Supporting Digital Payments in Cash Programming

This report, commissioned by FSD Africa and authored by Strategic Impact Advisors (SIA), provides recommendations for the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and other humanitarian actors to enhance the use of digital financial services (DFS) and mobile money for cash transfers in Sudan. The analysis identifies supply-side barriers, such as the lack of agent networks and KYC document recognition, and demand-side barriers, including low digital capability among women and the high cost of handsets.

• To encourage private sector engagement, humanitarian organizations should provide financial service providers (FSPs) with detailed projections on transfer numbers, including the frequency and value of disbursements, to help them calculate revenue potential. SIA developed a high-level revenue potential analysis based on data from the Sudan Cash Working Group (CWG) to assist providers in assessing the market opportunity.
• The lack of physical points of service for mobile money is exacerbated by airtime resellers who prefer high commissions from informal airtime credit transfers over formal DFS. Humanitarian organizations can support the transition to formal systems by providing demand data to potential agents and supporting fintechs and interoperable shared agent networks, such as Alsough.
• Despite a 2019 decree from the Central Bank of Sudan stating that the Commission of Refugees (COR) identity document is a valid know your customer (KYC) document, banks have been slow to adapt their procedures. Humanitarian organizations are encouraged to advocate for clearer regulatory guidance on refugee access to mobile money wallets and educate internally displaced persons (IDPs) and host communities on the benefits of possessing an ID for DFS registration.
• Demand-side barriers to digital payments include a lack of confidence in mobile phone and internet usage among women, and the high cost of handsets, which was the most common barrier in West Darfur and White Nile. The report suggests integrating digital capability training into beneficiary interactions and partnering with mobile network operators (MNOs) to subsidize handsets.
• Limited network coverage, especially for mobile internet, hinders digital payment adoption. While expanding infrastructure is beyond the scope of humanitarian organizations, they can collect signal strength data during field visits to provide feedback to MNOs and make data-driven decisions on whether digital payments are viable in specific areas.

APA

TIMOTHYRADIER (2022). Supporting Digital Payments in Cash Programming. FSD Africa. https://fsdafrica.org/sudan-supporting-digital-payments-in-cash-programming-august-2022/

Chicago

TIMOTHYRADIER. Supporting Digital Payments in Cash Programming. FSD Africa, 2022. https://fsdafrica.org/sudan-supporting-digital-payments-in-cash-programming-august-2022/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=TIMOTHYRADIER |title=Supporting Digital Payments in Cash Programming |publisher=FSD Africa |date=19 December 2022 |url=https://fsdafrica.org/sudan-supporting-digital-payments-in-cash-programming-august-2022/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{timothyradier2022supporting, author = {TIMOTHYRADIER}, title = {{Supporting Digital Payments in Cash Programming}}, institution = {FSD Africa}, year = {2022}, month = dec, url = {https://fsdafrica.org/sudan-supporting-digital-payments-in-cash-programming-august-2022/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }