Strategic study on enabling digital solutions to overcome finclusion barriers

• Sep 1, 2021
• 1 min

MSC developed a year-long strategic study to address major barriers to financial inclusion in the Indian state of Jharkhand. The study aimed to highlight actions to enhance access to digitised G2P payments while technical support was also provided to government officials, banks, ANMs and MNOs, and CICO network managers over its duration. The programme leveraged MSC’s position as a thought leader in the FI space, specifically in terms of deploying innovative and tailor-made digital interventions to deepen FI among target communities.

The objective of the Digital Financial Inclusion in India (DFII) project was to address some of the major barriers to the enhancement of digital financial inclusion in India. These included not only regulatory barriers but other constraints, such as the lack of commercial incentives and on-the-ground technical expertise. The project was designed with the following three key objectives in mind:  

1. Enhance access to digitized G2P payments; 
2. Provide technical support to banks, ANMs, and MNOs;  
3. Policy advocacy to increase awareness among government officials, banks, CICO network managers, and other key stakeholders in India. The awareness drive focused on the core elements needed to overcome the barriers in CICO management, customer activation, and product development to enable digital financial inclusion.

In line with the delivery requirements of DFII, MSC conducted a study to assess the effectiveness of its financial literacy program. To assess the program, we used the extensive network of SHGs developed by the Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society (JSLPS). 

MSC designed a customized pilot program that meets the requirements of the target population. This program was piloted in three blocks of Jharkhand. 

The pilot has directly touched the lives of around 6,000 households in around 60 villages and improved their awareness and knowledge regarding basic financial services. Based on the success of the pilot, JSLPS has expanded the program to other intervention blocks which was expected to affect 2.75 lakh households under the SHG net of JSLPS.