Resources by Dr. Robin Gravesteijn

Flagship Reports

Bridging the Digital Divide: Gender Insights on Remittance Access, Usage, and Financial Health

This gender synthesis report investigates migrant and family experiences with international remittance services, emphasizing digital channels and their impact on underserved populations, particularly women, across Africa and Asia. The findings…

Articles and Case Studies

Key Drivers to the Access of Digital Remittances: A Case Study of TerraPay Remittance Flows to Sub-Saharan Africa

UNCDF partnered with TerraPay, a global cross-border payment network, to study the growth of digital remittance channels in Sub-Saharan Africa in the IGAD, ECCAS, and ECOWAS regions. This article presents…

Articles and Case Studies

Uncovering Customer Needs to Improve Remittance Access, Usage and Financial Resilience in Bangladesh: Insights from BRAC Bank

Drawing upon UNCDF’s first article on BRAC Bank where research insights were drawn from the analysis of 4.2 million transaction records over the last 5 years, this second article links…

Migrant Money Notes

Approaches to Evaluating and Estimating Informal Remittance Flows in Developing Economies

Remittances are emerging as one of the largest sources of external finance for many least developing countries, yet their exact size often remains unknown to policymakers and the private sector…

Articles and Case Studies

Shifting From Cash to Digital Remittances During the Pandemic: A Case Study of BRAC Bank in Bangladesh

UNCDF is providing technical assistance to help BRAC Bank better understand its customer data, act strategically on emerging insights, and ensure that innovation remains inclusive and migrant-centred. The research partnership…

Articles and Case Studies

Integrating Remittance and Mobile Wallet Services: A Case Study of IME Pay in Nepal

IME Pay is Nepal’s top remittance company, and in 2017, with technical assistance from UNCDF, it developed a digital mobile wallet for domestic users to send and receive money. It…

Articles and Case Studies

Migrant Remittances in the Times of Covid-19: Insights From Remittance Service Providers

Before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, many migrants were already part of marginalized and vulnerable groups experiencing economic hardships in their countries of origin and host communities. Lockdowns and business closures…

Articles and Case Studies

Impact of COVID-19 on Migrants and Families as Shared by Remittance Service Providers

The financial and health vulnerabilities of migrants and their families have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis. Migrant workers and their families have not been spared from the dire consequences…

Articles and Case Studies

Challenges Faced by Remittance Service Providers and Initiatives Taken

Global remittance volumes are on the decline. As the COVID-19 pandemic sweeps across the globe, remittance service providers (RSPs) have undoubtedly felt its impact. In a recently conducted survey by…