Better Than Cash Alliance

The Better Than Cash Alliance is a global partnership of 80 governments, companies, and International Organizations that accelerates the transition from cash to responsible digital payments to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

History, description and work
The Better Than Cash Alliance was created in September 2012. Its founding members were the governments of Colombia, Kenya, Peru, and the Philippines, as well as CARE, Concern Worldwide, Mercy Corps, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and World Food Programme (WFP). The United Nations Capital Development Fund serves as the secretariat.

Based at the UN, the Alliance now has 80 members and is an implementing partner for the G20’s Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI). The Alliance’s secretariat works closely with member governments, companies and other global organizations. According to its website its members are committed to digitizing payments in order to boost efficiency, transparency, women’s economic participation and financial inclusion, helping build economies that are digital and inclusive. Its website also states that "Members do not want to abolish physical cash, but rather want to provide responsible digital payment options that are 'better than cash.

The Alliance Secretariat works with members on their journey to digitize payments by:


 * Providing advisory services based on their priorities.
 * Sharing action-oriented research and fostering peer learning on responsible practices.
 * Conducting advocacy at national, regional and global level.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Citigroup, the Ford Foundation, the Omidyar Network, the United Nations Capital Development Fund, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID),  and Visa Inc. were founding funders of the Alliance. Further current funders include the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Mastercard Foundation, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).