DSG Hub: Our Journey to Promote Safe and Gender-responsive Digitization of Savings Groups

By Paula Rudnicka, Sr. Manager for Public Affairs

Across the globe, savings groups are increasingly using digital solutions – such as digital ledgers and wallets – to manage group records and conduct financial transactions. This leads to the emergence of digital savings groups (DSGs) whose procedures, records or transactions are digitized in some way, typically by using mobile phones and applications.

Global Communities began digitizing savings groups in 2017 in Tanzania using DreamSave—a digital ledger designed by DreamStart Labs. The evaluation of this pilot project revealed that digitization brings many benefits to savings groups, but also comes with significant risks and barriers. The pilot also taught us that digital transformation requires much more preparation and planning than we had anticipated, and we wondered how others handled the various challenges we faced. We knew that all DSG projects implemented across the globe generate a wealth of information about different aspects of digitization, but this knowledge was not easily available.

To fill this knowledge gap, in 2021 we embarked on an exciting journey to create and facilitate the DSG Hub, which was officially launched in June 2022 with the support from the FAHU Foundation and other private donors. We led the design of the website, developed anchor resources, hosted webinars and built a community around the Hub.

What is the DSG Hub?

We created the Hub to inspire innovation, share learnings and create a destination for anyone who is planning, implementing, developing technology for, or studying DSGs. Under our leadership, the Hub was guided by the following vision, mission and theory of change:

• Vision: A world with financial and digital inclusion for all, especially women, youth, and marginalized populations in underserved markets.
• Mission: To help savings group members and practitioners make sound decisions about whether and how to effectively digitize savings groups.
• Theory of change: If savings groups members and practitioners have access to high-quality resources about digitization and can easily connect with each other to share insights, experiences, and ideas, then digital transformation will be more effective and inclusive, accelerating the benefits of savings groups for their members, including greater digital and financial inclusion.

Over the past three years, the key objectives of the Hub were to:

• Share high-quality resources so that we can all learn from successes and shortcomings in the sector, and
• Build a dynamic and enthusiastic community of practice around the Hub, where diverse stakeholders can connect, exchange knowledge and ideas, and plant seeds for future collaboration.

What are Anchor Resources?

In addition to facilitating the Hub, Global Communities led the creation of many of its signature resources, including:

Since 2021, the Hub has grown into the central repository for DSG information, with more than 70 resources from evaluations, blogs, webinars, training tools and lessons learned. We have also hosted several events showcasing the Hub and our resources to the broader development community:

• Savings Groups in the Digital Age: New Resources to Support Digital Transformation
• Vendor and Product Showcase: DSG Technologies Advancing Financial Inclusion
• Savings Groups in the Digital Era: Promoting Gender-Responsive & Inclusive Digital Transformation
• Innovations in Savings Group Programming for Women’s Empowerment

Why Is It So Important to Promote Safe, Inclusive & Gender-responsive Digital Transformation?

Women represent approximately 80% of savings groups members and savings groups provide them with critical access to finance, social support and economic strengthening interventions. Existing evidence demonstrates that participation in savings groups also enhances women’s agency, including confidence and decision-making power. Digital transformation has the potential to accelerate the benefits of savings groups for women and underserved populations by expanding their digital identities and bridging the gap to formal financial services. It may also help facilitate their participation in the formal economy.

Yet digitization happens in the world of digital divide, where women’s and marginalized people’s access to and use of digital technologies are constrained by rigid gender and social norms, unequal power dynamics and resource limitations. Research shows that if not done right, digitization can have negative consequences for women’s and marginalized groups’ ability to participate in, lead and benefit from savings groups. Without adequate training, support and gender transformative interventions, women and underserved groups may experience discrimination and exclusion, especially in mixed gender groups, where men typically have more experience with technology and are more likely to play leadership and digital recordkeeping roles. Women may also face increased risks of data privacy violations and gender-based violence (GBV), including technology-facilitated violence.

Gender-responsive and inclusive digitization of savings groups is an approach through which these risks and barriers are intentionally identified, addressed and monitored in the process of digital transformation. The goal is to ensure that everyone, including women and marginalized groups, can equally participate in and benefit from DSGs.

A Path Forward

Today, we are thrilled to announce that the DSG Hub project has entered its third phase with a new facilitator, CARE International.

We would like to express our sincere words of appreciation to the FAHU Foundation and other private donors for supporting the DSG Hub.  We are also incredibly grateful for the DSG community’s contributions to the Hub and for our collective efforts to promote thoughtful, safe and inclusive digitization of savings groups. We are proud of what we have accomplished together.

Dennis Mello, Sr. Director, Gender Equality, Youth and Social Inclusion

While Global Communities has decided to take a step back as a manager of the DSG Hub, our commitment to supporting the DSG community and, more broadly, financial inclusion and gender equality, remains the same. We look forward to staying engaged and contributing content to the Hub, and we are very excited for what the future holds.

We encourage you to visit the DSG Hub, explore the rich library of resources and contribute content, too. To learn more about Global Communities’ signature savings group program Women Empowered, read a visual story Women Saving for Resilience: Transforming Lives Through Innovative Savings Group Solutions.