Beyond transactions: An exploration of digital lending and recruitment landscape of cash-in cash-out (CICO) agents

• Dec 28, 2023
• 1 min

MSC was commissioned to develop and publish reports on digital lending and recruitment of mobile money and DFS agents in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. The objective was to provide insights into the functionalities of DFS agent distribution networks and identify potential business models or innovations to address liquidity and credit constraints.

The BMGF-FSP team intended to create reports that assessed the digital lending and recruitment landscape of mobile money and DFS agents in multiple countries across Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. MSC was tasked with the following as part of this project:

1. Describe the landscape of agent networks, FinTechs, banks, non-bank financial institutions, initiatives within mobile network operators, and other organizations that lend to agents;
2. Describe the landscape of third-party service providers that support agents’ recruitment or management for mobile money providers and other financial service providers;
3. Develop and publish market landscape and assessment reports on digital lending and mobile money and DFS agents’ recruitment in select markets from Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.

The objective was to provide insights into the functionalities of DFS agent distribution networks. The project also intended to identify potential business models or innovations to address liquidity and credit constraints among agents. It also sought to enhance the understanding of the FinTech and digital finance community and contribute to financial inclusion. The project insights have contributed to further investments to help agents start and grow their current businesses and finance their adjacent businesses.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation commissioned the project.