What does it take to nudge low- and moderate income(LMI) population segments to adopt DFS

by Jayana Jain and Saloni Tandon
Nov 9, 2020
1 min

DFS can help increase the use of financial services, catalyze women’s economic empowerment and promote the development of the overall economy. However, the adoption of DFS amongst the LMI, especially women has been limited. Considering the increasing need for digital payments, especially in the wake of restricted mobility that COVID 19 imposes, MSC attempted to understand what it takes to nudge low- and moderate-income (LMI) population segments to adopt DFS.

With development programs aligning to BMGF’s D3 Digitize, Direct, and Design (D3 approach), there is an increasing focus on directing government payments and cash transfers in women’s accounts. It is critical to ensure that the ecosystem allows women to access this money and use it with full autonomy and confidence. Their ability to do so is essential for their empowerment process.

Despite enrolling for bank accounts, the use of conventional financial services through brick-and-mortar structures is often restricted for women owing to existing socioeconomic norms and limited mobility. DFS has proved to be a solution that could overcome these challenges. DFS not only acts as a catalyst for women’s economic empowerment, but it also promotes the overall economic development of a country as a whole. However, the adoption of DFS amongst the LMI, especially women has been limited. Considering the increasing need for digital payments, MSC conducted a behavioral research study to understand what a DFS transaction journey looks like for a first-time user.

We find that both men and women respond to different nudges for adoption. Furthermore, they have different use-cases as well. Our findings reveal that encouraging the use of DFS is a design challenge for FSPs. Understanding behavioral biases, social norms, and the status quo for women will be the cornerstone of user-centric financial products.