Insurance is an intangible product. Any product designed without market research (to understand the perceptions and preferences of the target market) is likely to be less attractive, and to experience reduced traction with clients. An effective market research on microinsurance, does not only help design a client oriented product, but also helps in the design of positioning and marketing strategy, awareness and insurance literacy campaigns and provide crucial hint for pricing of the product. In this Note, MicroSave discusses the role market research plays in the design of product and delivery channel strategy for microinsurance.
Blog
Transaction Economics for Technology Enabled Branchless Banking
Three types of front-end technologies are being used by banks and BCNMs in India in the deployments set up to further the cause of financial inclusion. These are point of sale (POS) devices, computers (desktop or laptops) with internet connectivity, and mobile phone devices. Technology is usually assessed in terms of convenience of conducting transaction, user interface, portability etc. Present report focuses on the impact of choice of technology on agent economics and its macro level impact. The report also compares agent level capital and operational costs of the more commonly used technologies for agency banking.
Going Beyond a Single Use of “No-Frills” Account: The Concept of Deferred Payments
In 2012 Ignacio Mas worked with MSC to look at the state of digital financial services in India, the type of products that poor people want, and the role of microfinance institutions/SHGs in digital financial services systems. In this video he shares some of his thoughts on digital financial services systems not just in India but worldwide. He stresses that a product must be simple yet useful for being relevant to poor people. He further elaborates his point by addressing the following questions.
- What is the real value proposition of a basic No Frills Account?
- How can we make them more relevant for poor people?
- Do we really need a bouquet or range of products?
- How can we reconcile relevance with simplicity/use-ability?
- How do we integrate credit into the offering?
Behind the Big Numbers: Improving the Reach and Quality of Agent Networks in India
MicroSave Policy Brief #9 describes the true reach and quality of India’s BC networks, the design features of successful agent networks, and the policy and regulatory interventions that could help catalyse the roll-out of denser, higher-quality agent networks in poor communities across India. The Brief details the impressive growth in the number of agents but highlights that a very high proportion of them are dormant or simply unable to make transactions for want of liquidity or hardware. The Brief highlights the reasons for the high levels of dormancy amongst agents and the danger that it is irreparably damaging trust in the agent-based system. This clearly has significant importance for both the Aadhaar-enabled direct benefit transfer programme and the financial inclusion agendas of the Government of India. It further underlines the need for immediate remedial action by policy/regulatory actors, as well as commercial players, to make a concerted push to resolve the remaining barriers – before the complete break-down in the agent system, and the loss of the trust of India’s masses, become a lasting impediment.
Five Critical Decisions for Developing Effective Staff Incentive Schemes
MSC supports financial institutions across the world to develop and implement effective performance management and staff incentive systems. In an effort to promote effective staff incentive system our Senior Analyst Amit Garg shares the key concepts that a consultant or practitioner developing staff incentive system should pay attention to.
Regulatory Feasibility in Microinsurance
Regulation is instrumental in development of microinsurance in any country. Microinsurance regulations have been, and are being, developed in several developing countries, with variable success rates. The microinsurance sector is trying to understand what aspects of regulation create an effective and efficient microinsurance market in any country. This note discusses a framework for comprehensive analysis of microinsurance regulation through assessment of three broad aspects: regulatory capacity, clarity in regulation and promotion of microinsurance.