The Better Than Cash Alliance, hosted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) through its Sustainable Finance Hub, supported its members in enabling digital payments for more than 100 million people in 2024. This milestone marks major progress in advancing financial inclusion, especially for women, with 82% of advisory services supporting gender-intentional initiatives.

The 2024 Annual Report highlights the progress of nearly 20 member countries and partners, including 30 major initiatives and 40 policy reforms.

The swift finalization of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Digital Trade Protocol Annexes, just six months after their adoption by the African Union, marks a major step forward.

• In Ethiopia, the Alliance supported the implementation of the country’s first National Digital Payments Strategy, leading to the opening of 110 million new digital accounts.
• In the Philippines, digital payments adoption rose from just 1% in 2013 to over 50% in 2024.
• In Guatemala, an Alliance study estimated up to $6.8 million in post-harvest losses due to cash-based inefficiencies in the coffee sector. The Alliance provided targeted support to digitize payments and reduce those losses.

The Alliance’s advocacy contributed to the World Health Organization (WHO) enabling digital payments for over two million healthcare workers, primarily in Africa, and to wage digitization efforts by global brands for more than one million factory workers, most of them women.

Despite this progress, more than 1.3 billion people worldwide, most of them women, remain excluded from the formal financial system, facing ongoing barriers to access and usage.

Hosted by UNDP, the United Nations development agency working in over 170 countries and territories, the Alliance is well-positioned to scale inclusive and responsible digital payment systems that deliver meaningful, lasting impact and leave no one behind.