Driving adoption of Branchless Banking: Insights from consumer education in India, the Philippines, and Zambia
As providers design and launch Branchless Banking (BB) services, a crucial element that needs to be given sufficient attention is the customer’s experience with the service.
In a paper recently published in the September 2013 issue of Enterprise Development & Microfinance (EDM) Journal, MFO’s Julie Lee and Maria Jaramillo discuss the importance of understanding and integrating the consumer’s perspective, experience with the service and financial capabilities in the design and delivery of Branchless Banking (BB) services. In particular, the paper highlights the need to build the consumer’s trust in the service and their confidence to use it effectively.
This paper highlights the consumer challenges that prevent adoption of BB in three countries: India, Philippines, and Zambia. It then discusses how clear, timely and relevant consumer education can be used as a tool to help close the gap between the consumer’s perspective and experience and the goal of wider spread adoption.
The paper draws on previous theories of technology adoption and applies them to the
innovative use of branchless banking for delivering financial services.
The insights presented in the paper contribute to the current discussions around adoption of BB by highlighting how consumer education can support the adoption of this technology by addressing potential use challenges and enhancing the customer’s experience with the BB service.
To read the full paper:
http://practicalaction.metapress.com/content/v5503435h7011t13/?p=b013c3a4f1a045d8bd45ba454a92ec09&pi=4
