Better than cash: Ruth Goodwin-Groen on how digital payments promote safety, transparency and inclusiveness

Robin Davies speaks with Dr Ruth Goodwin-Groen, an Australian financial inclusion specialist who recently stepped down from her position as founding Managing Director of the Better than Cash Alliance, a position in which she served for over a decade. Ruth has devoted much of her working life to furthering the idea that digital payment systems, well managed, can be swifter, safer, more transparent and more inclusive than cash.

The Better Than Cash Alliance is a global partnership hosted by the United Nations Development Programme in New York that was established in 2012 to accelerate the transition from cash to responsible digital payments worldwide. It brings together over 80 members, including governments, companies, and international organizations, with the aim of advancing the Sustainable Development Goals through financial inclusion. It provides advisory services, conducts research, facilitates peer learning, and advocates for the responsible adoption of digital payment systems.

The World Bank’s Global Findex Database that Ruth mentions in this interview can be found here: https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/globalfindex/Data

This is episode seven in our 2024 season, which is a new beginning for the podcast after a hiatus of two years. We're bringing you a mix of interviews, event recordings, and in-depth documentary features relating to the topics we research at the centre – Australia's overseas aid, development in Papua New Guinea and the Pacific, and Indo-Pacific regional and global development issues.

Devpolicy Talks is the podcast of the Australian National University's Development Policy Centre.

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