In this video series-3, a member of Cooperative UPA, Guatemala, discusses the advantages of doing business with the credit union. Talking about her experience, Laura shares her growth story and how the loans have helped her to expand her ice-cream business. Concurrently, she talks about her savings and how the UPA has helped her to do both; access to loans to meet various requirements and a provision to save.
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Sustainability of BC Network Managers (BCNMs) – Business Scenarios and its Effects
This Note reveals results from analyses of three different scenarios that played out over time for one of MicroSave’s partners and how each influenced customer enrolments, transactions and revenues.
Since the number of customers enrolled and the value and volumes they transact have a direct impact on revenue, BCNMs should understand the critical role that these typical business scenarios play to create an overall revenue generation strategy and in assisting them in future negotiations (or renewals of existing agreements) with banks.
E/M-Banking Booklet: Volume III
The E/M-Banking Booklet – Volume III is the seventh publication under the Optimising Performance and Efficiency (OPE) Series. The OPE Series brings together key insights and ideas on specific topics, with clear objective of providing microfinance practitioners with practical and actionable advice.
In response to repeated demands from practitioners, MicroSave has developed this third compendium of brief publications on e/m-banking. This compendium mines MicroSave’s rich experience including the acclaimed analysis of dormancy in India no frills accounts and Indian households’ willingness to pay for agent-based financial services, as well as the recent analysis of the role of M-PESA in the landscape of Kenya.
Sustainability of BC Network Managers (BCNMs) – Review of Commission Structures
Business correspondents (agents) and their managing support organisations, BCNMs, play a very important role in promoting Financial Inclusion in India, yet they often face the biggest challenge of sustainability.
This Note critically analyses the different commission structures and the implications this has on the top-line revenue of the BCNMs. For this purpose, MicroSave analysed six actual branchless banking commission structures offered by three major banks in India. The objective of this note is to present common ways banks use to compensate BCNMs for various services and provide an indication of commissions that may be relatively more rewarding.
Can Bank-led Models Really Deliver on the Promise of Mobile Money?
There is some debate, but not enough, about the potential profitability of the mobile money solutions that are so widely promoted as the answer to financial inclusion.
In MicroSave’s Briefing Note # 97 “The Business Case for Branchless Banking – What’s Missing?”, Ann-Byrd Platt argues that banks are not interested in the potential business at the bottom of the pyramid because:
– it requires a radical re-work of their old business model; and
– the burgeoning middle class in developing countries already present a tremendous business opportunity that is both easier and fits the current business model. This is true for the vast majority of banks.
However, there are potentially important exceptions highlighted in this Note. A diversified product range could provide tremendous opportunities to increase revenue streams, while de-congesting banking halls, both for loan application and for deposit and repayment transactions. The potential for profitable mobile- and agent-based financial services is clear.
Effective pricing models and customer willingness to pay
“In this video Graham A. N. Wright, Group managing Director, MicroSave, gives an overview of the success of mobile banking in Africa. He says that the cultural norm of charging for financial services by banks is one of the reasons why mobile money has taken off quickly in Africa.