|
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.
This month we lead with two pieces revolving on moving consumers from cash to digital payments, which form the primary building block for financial inclusion. These include a) an article by Ignacio Mas and David Porteous which highlights the significant efficiency gains from transforming into a cash lite economy using mobile networks and b) a paper by Jake Kendal, Graham Wright and Mireya Almazan that discusses the emerging challenges in new sales and distribution models in mobile financial services.
Lead Stories
A cash-lite world: safe, cheap, and convenient payments for all
Ignacio Mas and David Porteous discuss the efficiency gains that result from a transition away from cash - greater business innovations, more control over financial lives, greater effectiveness for the government etc. However, for building an effective cash-lite system all stakeholders-banks, telecom companies, distributors and regulators will have to jointly work to create an interoperable digital payments grid.
New Sales and Distribution Models in Mobile Financial Services
This paper by Jake Kendal, Graham Wright and Mireya Almazan critically analyses the novel mobile based sales and distribution approaches adopted by financial service providers. It uses case studies and interviews with practitioners from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Tanzania and Uganda to evaluate emerging challenges in this uncharted territory. They conclude that appropriate application of technology and simplification and streamlining of sales procedures to the maximum possible extent are key principles to keep in mind.
Section I: Policy – the latest from India’s policymakers
Regulation for Financial Consumer Protection: Present Status and Future Directions
Dr.K.C.Chakrabarty, Deputy Governor, RBI, April 29, 2013
Strategy for Seeding Aadhar in Bank Accounts
Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, April 22, 2013
Financial Inclusion and Financial Literacy
Dr. Deepali Pant Joshi, Executive Director, RBI, April 17, 2013
Development of secured automated system for Direct Benefit Transfer
Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, April 16, 2013
Section II: News and Views Digest- the latest from India and abroad
India
Saradha Fraud: Blame RBI for Financial Exclusion AND Ponzi schemes show failure of formal banking
3-6-3 banking costs the poor money
No application yet to RBI for setting up new private banks AND Opening new banks will not be a 'cakewalk': RBI's Deputy Governor KC Chakrabarty
Parliamentary Panel for opening branches in unbanked areas
HSBC chairman Douglas Flint warns poorer customers could lose out
Vodafone, ICICI Bank enable mobile wallet to tap rural east India
SBI in talks with Vodafone for last-mile link to unbanked
Bank Licences: RBI should make financial inclusion an opportunity not an obligation
RBI not keen on Bank Licence auction as it will deter financial inclusion
Bandhan Microfinance keen on banking foray- to provide remittance facility and promote financial inclusion
UP IAS officer moots mobile cash for poor
RBI to urban co-operative banks: Grant unsecured loans up to 25 per cent of assets
International
Beyond financial inclusion
Data: Enabling Country-led Actions to Address Financial Inclusion
G20, the Commonwealth and La Francophonie articulate importance of Maya Declaration
G24, AFI will seek to strengthen engagement with SSBs through peer-to-peer approach
IFC and G-20 Partners Launch an Online Platform to Expand Access to Finance for Women Entrepreneurs
Pathways to Prosperity: Accelerating Financial Inclusion & Women in Finance
Section III: Research – surveys and studies on expanding access to financial services
Success Factors of Equity Bank’s Agency Banking
Venkata N. A. and Priyank Mishra, MicroSave, April 2013
Access to Credit in West Bengal Post Microfinance Crisis
Anirban Roy, Ritika Srivastava, Shayandeep Chakraborty and Swati Mehta, MicroSave, April 17, 2013
Access to Credit in Andhra Pradesh Post Microfinance Crisis
Anjaneyulu Ballem, Alphina Jos, Ghiyazuddin A. Mohammad and Nishant Kumar, MicroSave, April 17, 2013
Financial Inclusion in the Commonwealth and Francophonie
Common Wealth Secretariat & Organisation Internationale La Francophonie, April 11, 2013
Financial Inclusion and Legal Discrimination against Women: Evidence from Developing Countries
Asli Demirguc-Kunt, Leora F. Klapper and Dorothe Singer, World Bank, April, 2013
|
