Digital financial services have changed how households, traders and small businesses save, pay and borrow. They have also created new risks, from agent fraud and social engineering to opaque digital lending terms and concentration among a few platforms. Development partners and regulators increasingly require evidence that these services are reaching intended groups and improving lives, and that risks are monitored before they harm consumers or stability.

The Monitoring and Evaluation of Digital Financial Services, Payments & Fintech Risk Training Course connects classic M&E practice with the particular data and risk issues of digital finance. Participants develop results frameworks and indicators, learn to combine operational data from providers with demand-side surveys, and design monitoring systems with sensible reporting lines. They then study evaluation approaches suited to financial inclusion, including mixed methods and quasi-experimental designs, and examine how to turn risk categories into measurable indicators and thresholds.

Throughout the week participants work with dummy transaction extracts and survey results, build indicator tables and visuals, and critique real programme reports. They conclude with a draft M&E and risk monitoring plan for a digital finance project of their choice, ready for refinement with colleagues.

After completing the programme, participants will be able to:

• Develop a theory of change and results framework for a digital financial services programme.
• Select indicators for access, usage, quality, affordability and consumer protection.
• Combine provider transaction data with household and merchant survey data.
• Design sampling, data collection and quality assurance for financial inclusion surveys.
• Build dashboards that track usage, gender gaps and performance trends.
• Choose evaluation designs and questions suited to digital finance interventions.
• Translate fraud, cyber, operational and conduct risks into monitorable indicators.
• Report findings and learning to donors, regulators and management.

The course is suitable for people who measure, regulate or manage digital finance, including:

• Monitoring, evaluation and learning officers
• Financial inclusion and digital finance programme managers
• Central bank and financial regulator analysts
• Mobile network operator and payment service provider staff
• Fintech product, data and risk managers
• Bank digital channel managers
• Development partner and donor programme officers
• Researchers and consultants evaluating inclusion projects

Participants will have:

• A results framework and indicator reference sheet for a digital finance project.
• A data collection plan combining transaction records and surveys.
• A prototype dashboard showing usage, gender gaps and risk signals.
• A short evaluation design note with questions, methods and data needs.
• A risk indicator library with suggested thresholds and escalation steps.
• A reporting template that explains results in plain language.

Sessions are applied and data-driven, featuring:

• Guided exercises with dummy transaction and survey data sets
• Hands-on dashboard building in spreadsheet software
• Critical reading of real evaluation reports on digital finance
• Small group design of indicators and risk thresholds
• Discussion of data access and privacy challenges in participants' markets

Participants who attend the entire course and complete the framework and dashboard exercises are awarded a CPD-accredited Certificate of Completion by Vision Reach Global Consultancy.