Max Mattern

Senior Financial Sector Specialist

For over a decade, Max Mattern has sought to improve the lives of the economically and socially excluded through inclusive finance. Max currently leads CGAP’s Financial Services for Inclusive Carbon Markets Project, which explores how financial services can support climate mitigation, adaptation and a just transition by enabling low-income households and communities to participate in and benefit from voluntary carbon markets. Over the years, Max has also led and contributed to CGAP’s efforts to design better digital financial services for smallholder farmers, support innovation in inclusive asset finance, address social norms preventing rural women’s access to financial services, build more inclusive digital public infrastructure, and expand access to essential services such as energy.   

Before joining CGAP, Max worked at the World Bank. In addition to his experience in financial inclusion, his previous roles include consulting and research in rural and agricultural development, nutrition, and food security. His work has spanned countries and continents, with regional concentrations in the Middle East, North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Max holds an M.A. in Development Economics and International Business from the Fletcher School at Tufts University and a B.A. in International Studies from the University of Arizona. He is fluent in French. 

By Max Mattern

Blog

How a New Set of Metrics Is Poised to Transform PAYGo Solar

The PAYGo PERFORM Key Performance Indicators offer a pathway to growth and maturity for the off-grid solar industry.
Research

Getting Repaid in Asset Finance: A Guide to Managing Credit Risk

From Sub-Saharan Africa to the Indian Subcontinent, asset finance and leasing companies are doing invaluable, innovative work to finance critical assets for low-income and informal borrowers.

Blog

Flipping the Switch: How Locking Assets Unlocks Credit for the Poor

A new study out of Uganda offers strong evidence that lock-out technology can enable providers to sustainably lend to low-income customers, who may need credit for school fees and other critical expenses.
Blog

In Uganda, Solar Home Systems Help Students Stay in School

A pay-as-you-go (PAYGo) solar provider in Uganda is proving that an often-overlooked benefit of PAYGo – financial inclusion – can also affect education outcomes by keeping kids in the classroom.
Blog

Asset Finance Innovations Can Advance SDGs – If They Scale Responsibly

New asset finance business models are breaking down old barriers to putting life-changing assets into the hands of poor households. But to meaningfully advance SDGs, they’ll need to scale responsibly, and this is where funders can play a role.