On Thursday, March 29th, The NetHope Payment Innovations Working Group held its first session.  The theme focus of this session was a general overview of branchless banking 101.  The working group was lead by Sarah Rotman of the Consultative Group for Assisting the Poor (CGAP).  Sarah has worked with CGAP for nearly fours years, and has conducted extensive research on the impact of technology on financial access for the world’s poor.  Sarah’s presentation covered the basic factors of branchless banking, and took a closer look at how it is helping more of the world’s poor achieve access to formal financial services without needing a traditional bank branch nearby.  The presentation lead to an engaging question and answer session where the working group members asked questions and added commentary.  Much of the conversation surrounded how NGOs could become more involved in the mobile money/branchless banking movement.  This is a question the working group will continue to explore in the coming months as we discuss technology’s role in the supply of more formal financial services to the 2.5 billion adults that are still unbanked today.  The Payment Innovation Working Group will convene every month, and breach themes that will garner a better understanding of electronic payment solutions for our members.  We also hope to create relevant tools to help the NGO community more efficiently implement and deploy electronic payment solutions within their own programs.  If you are interested in joining our next session, please contact hamilton.mcnutt@nethope.org