Innovative Electronic Cash Transfer Programme for Emergencies. An Oxfam Visa case study in Philippines

On November 8, 2013, super Typhoon Haiyan (local name Yolanda) struck the Philippines, killing more than 6,000 people, and displacing an estimated 4.4 million individuals. Through its cash transfer programme, Oxfam conducted cash for work activities, and provided cash asset recovery to more than 770,000 individuals or 154,000 families. Oxfam disbursed a total of PHP 22M (USD 500,000) for its direct cash transfer programme alone.

Oxfam and Visa teamed-up to develop a safe, simple and efficient solution that allowed individuals from the most vulnerable communities to benefit from the power of electronic payments. The goal was to increase efficiency in financial aid disbursement, speed up processing and distribution, and reduce security risks. This case study looks at the programme, it’s implementation and the results achieved.