The monthly newsletter from the Indicus Centre for Financial Inclusion documents the latest news and views in the financial inclusion space, to provide a knowledge base that will help build understanding around how to accelerate the poor’s access to high-quality financial services.

The lead stories this month focus on bank managed agent networks for the business correspondent model. These include a) three India Focus Notes brought out by MicroSave that examine the case for banks to manage their own agent networks, the challenges that arise and the ways to effectively implement bank supervised agent networks and b) a paper on the experience in Columbia where subsidy schemes were put in to incentivise building of agent networks especially for government payments in remote locations. These papers show that there are considerable challenges to be overcome for bank managed agent networks and subsidies by the government are effective to some extent.

Lead Stories

MicroSave India Focus Notes on Bank Managed Agent Networks

Three Focus Notes by MicroSave: No. 101 examines the case for bank managed agent networks, No. 102 puts forth the challenges for the banks in managing such networks while No. 103 explores how to effectively implement a bank supervised agent network.

Who Should Pay for Banking Infrastructure in G2P Programs?

A blog post in CGAP giving insights from the experience in Columbia which had three subsidy schemes to incentivize payment providers to build their agent networks in challenging locations. While public sector banks took the lead, private banks held out initially in participating in these schemes but became interested over time once scale built up.

Section I: Policy – the latest from India’s policymakers

Budget 2013-2014: Para 86 and Para 114

Speech of P. Chidambaram, Minister of Finance, February 28, 2013

Direct Benefit Transfer – Preparation of Board Approved Implementation Plan

Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, February 18, 2013

International Seminar on Principles of Financial Market Infrastructures and Innovations in Retail Payments

Shri. G. Padmanabhan, Executive Director, RBI, February 15, 2013

Banking as a Fundamental Right of People!

Dr. K.C. Chakrabarty, Deputy Governor, RBI, February 9, 2013

Section II: News and Views Digest – the latest from India and abroad

India

India's 'Aadhar' a step to ensure financial inclusion: FATF

Towards greater financial inclusion: MasterCard, Beam announce alliance to reach 14 million new customers

Business correspondents to be paid for cash transfers

Financial inclusion must for new banks

Financial inclusion should be a bank-led model: RBI

A case for converting India Post into a bank

Cash transfer only if 90% locals have bank access: Sonia

Inclusion drive taking baby steps

Credit culture needs a new direction

Financial inclusion must for low-income households

Cheque Them Out

International

FATF updates its Guidance on Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Measures and Financial Inclusion

Implementing mobile money innovations to deepen financial inclusion: Lessons from successful innovations in Kenya

Account Limits And Flexibility, Key To Financial Inclusion

Section III: Research – surveys and studies on expanding access to financial services

Mobile Money - Influencers of Success

Raunak Kapoor, Shivshankar V., Denny George, Alphina Jos, Mukesh Sadana, Ritesh Dhawan, Soumya Harsh Pandey, MicroSave, February 2013

Can Mobile Money Be Used To Promote Savings? Evidence From Northern Ghana

Jenny C. Aker and Kimberley Wilson, Tufts University, Swift Institute Working Paper No. 2012-003, January 2013