Sub-Grants

ReFinD offers five categories of sub-grants, ranging from USD 5,000 for proposal development to USD 450,000 for large-scale greenfield evaluations. These grants support innovative research projects aimed at expanding digital financial inclusion and improving retail finance distribution networks.

Proposal Development

💡 Turning Ideas into Impactful Research
Funding Amount: $5,000
Purpose: Supports researchers in developing strong research proposals for pilot projects, natural experiments, and greenfield evaluations.
Eligibility:

  • Early-stage researchers and institutions preparing proposals.
  • Proposals must align with ReFinD’s research priorities.
    Grant Coverage:
  • Researcher time and resources.
  • Preliminary data collection.
  • Proposal refinement and stakeholder engagement.
    Duration: Up to 6 months.
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Pilot Project Grants

🚀 Testing Innovations for Financial Inclusion

Funding Amount: $40,000 – $60,000
Purpose: Provides 3 to 12 months of funding to develop and test innovative interventions or research methodologies.
Eligibility:

  • Researchers with initial concepts for scalable projects.
  • Projects should focus on testing new financial inclusion models.
    Grant Coverage:
  • Small-scale intervention deployment.
  • Data collection and analysis.
  • Feasibility assessments.
    Expected Outcome: Insights from pilot studies that can support full-scale research projects.
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Natural Experiment

🔍 Real-World Insights from Policy Changes
Funding Amount: $40,000 – $60,000
Purpose: Funds research that leverages existing variations (e.g., policy changes, new regulations, or financial product rollouts) to study their impact on financial inclusion.
Eligibility:

  • Research using quasi-experimental methods.
  • Studies analyzing natural variations between different groups.
    Grant Coverage:
  • Data collection and statistical analysis.
  • Researcher time and project expenses.
  • Stakeholder engagement and reporting.
    Expected Outcome: Empirical evidence on how financial policy or market changes affect financial inclusion.
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Research Extension

Funding Amount: $100,000 – $125,000
Purpose: Supports expanding ongoing research by funding additional experiments, follow-up studies, or data collection.
Eligibility:

  • Researchers with existing projects needing additional funding.
  • Projects should have previous funding from recognized institutions.
    Grant Coverage:
  • Endline data collection and analysis.
  • Expansion of sample size or study duration.
  • Follow-up interventions based on previous findings.
    Expected Outcome: Strengthened longitudinal research and deeper insights into digital financial inclusion strategies.
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Greenfield Evaluation

🌍 Scaling Solutions for Global Impact
Funding Amount: $250,000 – $450,000
Purpose: Provides long-term funding (3 to 4 years) for large-scale experimental research to rigorously evaluate digital financial interventions.
Eligibility:

  • Research teams conducting randomized controlled trials (RCTs) or other robust evaluation methods.
  • Projects should focus on impact assessment of financial solutions in underserved communities.
    Grant Coverage:
  • Full-scale field experiments.
  • Long-term impact assessments.
  • Multi-country or multi-site research projects.
    Expected Outcome: High-quality evidence that can inform policy decisions and financial service innovations.
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