Understanding Philosophies of Trust in Digital
The Digital Portfolios of the Poor project surveyed low-income people across India, Kenya, Nigeria, and Pakistan to understand their digital trust philosophies, using automated voice interviews in local languages and AI-powered qualitative analysis. It found that low engagement with digital financial services is not an infrastructure problem but a trust problem, structured around four pillars (Risk Perception, Risk Mitigation, Responsibility Perception, Benefit Perception) and three archetypes (Control Seekers, Assurance Seekers, Protection Seekers) that recur across all four countries in different proportions. These findings need to reach DFS providers, regulators, central banks, and donors investing in financial inclusion, and this webinar series will surface them alongside the practical workshop methodology that has translated them into provider-level action.
About
3,500 women
We interviewed over 3,500 women across seven populations in Kenya, Nigeria, and Senegal, covering both urban and rural settings. The study focused specifically on women who already had some access to a phone, with the goal of understanding the texture of their digital lives rather than measuring basic access
350,000 audios
The survey generated over 350,000 audios clips across the five regions where audio data was processed all audio responses were manually translated into English by local translators except swahili where we used our model.
Across 3 countries
The survey was conducted in Kenya, Nigeria and Senegal
DFS providers designing for their customers' needs
Do you work at a DFS provider? Explore the workshops we did with DFS in Kenya and Nigeria, and get access to our Toolkit so you can exercise using our findings to understand your customers and design for their needs.
Partners and Collaborators
This work was generously funded by the Gates Foundation and made possible through our field partners.
Grantee, Project Manager
Grantee, Academic Support
