying training incentives to farmers like Bala via mobile money. Bala soon started using his MFS account to make purchases and top up his mobile airtime, saving him time and money. With the time saved, he was able to engage in other income-earning opportunities. This is the tenth in a series created by mSTAR/Bangladesh to show the tangible benefits of digital financial services on people's lives.

Digital Financial Service Product Innovation #2 - IFIC Mobile Banking

The Feed the Future Bangladesh Rice Value Chain (RVC) project funded by USAID and implemented by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Bangladesh, is partnering with IFIC Bank Limited with support from mSTAR/Bangladesh to pilot a new agri-credit facility for farmers in Jessore and Satkhira districts. This learning document provides more details about this exciting DFS product innovation, including its benefits and the roles of those involved.

How mSTAR/Bangladesh Can Help Digital Financial Service Providers

As a Digital Financial Services (DFS) provider, why would you want to collaborate with USAID’s Mobile Solutions Technical Assistance and Research/Bangladesh (mSTAR/B) project? The answer is simple. We work closely with many organizations in the development sector, and have an intimate understanding of their needs, as well as of those individuals they work with. This document highlights the five main ways that we can support you to expand your business to this sector and the populations it works with.

Mobile Money Snapshot: Use Cases of Mobile Financial Services in Bangladesh (by Payment Type)

This document illustrates some of the different ways that mobile financial services (MFS) are being used in Bangladesh. It intends to help USAID’s implementing partners learn more about how mobile financial services are being and have been used for different purposes across different projects and programs implemented by government agencies, private sector players and development organizations.

Mobile Money Snapshot: Use Cases of Mobile Financial Services in Bangladesh (by Beneficiary)

This document illustrates some of the different ways that mobile financial services (MFS) are being used with different types of beneficiaries in Bangladesh. It intends to help USAID’s implementing partners learn more about how mobile financial services are being and have been used across different projects and programs implemented by government agencies, private sector players and development organizations.

Agent Banking 101

Agent banking is the latest innovation in banking services available in Bangladesh. It aims to provide formal banking services to the unbanked, including populations that have traditionally been more inaccessible. Although officially sanctioned by Bangladesh Bank in late 2013, agent banking has only recently started to take off in Bangladesh in the past year and a half. It represents another channel, like mobile financial services, promoted by the Government of Bangladesh to promote financial inclusion.

mSTAR/Bangladesh: Technical Assistance to IRRI Bangladesh

The Rice Value Chain (RVC) project is a 15-month pilot project run by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) Bangladesh to support the private sector with the goal of improving the efficiency of the rice value chain. RVC is working through eight partners and the intervention areas are mostly in the south and southwest of Bangladesh.

The Potential of Using Digital Financial Services for Savings Groups in Bangladesh

The primary goal of this assessment was to increase understanding of the structure of savings groups in Bangladesh, which are mainly represented by lower-income populations, as well as the financial behavior (both savings and expenses) of members of those savings groups, in order to identify opportunities that may exist for leveraging digital financial services. The assessment looked into the challenges facing different savings groups with regards to cash management, required level of effort to manage a savings group (cost and time), literacy, and exposure to financial services.

Mobile Money Snapshot: Department of Youth Development

This two-page publication details the experience of the Department of Youth Development (DYD) in Bangladesh in their transition from cash to mobile payments. It includes an overview of their activities, the types of transactions they transitioned to mobile, what that transition process entailed, and challenges and benefits associated with their transition. It also includes key takeaways from their experience so that others can apply DYD’s lessons learned to their own transition to digital payments.

Deep Dive into the Mobile Financial Services Offered in Bangladesh: Presentations by two leading providers | Workshop

USAID’s mSTAR project aims to increase operational efficiency and productivity across USAID Bangladesh’s agricultural and health portfolios through mobile and electronic payment adoption. Aligned with this objective, mSTAR Bangladesh facilitates quarterly and district-level technical workshops to increase awareness and competence of relevant USAID implementing partners (IPs) on the benefits of using mobile payments. 

Mobile Money Tipsheet: Bridging the Mobile Financial Services Gender Divide

USAID promotes increased access to and usage of mobile financial services in order to deepen financial inclusion, accelerate broad-based economic growth, and instill transparency into funding flows. These tipsheets are intended to assist USAID implementing partners in Bangladesh to more effectively make use of mobile financial services.

The Transition Benefit: From Cash to Mobile Financial Services in the Aponjon Initiative, Bangladesh

This assessment was conducted to systematically understand the benefit of transitioning from cash to mobile financial services (MFS), under an mHealth initiative for expectant and new mothers (branded as Aponjon), which is run by Dnet in Bangladesh. The transition was made with an expectation of efficiency gains in Aponjon’s incentive payment system to Aponjon agents at the community level, which are provided to them for customer acquisitions that they make.

From Farmer to a Mobile Money Champ: Sagor's Story

Adopting mobile money does not only bring benefits to development organizations, but it can also bring about dramatic change in the personal and professional lives of staff and beneficiaries. This MM Experience tells the story of Sagor, a beneficiary farmer of USAID's Aquaculture for Income and Nutrition (AIN) program implemented by WorldFish. Sagor is now popularly known in his community as a mobile money champ. This is the fifth in a series created by mSTAR/Bangladesh to show the tangible benefits of mobile money on people's lives.

mSTAR/Bangladesh: Mobile Money Consultative Group Meeting Minutes February 2015

The mSTAR/Bangladesh-organized Mobile Money Consultative Group held its second meeting on February 19, 2015. The MMCG serves as a platform through which stakeholders can share their experiences using mobile money, as well as to identify opportunities for new product innovations and barriers that may exist in effectively using existing products to reach remote and underserved populations. Over 20 representatives from the donor community and development sector attended and contributed to the constructive dialogue. This summary provides meeting highlights.