Priya Punatar

Yanina Seltzer

<div style="width: 391px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img src="https://accion-staging.flywheelsites.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/IMG_0825.jpg" alt="" width="381" height="508" />Azucena, a stay at home mom and former bank teller in Mexico</div>
Although Mexico and Chile are different markets, underserved consumers face similar problems improving their financial health. People and businesses rely on informal means to manage money, including storing cash in lockboxes and borrowing from family and friends. These methods are familiar and convenient, but they don’t provide the guidance, tools, and information people need to better manage their income and expenses, build reserves, and plan for the future.
In Chile, <a href="https://news.gallup.com/reports/233399/gallup-global-financial-health-study-2018.aspx">nearly half of the population</a> feels unsure about how they would cover their basic needs for more than a month if they lost their income. Following several financial crises, consumers are hesitant to trust<a href="https://www.accion.org/five-reasons-small-merchants-arent-using-financial-services-in-chile/"> financial institutions</a>, and many see working with banks as a last resort. One business owner in Santiago expressed a sentiment that we heard from many Chileans: “I would prefer to be indebted to my family than to a bank.”
We’ve seen similar patterns in Mexico, where, over the last three years, the percentage of adults who save at financial institutions declined from 15 percent to 10 percent. In an interview, Azucena, a stay-at-home mom who previously worked as a bank teller, told us that she and her husband prefer to <a href="https://www.accion.org/people-saving-money-mexico">save cash </a>in lockboxes in order to have money at home for unexpected emergencies. When it comes to credit, many people told us that they often hear negative stories about defaults, rather than positive stories about people using credit to improve their lives.
These behaviors indicate that FSPs could do more to better understand their clients’ needs and goals, build greater trust, and deliver more valuable products and services.

<div style="width: 4938px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img src="https://accion-staging.flywheelsites.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/DSC_0388.jpg" alt="" width="4928" height="3264" />FSP employees participate in a <a href="https://www.accion.org/building-and-deploying-user-centric-products">human-centered design exercise</a> in Chile</div>
For decades, Accion has worked around the world to help FSPs deliver the products that underserved clients need to access, use, and benefit from the formal financial sector. Our hybrid approach combines human-centered design, insights into emerging technologies, and effective business models to create financial services that accelerate social and economic progress.
Over the next 18 months, Accion, <a href="https://www.accion.org/accion-and-metlife-foundation-announce-expanded-partnership-to-advance-financial-inclusion/">in partnership with MetLife Foundation</a>, will apply this approach with five FSPs in Mexico and Chile. We’ll work alongside these institutions to develop viable products and services that reach underserved clients and improve their financial health. This process will include building the business case for customer-centric products; managing organizational change; and designing, testing, and implementing product innovations.
We’ll begin by using human-centered design, which links product and service design to customers’ needs and lives. By first understanding the challenges that low-income clients face and the goals they want to achieve, FSPs can create products and experiences that are available at the right moments, provide visibility into users’ finances, and take into account customers’ aspirations. Such products can lead to improved financial health, better decision-making, and more informed financial management.
While considering our clients’ needs and their goals, we’ll integrate behavioral science to create products and experiences that support healthy financial behaviors and habits. For example, behavioral scientists know that people tend to prioritize the present over the future and put off tasks that feel stressful, like budgeting, saving, and long-term planning. By taking this tendency into account and creating products that balance the management of day-to-day finances with future planning, we can promote clients’ financial health.
Ultimately, our understanding of low-income clients’ needs, the application of behavioral insights, and our focus on business considerations will inform the creation and deployment of new products that improve underserved clients’ financial health and that are sustainable in the market.

To qualify for the program, FSPs developed product proposals that addressed low-income client needs using a customer-centric lens; each of their proposed solutions is tailored to improve clients’ financial health and advance the organization’s strategic business objectives. Our partners will adapt their proposals through several rounds of user research and ongoing support from Accion.
Below is a list of our five partners, their product concepts, and goals for improving the financial health of their customers.

We’ll work alongside our partners to refine their initial concepts into customer-centric, market-ready products and services that help underserved families and small businesses improve their financial health.
Over the next 18 months, Accion and our partners will be working closely with customers, and with the FSP teams responsible for interface, application, operations, marketing and customer engagement to deliver an excellent customer experience. While we will focus on client behavior change, Accion and our partners understand that institutional change management is the real starting point.
For these solutions to promote clients’ financial health over the long-term, we will work with our partners to consider the business case for each product and the organizational changes needed to implement them. It’s only by combining our unique insights into client needs and our understanding of inclusive business models that our partners will be successful. It’s critical to look at longer-term profitability and customer lifetime value to ensure that our partners’ new products advance their long-term strategic goals; we’ll test customers’ willingness to pay for new services throughout their development and adjust product design to increase value to the customer.
These products represent significant new investments that will demand structural support, so we’ll also work to ensure that our partners have the right people, processes, and systems in place to launch and sustain the new products, helping with upskilling or capacity building as needed.
To create a financially inclusive world – to provide entrepreneurs with the means of hiring more employees, parents with the ability to save for the future, and communities everywhere with the tools they need to accelerate social and economic progress – we must develop financial products that clients trust, use, and benefit from. We’ll work alongside our Mexican and Chilean partners to create new solutions and services that help underserved families and businesses improve their financial health, and that realize the vision of a financially inclusive world. Follow us here as we keep you updated on our progress and process with our partners.
<img class="alignnone" src="https://accion-staging.flywheelsites.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/MetLife-Foundation.png" width="247" height="115" />This brief is a part of our <a href="https://www.accion.org/accion-and-metlife-foundation-announce-expanded-partnership-to-advance-financial-inclusion/">Building Financial Capabilities and Strengthening Institutions through Customer-Centered Innovations project</a>, supported by MetLife Foundation.

“Financial health is achieved when an individual’s daily systems help build the financial resilience to weather shocks, and the ability to pursue financial goals.” Financial Health Network

Brief

<h2>The path to financial health</h2>
People around the world are continually aiming to improve their financial lives – they do so with whatever tools are available, whether formal or informal, and with whatever knowledge they have gathered. Every day, people work hard to grow their businesses, send their children to school, save, make ends meet, and troubleshoot during tough moments. Ultimately, they aspire for greater financial health and a better life for themselves and their families.
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://accion-staging.flywheelsites.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/CFSI-1.png" /><a href="https://cfsinnovation.org/">The Financial Health Network</a>, the  <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/">Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion</a> and <a href="http://www.dalbergdesign.com/">Dalberg's Design Impact Group</a> developed a <a href="https://content.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/FinHealthGlobal-FINAL.2017.04.11.pdf">framework of six indicators</a> for financial health in the developing world.
In order to help consumers improve their financial health, financial service providers (FSPs) can design products, tools and services that empower consumers to better understand and manage their finances and encourage them to improve financial habits. Focusing on financial health also has the potential to impact the FSP’s bottom-line: Gallup found that when customers feel that their bank <a href="https://news.gallup.com/opinion/gallup/176534/looking-customers-financial-table-stakes-banks.aspx">looks out for their financial well-being</a>, they are much more likely to be fully engaged with the bank.

However, in order for FSPs to successfully promote financial health, they first need to understand customers’ opportunities and obstacles to improving it.

Achieving financial health in Mexico and Chile

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Article

Felicitas Contreras<a href="http://accion.org">[1]</a> raised three children as a single parent while managing her hardware store in Peru. The most important lesson she taught her children was to persevere no matter what. “They all have to learn to fly, fall, get up, and continue,” she says.

<img class="alignleft wp-image-17289" src="https://accion-staging.flywheelsites.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/2018_Accion_MiBanko_Day1__0267-819x1024.jpg" alt="Felicitas receives a payment from a customer" width="400" height="500" />As a woman entrepreneur, Felicitas has overcome more than her fair share of adversity. Many in the community doubted her when she first started selling hardware, but Felicitas continued to work towards her dream. “I always liked doing electricity work, and just because I am a woman doesn't mean I can’t do this,” she says. She taught herself a skill that she then turned into a successful business. Over the years she developed close ties with her community and customers, always looking for ways to expand her skill set.

Even with her knowledge and determination, Felicitas knew that she needed a trustworthy bank to help her grow her business. In her early days, she worked next to a <a href="https://www.mibanco.com.pe/">Mibanco</a> branch, and after a fire destroyed her stall, she decided to reach out to inquire about a loan. Mibanco understands the importance of knowing their customers and specializes in providing financial services to small business owners like Felicitas who have traditionally been financially underserved.

Felicitas was pleased to find her Mibanco advisor was genuinely interested in helping her rebuild and grow her business. “It’s so important to have advisors who are so warm and close,” she says. Over the years, Felicitas has worked with multiple financial institutions, but she found that Mibanco provided a higher level of support and advice, and for a small business owner, that’s as important as access to loans. “Mibanco does not put up obstacles. They come to you, they tell you that an adviser will come and explain and tell you what the best product is or the best ways to get a loan.”

<img class="alignright wp-image-17284" src="https://accion-staging.flywheelsites.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/2018_Accion_MiBanko_Day1__0107-682x1024.jpg" alt="Flicitas stands in front of an array of hardware store merchandise" width="400" height="600" />Felicitas is happy with how her business has grown and achieved success: “Yes, I have grown definitely! Now we not only have this store but we have storage, where I keep other products that I sell. I have grown. And what you see here, we don’t have enough space. So we have decided to invest in another place.”

Her family has benefitted from the booming business, but she doesn’t have to rely on any of her children to help her with the business, which allows them to find their paths. “They are three good kids. They are working. I feel very proud and happy with them,” she says. As she tells her story, her pride in her family and her business is clear, and she hopes her success will be an inspiration to others: “Women can do it on their own. This is a nice message that you don’t need to depend on someone to make a living and take care of your family.”

Felicitas is determined to build a better future for her family

“It's really difficult when you immigrate to another country,” says Andrea del Valle. She moved to Chile from Venezuela five years ago with a vision of the future she wanted but uncertainty about how to make it work. One day, a poster for Accion partner <a href="https://www.destacame.cl/">Destacame</a> caught her eye, and when she looked it up online, she was glad to see that it offered an opportunity for online financial education. Launched in 2015, Destacame provides a suite of products that allow consumers to manage their financial life and to build their financial health. 

[caption id="attachment_17174" align="alignleft" width="500"]<img class="wp-image-17174" src="https://accion-staging.flywheelsites.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/2018_Accion_Destacame_Day2__0335-1024x682.jpg" alt="Andrea del Valle in conversation with Destacame co-founder Sebastián Ugarte." width="500" height="333" /> Andrea del Valle in conversation with Destacame co-founder Sebastián Ugarte.[/caption]

Andrea explored Destacame’s offerings and seized the opportunity to build her credit history and applied for a microloan through the platform. She used the money from that loan to buy a food truck. Selling snacks and meals from her new truck helped supplement her expenses as Andrea studied natural therapy and planned for her long-term career. During this time, she was able to learn a lot from Destacame about keeping your expenditures proportional to your income and saving and investing money. “At the beginning, it seemed impossible — now I am able to keep my savings as Destacame suggests,” she says.

As Andrea’s income began to grow and she was building a positive credit history, new opportunities opened up for her. She was able to open a bank account and get her first credit card. This allowed her to achieve her dream of opening her own studio offering natural therapy — making the life she had been chasing since she came to Chile a reality.

[caption id="attachment_19299" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<img class="wp-image-19299" src="https://accion-staging.flywheelsites.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/2018_Accion_Destacame_Day1__0874-1024x682.jpg" alt="Virginia Chacón sitting inside Destacame's office" width="700" height="467" /> Virginia Chacón, Destacame’s head of operations, emphasizes understanding customers to serve them better.[/caption]

Chile has become a magnet for immigration in Latin America, and providing this growing population with useful financial services can help immigrants to rebuild their lives and livelihoods in their new communities. As an immigrant herself, Virginia Chacón, Destacame’s head of operations, understands the challenges displaced people face when they try to access financial services. When she moved from Venezuela to Chile, working at Destacame helped her to understand Chilean society better and to become more involved in her new country. Having employees with diverse backgrounds complements Destacame’s advanced use of data to help them better understand and serve customers. “You get to know the real problems of people and therefore give them real solutions to their needs. The more information you have, the better you can help them,” says Virginia.

As Andrea visits Destacame’s office, she recounts how she was able to overcome hurdles and build her life in Chile. “Those credit records helped me to be able to rent this space and so much more, and everything really started with that microcredit that Destacame offered me.” Andrea recently helped a friend who immigrated find a job and a place to live. She was stuck all over again by the struggle immigrants face without any financial history to help establish themselves and find a home to rent. Andrea was glad to be in a position to help her friend, and as she passes along her success, one more person benefits with new opportunities and a shot to build a new life.

After immigrating to Chile, she built a new life for herself

Mr. Martín is a third-generation entrepreneur who owns a business selling specialty products in Mexico City. As we visited his stall in the <a href="https://www.civico.com/lugar/mercado-martinez-de-la-torre-zona-mexico-1">Mercado Martínez de la Torre</a>, he told us about the family tradition surrounding the business. After he earned his degree in mathematics and computer science, he made the decision so many others have made throughout the years — to take over the family business. But these days, family tradition doesn’t always have the same pull. While Mr. Martín wants his children to inherit the enterprise, they would rather pursue more modern lifestyles and their own careers.

Mr. Martín, along with his brothers and uncles, manages six other stands, which makes them part of a vast population who depend on Mexico’s markets for their livelihoods. Because so many people work in markets, they’re of particular interest to Accion partner, <a href="https://www.civico.com/">CÍVICO</a>. CÍVICO is a <a href="https://www.accion.org/how-one-platform-connects-cities-and-boosts-small-businesses/">digital platform that connects small businesses and individuals</a> to their cities and to each other. Users can map and interact with local enterprises, and micro, small, and medium business owners can use the platform to access financial tools. For people who work in markets, this is often their first opportunity to use quality financial services and can make a real difference in modernizing the business.

Mercado Martínez de la Torre is one of the 329 public markets in Mexico City, some of which are over 100 years old. These markets are considered centers of the Mexican economy, providing income for about <a href="https://www.sedeco.cdmx.gob.mx/comunicacion/nota/gcdmx-quiere-que-los-mercados-publicos-brillen">280,000 families</a>, according to the Government of Mexico City. Different government initiatives have been introduced to organize, formalize, and develop these markets to improve how they function. Today, they still evoke the traditional way of carrying out business, the exchange of essential goods and consumer products, with a somewhat nostalgic cultural and social function that goes beyond strictly business.

Most of these markets have a specific focus; the Mercado Martínez de la Torre specializes in basic household needs, while the <a href="https://www.civico.com/lugar/mercado-de-granaditas-mexico">Mercado de Granaditas</a> mainly sells leather goods. In the latter, we had the opportunity to speak with Ms. Bertha, who sells handmade leather handbags. Ms. Bertha learned this trade from a very young age from her dad, whom she deeply admires and who ensured she would grow up to be self-sufficient and know the value of hard work. An estimated <a href="https://www.sedeco.cdmx.gob.mx/comunicacion/nota/mujeresinnovando-en-los-mercados-publicos">70 percent of public market tenants are women</a>, and Ms. Bertha is proud to work among her fellow female business owners, stating that “we women are warriors, and we are the pillar of Mexican families.”

[caption id="attachment_18979" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<img class="wp-image-18979" src="https://accion-staging.flywheelsites.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Doña-Bertha-1024x768.jpg" alt="Ms. Bertha standing in front of her handmade leather bags in Mercado de Granaditas" width="700" height="525" /> Ms. Bertha shows off her handmade leather bags in Mercado de Granaditas[/caption]

As we spoke to business owners like Mr. Martín or Ms. Bertha, we learned about the different challenges that they face, such as finding someone trustworthy to help with daily business needs, growing sales in an increasingly competitive world, and in particular, dealing with the ways that technology is changing business. While technology can be tricky for traditional enterprises to navigate sometimes — it also offers opportunities. Customers are better informed and ready to purchase with digital payment methods, which they see as easier to use and more secure. People are also becoming interested in buying products online or using messaging applications such as WhatsApp to make orders, and merchants who know how to use digital platforms to promote themselves and enable sales can take advantage of these new channels.

It’s unclear whether the markets as we know them today will disappear, but what is certain is that the way to do business and promote products is already changing and evolving. That is why, in collaboration with CÍVICO, Accion’s Global Advisory Solutions team has been interviewing these businesses to identify the main barriers they face. Supporting small business owners is crucial if we want to drive inclusive economic growth. We need to understand the different challenges they face today so we can work with CÍVICO to create financial products and services that meet their needs.

Our initial interviews revealed two primary opportunities:
<ul>
 	<li>In their search to diversify and attract new clients, entrepreneurs are very interested in new ways to promote their businesses through digital platforms</li>
 	<li>Business owners are increasingly open to accepting electronic payments through different systems (Clip, Sr. Pago, iZettle, etc.)</li>
</ul>
Family-owned enterprises are steeped in tradition, but it’s clear that the modern world has a lot to offer them, too. These entrepreneurs can’t wait for the next generation to take over the business and modernize — these changes are happening right now. We’re hopeful we can use our findings to give people the tools they need so their businesses can continue to stand the test of time.

This research is part of the <a href="https://www.accion.org/helping-small-businesses-and-communities-thrive-with-digital-financial-services">partnership</a> between the <a href="https://www.mastercardcenter.org/">Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth</a> and Accion that aims to give 10 million clients, including 4 million merchants, access to the necessary financial tools to run better, buy better, and sell better. To achieve this goal, this partnership will support a number of institutions across the world, with <a href="https://www.accion.org/helping-small-businesses-and-communities-thrive-with-digital-financial-services">CÍVICO being one of our first collaborators</a> in Colombia and Mexico.

This article was written with support from <a href="https://www.accion.org/bio/leonardo-tibaquira">Leonardo Tibaquira</a>, <a href="https://www.accion.org/bio/juan-alberto-almonacid">Juan Alberto Almonacid</a>, and Gabriel Quiros Rubio.

The faces behind Mexico City’s mercados públicos

Angela came to Bogota as a refugee from Venezuela in 2016 and started selling freshly sourced fruits and vegetables. She’s an employee at Merqueya, a shop in the  <a href="https://www.plazadepaloquemao.com/">Paloquemao market</a> in Bogota, and when we met with her last month, she discussed how this income has helped her find stability and build a life in a new country.

We work with institutions around the world that help people like Angela achieve greater financial security and fulfill their ambitions by supporting the growth of micro and small businesses where they work. It is easier than ever before to serve more people, effectively, through the use of technology. For small businesses, digital financial tools can help them process more transactions and manage their operations, which makes it easier for them to grow and create jobs for people in their community.

At Accion, we see digital technology as a means to achieving greater financial inclusion because when everyone has the tools they need to support their businesses and their families, they’re able to cover their day-to-day needs and plan for a better future. While digitization is effective for bringing useful financial tools to more businesses and individuals, it’s crucial that these tools are designed responsibly to protect customers. The <a href="https://www.smartcampaign.org/">Smart Campaign</a>, which promotes customer protection in financial services, recently released for public comment <a href="https://www.smartcampaign.org/about/evolution-of-standards/public-comment-2019">The Consumer Protection Standards for Digital Credit</a> to establish benchmarks and standards for digital lending. The standards address appropriate product design and delivery, prevention of overindebtedness, transparency, responsible pricing, fair and respectful treatment of clients, data privacy and security, and mechanisms for complaint resolution. Maintaining these principles is a core part of our work with partners.

On November 1, 2018, the <a href="https://www.mastercardcenter.org/">Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth</a> and Accion <a href="https://www.accion.org/mastercard-and-accions-partnership-to-unlock-millions-of-underserved-microbusinesses">launched a global program</a> that will make it easier for 10 million clients, including 4 million merchants, to fully benefit from the digital economy. Stuck in the cash economy, people around the world rely on what’s in their pocket after a day of work or stashed under a mattress for emergencies. They have little access to tools to manage their daily expenses, grow their businesses, and plan for the future — and being invisible to the formal financial sector can make them vulnerable to predatory lenders. To make sure more individuals and businesses have useful financial tools that enable them to run better, buy better, and sell better, this project will digitally transform financial service providers and operationally strengthen fintechs.  By the end of 2020, we aim to be supporting up to 12 institutions across countries such as Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Mexico, Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, Pakistan, India, Myanmar, and Indonesia.

It is with great excitement that we announce the first three participating institutions: <a href="https://www.accionmfb.com/">Accion Microfinance Bank</a> in Nigeria, <a href="https://subk.co.in/">BASIX Sub-K iTransactions</a> in India, and <a href="https://www.civico.com/">CÍVICO</a> in Colombia and Mexico.

Helping small businesses and communities thrive with digital financial services

Alba Maria Garcia Ruiz’s oldest son is 21 and working on a degree in physical education. Her 19-year-old daughter dreams of becoming a veterinarian, and the possibilities are limitless for her 6-year-old daughter. Ensuring her children have the resources and education they need to thrive is what drives Alba to continue her work as a flower harvester. 

But saving for three children's’ educations is daunting and stressful. “I am very grateful to work with the flowers, but the salary is minimal and I want my children to have better futures.”

So, when Alba learned that her employer was partnering with Accion Venture Lab portfolio company, <a href="https://www.escalaeducacion.com/">Escala</a>, to help employees save money for education, she was intrigued. “I became interested in joining Escala because it was a great opportunity to help us save money towards the education of our children.”

Escala not only provides savings accounts to employees but allows employers to also contribute to their employees' accounts, magnifying the impact. “In a way, Escala is a platform that helps people to get access to education, so Escala is an important tool for people to reach the goal of being able to study and fulfill that dream,” says Melissa Patino Arroyave, who works in operations for Escala.

Alba has already experienced the benefits of Escala — she helped pay for her son’s education with the savings she put aside. She plans to continue saving and helping her children achieve their dreams. “Escala has made a positive impact in our lives because we are able to carry on saving for the future.”

Providing for her children motivates Alba every day

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Series

As I prepared for my first visit to China, I was curious about what I would discover and hoping that what I learned would help me in my work to build more inclusive financial systems in Africa. I would be joining a delegation of digital finance professionals in Africa, including Tunde Kehinde, co-founder of Accion Venture Lab portfolio company <a href="http://lidya.co/">Lidya</a>. The trip was organized by the Mastercard Foundation<a href="https://www.financedigitalafrica.org/blog/2018/07/eight-things-we-learned-in-china-driving-fintech-fortune/"> Partnership for Finance in a Digital Africa (FiDA)</a>  to learn about the ecosystem in China and bring insights and inspiration to our workplaces. 

Tunde and I both live and work in Lagos, Nigeria, home to over 20 million people — one of the world’s megacities. We were fascinated to see how China has galvanized their government, businesses, and citizens to adopt financial products and services and how they’re creating a more seamless financial ecosystem for all. During the trip, we took note of everything we discovered and we’ve distilled our findings into lessons for inclusive finance in Nigeria. 
<h2>From big data to bigger data</h2>
Tunde and I were both impressed by the tremendous amount of valuable data sources companies could tap into for lending decisions. As we met with business leaders from companies such as JD Finance, Ant Financial, and WeBank (the first Internet-only bank in China), we were surprised to learn that they leverage from 30,000  to 100,000 data points on consumers and merchants in their underwriting process. As a comparison, Lidya uses 100 data points, and that’s a pretty robust data set in a region where high-quality and consistent data can be hard to obtain. Despite their advances, one Ant Financial Executive we met claimed that they are “still in the small data age of big data”, and that in 50 years we will look back and laugh at the datasets we have at our disposal today.  
<h2>Payments as the underbelly of a rich dataset</h2>
During the trip, we saw how a strong payment infrastructure is crucial for collecting data to build successful customer profiles to lend to the underserved. China’s impressive data collection starts when customers make a payment. The QR code system has been widely adopted for transactions in China, making it extremely simple for consumers to scan and pay. The low cost of implementing QR code payment infrastructure at the merchant level has led to high adoption rates, rich data sets, and <a href="https://www.techinasia.com/fake-qr-code-scams-china">minimal fraud</a>. In comparison, Nigeria has two primary approaches to payment facilitation: point-of-sale (POS) devices and USSD payments. Unfortunately, high costs, and inconsistent internet connectivity meant that POS devices are hard to come by or unreliable. 
<h2>Collaboration for advancement</h2>
One thing that Tunde and I both found surprising was the <a href="https://www.financedigitalafrica.org/blog/2018/08/you-cant-clap-with-one-hand-how-collaboration-drives-chinas-fintech-success/">high level of collaboration in the Chinese fintech sector</a>. We expected companies to be highly competitive, secretive, and unwilling to work together in their race to the top. Surprisingly, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Instead what we learned is that many share potential customer pipelines. These companies have started to specialize in finance offerings for clients at various income levels and businesses of different sizes, and they found that it was more productive to share a pipeline so each customer segment gets the most valuable experience from the optimal provider for them. 

Tunde and I have both traveled a significant amount, but we both walked away transformed by our time in China. It was a thought-provoking trip — one that allowed us to see the tangible progress of a market that has made significant strides in fintech and financial inclusion. At one point I started to panic, wondering if any African nation, let alone the entire continent, could ever catch up. However, what I came to accept was that our collective goal is not necessarily to imitate China’s model but to forge our own path, centered on the needs of African consumers and small businesses. That path may look entirely different from China’s. There is no one solution for building a financially inclusive future, and each region and country will have their own challenges and successes along the way. While our visit to China inspired us, Tunde and I returned home most excited for what’s to come here in Nigeria.

This article was written with support from Tunde Kehinde, co-founder of Accion Venture Lab portfolio company Lidya. It is also published on the <a href="https://www.financedigitalafrica.org/blog/2019/01/what-can-nigeria-learn-from-chinas-digital-economy-insights-on-big-data-mobile-payments-and-what-chinas-model-means-for-financial-inclusion-in-nigeria/">Partnership for Finance in a Digital Afric</a><a href="https://www.financedigitalafrica.org/blog/2019/01/what-can-nigeria-learn-from-chinas-digital-economy-insights-on-big-data-mobile-payments-and-what-chinas-model-means-for-financial-inclusion-in-nigeria/">a</a><a href="https://www.financedigitalafrica.org/blog/2019/01/what-can-nigeria-learn-from-chinas-digital-economy-insights-on-big-data-mobile-payments-and-what-chinas-model-means-for-financial-inclusion-in-nigeria/"> (FiDA) blog</a>.

What can Nigeria learn from China’s digital economy?

Case Study

MetLife Foundation's longstanding partnership and philanthropic support of Accion’s work, and our joint public engagement efforts, have raised awareness of the opportunities and solutions to advance financial inclusion. Since 2013 MetLife Foundation's core focus has been to improve the financial health of low-income individuals across the globe. Together, we’ve helped underserved people around the world gain access to the tools they need to improve their lives.
<h5>EMPOWERING THE PEOPLE OF MYANMAR</h5>
Since 2015, MetLife Foundation has supported Accion’s partnership with Early Dawn Microfinance (DAWN) to provide entrepreneurs in Myanmar — especially women in rural areas — with microfinance services. When we began working with DAWN, it served 25,000 clients with less than $2 million in loans, and loan officers recorded clients’ activity entirely by hand, which could take up to four hours a day. As an investor and operating partner, Accion has worked with DAWN to reach new customer segments, improve and expand its product offerings, leverage new technologies and channels, and improve its operational efficiency. Today, that previous four hours of work takes just 20 minutes, giving loan officers more time to meet with and understand their clients. Now, DAWN is a premier institution that serves as a model for the country’s nascent microfinance industry, serving more than 160,000 clients with more than $30 million in loans.

MetLife Foundation and Accion: Seeking opportunities to advance financial inclusion

With nearly 5 million residents, Chifeng isn’t a small city. But as it sprawls across the vast prairie of Inner Mongolia, an autonomous region in northern China, some parts of the city feel almost rural. This combination of rural and urban create a diverse mix of clients for <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://chifeng.gaoxinlong.com/">Grassland Inner Mongolia</a>.
Initially launched as Accion Microcredit China in 2009, Grassland Inner Mongolia remains a locally registered microcredit company (MCC) but is now part of the Pan-China operation, <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://grassfin.com/en/home">Grassland Finance Ltd</a>. <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://www.accion.org/grassland-filling-gap-chinas-microcredit-industry/">Accion partners with Grassland</a> to help deliver financial services to China’s underserved businesses using in-person, mobile, and digital platforms. Over the years, Grassland Inner Mongolia has provided more than RMB 1.7 billion (USD 261 million) in loans to over 16,000 customers, with the average loan amount under RMB 105,000 (USD 16,100).
On a recent trip to China, I spoke with Zhu Yanyan, the general manager of Grassland Inner Mongolia, about how the company has developed since its founding, and her vision for its future.
Q: Tell me a little bit about the clients you serve.
A: We provide microloans to farmers, herdsmen, commercial households, and microenterprises. Most are in the trade, services, agriculture, and manufacturing industries. They are diligent and honest entrepreneurs, yet they aren’t targeted by banks since most of them cannot provide the kind of collateral required. However, unsecured loans are our primary product so we can enable access to financial services for such clients.
Q: You’ve been here since the beginning in 2009. How has your job changed over that time?
A: I’ve had the honor of witnessing the transformation of the firm over the past eight years, in several areas.
With the formation of Grassland Group, the company’s geographic coverage grew rapidly, now covering Pan-China, from here in Inner Mongolia, to Chongqing, Hunan, Shandong, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Hubei and Shanxi provinces.
Grassland’s Head Office team is familiar with best practices in Chinese microfinance and has good insight into the Chinese microcredit industry. They’ve been very effective in bringing about new corporate best practices, so we’ve been able to standardize processes and policies across the group, helping us work better with faraway colleagues.
At the same time, the company embraces the principle of “local people managing local affairs,” trusting our local talent and investing in training to help local employees with potential become good microfinance professionals.
I’m proud of our social impact, as well. Through our continuous effort in promoting inclusive finance in Chifeng, Grassland Inner Mongolia has been widely recognized within the microcredit company (MCC) industry as a forefront contributor in promoting financial inclusion. Each year, we’ve won awards from the China Association of Microfinance and from the Finance office at the city and provincial government levels.

<h4 class="graf graf--p">Q: How are you using new technology to support your work?</h4>
A: We feel we’re at the forefront of technology and innovation among MCC industry players. Grassland has built public websites for both investors and customers. In 2016, we also introduced a digital field application tool called Keystone, which is an end-to-end platform loan officers and credit managers use to process loan applications via tablet.

<h4 class="graf graf--p">Q: What do you enjoy most about your work?
</h4>
A: My three favorite things are:
First, taking on the challenge of expanding Grassland Inner Mongolia’s operations. As I explore the market, I seek to identify the best areas for lending, forecast the market potential for growing our loan portfolio and number of clients, and learn how to control risk effectively.
Second, the opportunity for constant learning and self-improvement. Through this job, I continue to work toward being a well-rounded leader, not just in terms of new business development and credit risk management, but also in areas such as operations, finance, and HR, therefore becoming a true General Manager.
And last but not least, I like to see our clients expand their businesses and improve their lives through the services we offer.

<h4 class="graf graf--p">Q: What’s next for Grassland Inner Mongolia?
</h4>
A: I am determined to continue expanding our business operations to other parts of the region and making sure that we continue to be a critical player in the overall Grassland organization as we look ahead to a prospective IPO in Hong Kong in a few years.

Q&amp;A: Entrepreneurs in China  —  A perspective from Chifeng, Inner Mongolia

Despite its astonishing progress in reducing poverty, China remains one of the nations with the greatest unmet needs for financial services. <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/globalfindex">Some 234 million low-income Chinese — or about 21 percent of the total population—lack access to formal financial services</a>. One vital strategy for expanding financial access is to strengthen China’s microfinance industry so it can scale up. That, in turn, requires helping senior managers of microfinance institutions (MFIs) overcome the day-to-day business challenges that can slow down growth.

To build the sector’s expertise, Accion, with the support of MetLife Foundation and in partnership with the Chinese Association of Microfinance (CAM), launched the <a href="http://www.accion.org/mmlp-winter-china-microcredit-industry/">International Microfinance Management and Leadership Program</a> (MMLP) in December 2015. This program provides senior MFI managers training in effective strategies to address technical and operational issues in microfinance, and to extend better services to more people. <a href="http://www.accion.org/metlife-foundation-and-accion-reach-more-than-one-million-clients-through-training-program-for-chinas-microfinance-managers/">This month in Beijing, we celebrated the completion of MMLP’s second round of training</a>. In all, two cohorts have participated, totaling 73 mid- and senior-level managers from 34 Chinese MFIs, including market leaders like CreditEase, CFPA Microfinance, Hope Finance, Grassland Ltd., and Hanhua Credit Group.

The International Microfinance Management and Leadership Program was the first holistic, systematic microfinance management training and capacity-building initiative in China. Participants refined their leadership and management skills and developed sound technical knowledge in microfinance operations and human capital management. Over the course of several months, trainees attended in-classroom seminars and participated in monthly webinars, online discussions, and field visits to best-practice MFIs. This blended approach, combining classroom-based and experiential learning, helped participants retain information for longer, strengthened core skills, and put the lessons they learn into practice. This required a much longer commitment than the short, lecture-based trainings that are more commonly seen in China, and exposes the trainees to the more participatory teaching styles of Western institutions.

Graduates rated the program highly (with an average of 4.73 out of 5 in cohort 1, and 4.85 in cohort 2). Said Yang Tao, assistant general manager at CFPA Microfinance and cohort 1 participant, “The program’s courses really touch the pain points and needs of mid and senior managers in microfinance institutions. The content is very practical and relevant.” Another participant from cohort 2, Peng Honglang, senior manager at CreditEase, said, “The training is very comprehensive, guiding me through key points in strategic planning, human capital and operation management, and adoption of new technology, which will be very useful in my future work.”

The partner institutions behind MMLP brought complementary strengths to the project. Accion is a financial inclusion pioneer with 50 years of experience building 65 MFIs in 32 countries on four continents. The Chinese Association of Microfinance is the first member-based association in China’s microfinance sector, and advocates for the development of rural microfinance and public-interest MFIs.

Given the size of the financially excluded population in China, scaling financial inclusion in China translates to global impact. Combined, the first and second cohorts will impact more than one million MFI clients. CFPA Microfinance, China’s largest microfinance institution, is now poised to take over the MMLP, building on the achievements of the first two rounds of training to continue developing financial services for all.
By Dandan Wang and Yiran Lu for Accion. An earlier version of this post was published on the <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://partners.wsj.com/metlife/multipliers/articles/making-small-loans-on-a-bigger-scale-in-china/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Wall Street Journal’s Multipliers of Prosperity</a>, in partnership with the MetLife Foundation.

Making small loans on a bigger scale in China

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China’s financial services sector is quickly evolving, in part due to high-profile developments such as the rise of Internet tech giants and controversy over peer-to-peer (P2P) companies like Ezu Bao (which went bust after collecting $8 billion in deposits). But despite the overall economic slowdown, at least one market segment continues to grow robustly. There are over 50 million micro, small and medium enterprises, or MSMEs, in China. They account for approximately 90 percent of all enterprises in China and 80 percent of total employment in China’s urban areas. Yet many are still underserved by China’s financial services sector, including the new Internet-based financial institutions.
<h2>Rise and fall of Internet finance players</h2>
China’s tech giants are riding the surge of a booming economy, driving innovations in payments and products for a population that’s increasingly mobile-savvy and active on the Internet. But it hasn’t all been good news for China’s Internet finance companies, as P2P lenders have recently come under fire for fraud. As a result, the Chinese Banking Regulatory Commission released draft regulations in December 2015 and have been accepting commentary from the sector. Ideally, the new regulations will protect consumers without restricting innovation and economic growth.

Furthermore, the accessibility of P2Ps still leaves much to be desired. Although some individuals and MSMEs can use these services, most of China’s P2Ps operate almost exclusively in China’s largest and most developed cities, leaving large swaths of the country, including many MSMEs, without access to inclusive financial services.
<h2>Rising credit risk across China</h2>
Currently, all banks and non-bank MFIs are facing difficulties, regardless of their size. Indicators of portfolio at risk—a measurement often used to assess the health of financial institutions—are rising across the industry, meaning that Chinese financial institutions are facing increasing numbers of outstanding loans past due. Traditional banks and others are now less willing to lend to segments they have deemed risky, including MSMEs, many of whom do not have traditional credit histories. China has had a credit bureau since 2009, but it only recently included borrowing history with microcredit companies (MCCs) or P2Ps. As a result, many small businesses have an incomplete or nonexistent credit history and can’t access loans to hire more employees, expand, build credit or save in a safe way. Instead, they must turn to friends, family members and moneylenders rather than work with regulated institutions.

There are ways around this lack of formal history. Based on the work of Grassland Finance Ltd.—Accion’s partner in China—we have seen that in-person assessments are essential. Collecting informal information by talking to friends, neighbors and family members about a potential client’s spending habits and other debts can be even more insightful in evaluating applicants than formal credit history, if one exists at all. However, in-person assessments take time and energy, resulting in a high client-acquisition cost, which banks and many other lenders are unwilling to take on.

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<div class="copy-ctn">
<h2>Obstacles for microcredit companies</h2>
While MCCs are currently the best option for MSMEs in need of capital, there’s still a long way to go. Microcredit companies started appearing in China around 2009, and there are now about 8,500 MCCs, collectively reaching almost $150 billion in outstanding portfolio. However, many MCCs have limited client bases as they don’t have credit models or a way to manage risk. MCCs are regulated by local provincial regulators, as opposed to the central banking regulators, so the restrictions vary from one location to the next. Most MCC investors must obtain a special license from district, city and provincial governments. Each license requires protracted negotiations before an official approval can be granted, and, in some cases, the process takes years.

This hurdle is compounded by the fact that very few banks are willing to lend to MCCs, so the only source of significant funding is equity. Banks face no regulatory hurdles when it comes to lending to MCCs but, unfortunately, most are not interested. This slows growth and forces MCCs to come up with alternative ways to work within the regulations in order to serve and reach more clients.
<h2>Looking forward</h2>
Accion believes that MSMEs will continue to play an important role in strengthening China’s economy. As regulations are put in place and new investors enter the sector, financial services providers would be wise to focus on growing segments that are currently un- or underserved. If formal financial services are made available to this growing segment, we could see an immense impact on the overall economy. There is still much to be done.

This post originally appeared on <a href="http://partners.wsj.com/metlife/multipliers/articles/financing-chinas-smallest-businesses/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Wall Street Journal’s Multipliers of Prosperity</a>, in partnership with the MetLife Foundation.

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Amy Stewart

Los chilenos y los mexicanos mejoran su salud financiera utilizando una plataforma personalizada que los atiende donde se encuentren

<img class="alignright wp-image-20325 size-medium" src="https://accion-staging.flywheelsites.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/karen2-e1611854673768-300x235.png" alt="" width="300" height="235" />Karen es una madre soltera que vive en Santiago de Chile con su pequeña hija. Comenzó a estudiar administración de empresas, pero tuvo que abandonar sus estudios para cuidar a su hija. Actualmente trabaja en una tienda minorista donde gana lo suficiente para sobrevivir. Karen vive preocupada por pagar las cuentas cada mes, mantener a su hija, y por las deudas de tarjetas de crédito que no dejan de crecer. Sabe que necesita cambiar algo, pero no por dónde empezar. Intentó elaborar un plan para cancelar su deuda, pero no pudo calcular lo que debía, ni identificar a la persona adecuada a quien dirigirse. Pensar en dinero la hace sentirse estresada, abrumada y sola.

<a href="https://www.destacame.cl/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Destácame</a>, socio de Acción, es una plataforma de gestión de finanzas personales con sede en Chile y atiende a muchas personas como Karen, que visitan su sitio web en busca de una manera de salir de sus deudas, acceder a sus informes de crédito y obtener respuestas que no encuentran en el sector financiero formal. La pandemia ha exacerbado aún más la sensación de inseguridad financiera en Chile. Destácame descubrió que debido al COVID-19, el 54 por ciento de sus usuarios enfrentan ingresos reducidos o nulos, el 30 por ciento no pueden pagar sus facturas y casi todos sienten incertidumbre y estrés sobre su situación financiera. Tan solo el 12 por ciento declara sentirse preparado para un impacto como el del COVID-19.

Destácame sabía que sus usuarios requerían algo más que el solo acceso a productos financieros: ayuda para manejar sus vidas financieras; lo que incluye entender claramente su situación actual, sopesar los pros y contras de las soluciones disponibles, planificar para lograr sus objetivos y recibir apoyo y orientación en el camino. Tal como expresó un usuario: “Quiero ahorrar y cambiar mis gastos, ¡pero no tengo ni idea de por dónde empezar! Necesito un asesor, como Pepito Grillo, que me oriente y me ayude a planificar ".
<h2>Asesoría y acompañamiento en la ruta hacia la salud financiera</h2>
[caption id="attachment_20326" align="alignleft" width="300"]<img class="wp-image-20326" src="https://accion-staging.flywheelsites.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Bienestar-financiero_.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="754" /> El diagnóstico hace varias preguntas para medir las necesidades de los usuarios, incluyendo el presupuesto, la preparación para circunstancias imprevistas y la planificación para el futuro.[/caption]

Para apoyar verdaderamente a usuarios como Karen, Accion y Destácame idearon una solución ambiciosa: rediseñar por completo la experiencia de Destácame y su propuesta de valor en cuanto a salud financiera, agregando diagnósticos sencillos, recorridos personalizados de usuario, sugerencias fáciles de entender, y herramientas y recomendaciones de productos que respondan a la situación real del usuario. Más allá de contentarse con agregar nuevos productos y funcionalidades, el proyecto 'Experiencia Destácame' implicó cambiar el núcleo de la plataforma: cómo estaba estructurada, cómo interactuaba con el usuario y qué valor buscaba brindar.

El nuevo diseño del sitio arranca comunicando claramente la oferta personalizada de Destácame a los usuarios potenciales, y destacando los desafíos comunes de los usuarios objetivo; por ejemplo, "¿con las deudas hasta el cuello?" o "¿te estresan tus finanzas?" Una vez registrados, los usuarios acceden a un panel personalizado que evalúa su salud financiera en tres áreas principales: gestión presupuestaria, resistencia a los impactos y planificación a largo plazo. Este diagnóstico de tres partes sirve como núcleo del rediseño del sitio: según sus respuestas, los usuarios son dirigidos a experiencias específicas que ofrecen el apoyo más relevante para su situación actual, incluyendo consejos y recomendaciones, acceso a herramientas y sugerencias de productos financieros. El diagnóstico también permite a Destácame identificar el siguiente paso a recomendar, estimulando a los usuarios a actuar en lugar de abrumarlos con una serie de recomendaciones y productos.

El equipo también desarrolló dos herramientas digitales para apoyar a los usuarios en su ruta hacia la salud financiera: una herramienta de presupuesto y una herramienta de reducción de gastos. Estas piezas son fundamentales para todos los usuarios de la plataforma: antes de ahorrar para las crisis o planificar el futuro, las personas deben primero ordenar su presupuesto y asegurarse de que sus gastos no excedan sus ingresos. Ambas herramientas son de fácil acceso mediante dispositivos móviles, requieren poco tiempo para contestar y muestran y premian rápidamente los avances logrados hacia mejores hábitos financieros.

La herramienta de presupuesto guía a los usuarios a través de una serie de pantallas para la incorporación de ingresos y gastos, y el cálculo de sus ahorros. Ayuda a los usuarios a ponderar y entender todas las posibles categorías de gastos, y les pide que regresen y actualicen los datos luego de unos meses.

<img class="alignright wp-image-20327" src="https://accion-staging.flywheelsites.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Bienestar-Finanicero-Presupuesto.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="570" />La herramienta de reducción de gastos ayuda a los usuarios a administrar mejor su flujo de caja mensual al establecer objetivos de disminución de gastos en categorías clave, e ingresarlos una vez por semana para evaluar los avances. La herramienta está diseñada para ser lo suficientemente flexible para satisfacer las necesidades de los usuarios (por ejemplo, seleccionar el día para recibir recordatorios) pero lo suficientemente estructurada para fomentar la acción mediante lenguaje positivo y que ofrece apoyo.

Destácame recomienda a los clientes que completen las herramientas en función de su situación particular. Por ejemplo, si un usuario no está seguro de poder cubrir sus gastos mensuales, la plataforma le indicará que complete primero un presupuesto para entender mejor su flujo de caja. Luego de crear el presupuesto, es posible que note que está gastando más de lo que le ingresa cada mes, y se le pedirá que trabaje para reducir los gastos a través de la herramienta de reducción de gastos. Después de reducirlos, es posible que se le anime a comenzar a ahorrar y se le brinden recomendaciones de productos de ahorro apropiados. El núcleo de nuestra hipótesis es la creencia de que el proporcionar a los usuarios herramientas o productos adecuados, en el momento apropiado, es fundamental para la aceptación, el uso y el impacto.
<h2><img class="alignright wp-image-20329" src="https://accion-staging.flywheelsites.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Selección-de-gastos-BG.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="530" />Impacto hasta la fecha</h2>
Desde su lanzamiento a principios de 2020, casi 700.000 usuarios en Chile y México han visitado el sitio rediseñado. Casi 35.000 personas han completado el diagnóstico, 60.000 han accedido a la herramienta de presupuestación y 10.000 han accedido a la herramienta de reducción de gastos. Estas tasas de conversión son consistentes con el uso en general de los productos de Destácame, y son impresionantes tratándose de herramientas autónomas. Pero quizás lo más impresionante es que el equipo ya está observando cambios en los comportamientos financieros de los usuarios: desde julio, el 35 por ciento de los usuarios que completaron la herramienta de presupuesto crearon un presupuesto por primera vez, el 20 por ciento de los que accedieron a la herramienta de reducción de gastos establecieron un objetivo de ahorro, y el 17 por ciento de los que utilizan la herramienta de reducción de gastos en realidad redujeron sus gastos.

Cuando la pandemia golpeó en marzo de 2020, Destácame vio el potencial para ayudar a los chilenos que luchan contra el desempleo, las deudas y la incertidumbre al ofrecerles una forma de manejar su situación financiera y establecer un plan de recuperación. Lanzaron una campaña de marketing con el hashtag #CuarentenaFinanciera promoviendo sus nuevos recursos y alentando a los usuarios a enfocarse en mejorar su preparación, resiliencia y salud financiera en general. En respuesta a una nueva ley que permite el retiro de ahorros de pensiones, el equipo de Destácame lanzó otra campaña en julio llamada #ChileSinDeuda para estimular a los chilenos a aprovechar esta oportunidad para cancelar la deuda pendiente, y trabajaron con sus bancos asociados para ofrecer descuentos. A través de este programa, pudieron ofrecer a 3,5 millones de chilenos un descuento promedio del 60 por ciento sobre su deuda pendiente.

Para fomentar un cambio de comportamiento sostenible, las instituciones deben diseñar y fomentar hábitos financieros saludables que funcionen en la vida cotidiana de los usuarios. Si bien están diseñadas para ser tan fáciles de usar como sea posible, las herramientas actuales de Destácame aún dependen en gran medida de los datos aportados por los usuarios. Estos deben estar altamente motivados y tomarse el tiempo para actualizar las herramientas. En 2021, Destácame planea lanzar productos adicionales, incluyendo una nueva aplicación móvil y una tarjeta de débito que automatizan la evaluación y el apoyo a la salud financiera, reduciendo el esfuerzo de los usuarios. Por ejemplo, sincronizar la gestión de presupuestos y gastos con las transacciones con tarjetas, lo que permite a los usuarios establecer límites para determinadas categorías y crear billeteras de ahorro, respaldando la planificación futura mediante la proyección de ingresos y gastos.

Paso a paso, los usuarios de Destácame van avanzando en su camino hacia la salud financiera, apoyados por un enfoque más personalizado que los atiende donde se encuentren. El enfoque de Destácame al atender al segmento de bajos ingresos en Chile también ha sido un diferenciador de mercado, y ofrece oportunidades de innovación y expansión. Hoy día, Karen finalmente ha salido de sus deudas y está empezando a ahorrar para adquirir una casa. Está feliz con lo mucho que ha logrado: “Destácame me motivó a pagar mis tarjetas de crédito rápidamente y pude salir de esas deudas”.

<img class=" wp-image-10268 alignleft" src="https://accion-staging.flywheelsites.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/MetLife-Foundation.png" alt="MetLife Foundation logo" width="178" height="83" />Este producto es parte de nuestro proyecto de <a href="https://www.accion.org/accion-and-metlife-foundation-announce-expanded-partnership-to-advance-financial-inclusion/">Creación de capacidades financieras y fortalecimiento de instituciones a través de innovaciones centradas en el cliente</a>, respaldado por MetLife Foundation.

Encontrar paso a paso un camino hacia la salud financiera en Chile

Adelina Dasso

Amee Parbhoo

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To succeed, innovative financial products must be desirable, feasible, and viable

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Este equipo de marido y mujer en Bolivia comenzó a producir equipo de protección personal (EPP) para ayudar a su comunidad y mantener a flote su negocio durante la pandemia del coronavirus

Para Carolina Cano Huanca, confeccionar ropa siempre ha sido un asunto de familia. “Empecé por mi hermano”, dice, “él estaba trabajando en Argentina haciendo ropa, y cuando regresó, tuvo la idea de comenzar un taller. Compró algunas máquinas y luego me interesé ". Con el tiempo, amplió sus habilidades de costura y comenzó a diseñar sus propias prendas y productos. “Primero compré una máquina de coser y hacía ropa para otros, pero me di cuenta de que eso no me llenaba. Quería hacer mi propia creación. Quería hacerlo todo yo misma".

Equipada con una nueva pasión por el diseño y su propia máquina de coser, Carolina decidió abrir un negocio de confección en su ciudad natal La Paz, Bolivia. Ha trabajado de la mano con su marido Rómulo Ferrel Rodríguez desde que se casaron hace diez años. Usan los ingresos de su negocio para mantener a su familia y construir un futuro para sus cuatro hijos pequeños. Carolina quiere “darles estabilidad, hacer que estudien todo lo que quieran y poder ayudarles a hacer todo lo que quieran. De todo, eso es lo que más me motiva ”.
<h2>Satisfaciendo una necesidad para su comunidad durante la pandemia</h2>
Hoy, Carolina y Rómulo enfrentan circunstancias muy difíciles: mantener a flote su pequeña empresa mientras la pandemia de COVID-19 trastorna la vida en Bolivia. Antes de la pandemia, la mayor parte de sus ingresos provenían de contratos con escuelas, empresas y equipos deportivos. Una vez que las escuelas cerraron y las temporadas deportivas se cancelaron, todos sus pedidos se cancelaron repentinamente, a pesar de que ya habían comprado las materias primas para surtirlos. “No pudimos hacer nada”, explica Carolina, “Al principio fue muy duro porque pensamos que esto iba a durar menos. Pero con esto prolongado, mi esposo y yo hablamos de tener que hacer algo, tuvimos que adaptarnos a esta situación porque no teníamos otra opción ”.

Por lo tanto, dieron un giro a su negocio para satisfacer la creciente necesidad de equipo de protección personal (EPP) en su comunidad mediante la producción de trajes de bioseguridad. Los trajes de bioseguridad se usan encima de la ropa para proteger a las personas del virus y de otros peligros biológicos. Durante la pandemia de COVID-19, el EPP se ha convertido en una necesidad para muchas personas que deben regresar al trabajo a pesar de la continua propagación del virus en Bolivia. Carolina y Rómulo decidieron producir estos trajes protectores y darle su propio toque a un nuevo diseño. En lugar del típico estilo de una pieza, han creado un diseño de dos piezas más cómodo hecho de material ligero e impermeable. Aunque sus ingresos no son los que eran antes de la pandemia, han mantenido sus precios bajos para que los trajes sean accesibles a quienes los necesitan. “Esa es una forma en la que quiero contribuir. Estamos ofreciendo precios más bajos para que [la gente] pueda cuidarse a sí misma ”, dice Carolina.

[caption id="attachment_20265" align="alignnone" width="1330"]<img class="size-full wp-image-20265" src="https://accion-staging.flywheelsites.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Picture2.jpg" alt="" width="1330" height="830" /> Emprendedora Carolina Cano Huanca comenzó a producir EPP durante la pandemia.[/caption]
<h2>“BancoSol nos ayudo a crecer tanto como familia, como microempresa”.</h2>
Desde el principio, Carolina y Rómulo se dieron cuenta de lo difícil que era iniciar un negocio con su propio dinero y supieron que necesitaban ayuda para hacer crecer su negocio. Al trabajar con BancoSol, <a href="https://www.accion.org/bolivias-small-businesses-need-innovative-products-to-help-them-grow" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">un banco comercial que presta servicios a las pequeñas y microempresas en Bolivia</a>, han podido comprar la maquinaria y las materias primas que necesitan para crecer. “El cambio más positivo que ha hecho BancoSol para nosotros fue confiar en nosotros como clientes. La confianza que nos brindó BancoSol, creo que es el apoyo fundamental que todo microempresario necesita ”, dice Rómulo,“ BancoSol nos ayudó a crecer tanto como familia, como microempresa ”. Con la confianza y el apoyo continuos de BancoSol, pueden seguir trabajando durante la pandemia.

Desde que comenzo la pandemia, BancoSol ha estado trabajando para ayudar a sus clientes de pequeñas empresas. Junto con Acción, desarrollaron segmentos de clientes basados ​​en datos para comprender mejor las necesidades comerciales de sus clientes durante este tiempo. Están incorporando estos hallazgos en una nueva aplicación de ahorro para dispositivos móviles que aprovecha la gamificación para mejorar la participación de los usuarios. Al evaluar la mentalidad de los emprendedores, el uso de herramientas administrativas, el potencial de crecimiento y el conocimiento tecnológico, pueden agrupar a clientes con necesidades similares y proporcionar soluciones específicas para ayudar a los emprendedores a reinvertir en sus negocios. Actualmente estamos trabajando con BancoSol como parte de nuestros esfuerzos continuos con <a href="https://www.accion.org/mastercard-and-accions-partnership-to-unlock-millions-of-underserved-microbusinesses" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth </a>para impulsar la transformación digital de millones de microempresas y las instituciones financieras que les brindan servicios.
<h2>Luchando para salir adelante</h2>
<img class=" wp-image-20268 alignleft" src="https://accion-staging.flywheelsites.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Picture3.jpg" alt="" width="343" height="521" />Esta pandemia ha amenazado los medios de supervivencia de los empresarios en todo el mundo, especialmente los pequeños y microempresarios que ya eran vulnerables a los desafíos. Pero Rómulo ha encontrado un lado positivo: “Como familia nos ha afectado económicamente, pero lo bueno de esta pandemia es que como familia hemos podido unirnos mucho más; con mi esposa, mis hijos, hemos podido interactuar más. Por cada cosa mala en nuestra familia, podemos sacar lo bueno, que la familia se ha acercado ".

Como empresario, él y Carolina han superado desafíos del pasado y han crecido a partir de ellos. Rómulo se muestra optimista sobre el espíritu de los bolivianos durante esta crisis y dice: “Hay empresarios, luchadores, que se adaptan rápidamente al cambio. Exactamente cómo ha sucedido en esta pandemia. Hay gente que ha dado un giro de 180 grados para seguir adelante, para continuar la lucha. Creo que lo que caracteriza a los bolivianos es la lucha por seguir, por seguir creciendo ”. Él y Carolina están haciendo precisamente eso.

“La lucha por contnuar”: El negocio de una familia cambia su rumbo

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As I walked through Alaba International and Idumota markets on a recent trip to Lagos, I was in awe of the bustling scene. Not even the rainy season’s torrential downpours could silence the Afrobeat music thumping in the background as buyers and sellers jockeyed for a better deal. Alaba International and Idumota markets reign supreme in Lagos, offering all the goods one can imagine. Alaba International, on the southeastern edge of the city, bursts at the seams with satellite dishes imported from China, secondhand PlayStations shipped in from the UK, and other electronics. Idumota buzzes on Lagos Island, just south of the city center, and is a shopper’s delight replete with wax print hauled over from Ghana, locally produced Nollywood movies, and so much more.

Amidst the action in the markets, I interviewed 22 small business owners who are clients of <a href="https://www.accionmfb.com/">Accion Microfinance Bank (AMfB)</a> to learn more about their financial health and capability. This research will guide us as we develop a framework to help micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) better understand and achieve financial health. The framework is part of a project we’re undertaking with the support of the <a href="https://www.mastercardcenter.org/">Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth</a> to increase the <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/what-financial-health-means-for-small-business-owners">financial health and resilience of individuals and businesses</a> around the globe.

Through my conversations with business owners, I learned about what owners viewed as determinants of their success. We hypothesized that MSME financial health rests on three pillars — earning a profit, having access to capital to seize opportunities, and being resilient to economic shocks. The interviews suggest that our framework is on the right track. For instance, limited and slow access to working capital was commonly cited as a barrier to taking advantage of fleeting business opportunities. We also learned that resilience is not as much about cash-on-hand as it is about being able to quickly shift to other income-generating activities to fill an immediate need.

But arguably, the most eye-opening thing I learned from these interviews had to do with financial capability and the path to entrepreneurship, specifically how owners were able to get the know-how and capital to start their businesses. I had assumed that a commercial bank or <a href="http://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jbm/papers/Vol17-issue6/Version-2/J017626267.pdf">esusu</a> — a rotating savings and credit association common in Nigeria — were the first two places that a budding entrepreneur would turn to raise seed funding. However, nearly all the merchants and traders I spoke with started their business with a lump sum they earned after spending several years as apprentices in their trade. This practice is part of the centuries-old Igbo apprenticeship model, <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/c77a/7e79ec3fb7ce5c9eccdc72d181205251dfb2.pdf">Imu-Ahia</a>.

The roots of Imu-Ahia date back to the European colonial era when the Igbo ethnic group native to southeastern Nigeria started to gain a reputation as highly skilled traders and merchants. Today, the apprenticeship model has been widely adopted across the country. Most apprentices-to-be meet their “boss” — someone who is already well-established in a trade — through a family member or close contact. Reasons abound for why one might become an apprentice. Several entrepreneurs I spoke with decided at a young age that they wanted to be masters of a trade, so becoming an apprentice was always part of their plan. Others became an apprentice as a last resort, often after financial constraints forced them to put off academic or other pursuits.

During their tenure, which can range anywhere between three and seven years, apprentices observe and take notes on the tricks of the trade. They are assigned a variety of responsibilities, and eventually, they’re charged with promoting sales and store management. Although most apprentices aren’t paid, they are afforded accommodation, transportation costs, food, and clothing. Once the agreement — which can be either informal or formal — has been fulfilled, the newly anointed entrepreneurs are provided a lump sum to help them start their shop. One interviewee — a vendor of computer and phone accessories — was compensated with N800,000, the equivalent of approximately US$2,200, after spending five years as an apprentice. This is a decent payout considering he currently spends N350,000 (US $970) a year to rent his shop.

So what exactly does Imu-Ahia tell us about how these entrepreneurs perceive the determinants of their success? Many interviewees captured it perfectly when they shared advice for aspiring entrepreneurs: one must meticulously study and practice the skills needed to run a business before diving into it.

This advice resonates with our team at CFI because it positions financial capability — the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors necessary to make sound financial decisions — as <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/four-reasons-focusing-on-financial-capability-is-good-business">an essential contributor to business success</a>. The apprenticeship <a href="https://guardian.ng/technology/apprenticeship-and-mentorship-the-key-to-technology-talent-development/">model serves as a learning and testing ground</a> for those who are set on eventually running their own shop, much in the same way that the modern-day business incubator serves as a testing ground for startups. By the time individuals “graduate” from the apprenticeship model, they will have developed the knowledge and skills to manage business revenues and expenses. They also have plans to take advantage of investment opportunities and experience observing how businesses respond to the ups and downs of the market.

I only interviewed former apprentices who found success in the business world, so there’s still more to learn. We need to do more to understand the relationship between financial capability and business outcomes, especially business failures. Nevertheless, these qualitative findings echo the findings of other research. The <a href="https://www.nber.org/chapters/c8222.pdf">National Bureau of Economic Research</a> conducted a fascinating study that showed the differences in the psychological profile of wage workers, own-account workers, and small and medium enterprise (SME) owners. It found that “ability, motivation, and a competitive attitude are very important in differentiating SME and microenterprise owners.” The <a href="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/884291527663849364/pdf/126687-18-6-2018-9-32-12-InvestigatingSMEFinancialCapabilitiesFINALWEB.pdf">World Bank</a> launched a project to measure financial capability of SMEs. Their analysis showed a positive correlation between financial capability and a firm’s size and level of sales.

The striking thing about what we learned in Lagos is not so much that financial capability contributes to business success, it is how, in the Nigerian system such capability is learned: over a period of years, through experience, and under the watchful eye of a knowledgeable mentor.

Keep reading the <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/blog">CFI Blog</a>, where we’ll share future findings as we conduct surveys around the world on MSME financial health!

A version of this post originally appeared on the <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/what-an-apprenticeship-system-may-reveal-about-the-financial-health-of-small-business-owners-in-nigeria">Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion blog</a>.

In Nigeria, apprentices can learn more than a new trade

After months studying the drivers of financial health and mobile and internet usage in eastern Europe, I was excited when our team finally landed in Serbia. During the hour-long taxi ride from Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla Airport to Novi Sad, we finalized our work plan for the coming days while catching glimpses of the countryside.

We came to Serbia to join our colleagues at the <a href="http://mfc.org.pl/">Microfinance Centre</a> (MFC) in conducting in-depth interviews with current and prospective customers of <a href="http://www.obs.rs/eng/">Opportunity Bank Serbia</a> and <a href="http://fiiw.pl/">Fundacja Innowacja i Wiedza</a> (Foundation for Innovation and Knowledge). We wanted to learn everything we could about the interviewees’ ambitions, challenges, attitudes, and technology use, so we can use these insights to design and develop a digital tool that will help clients understand and improve their financial health. This research is part of the <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/about/what-we-do/building-financial-capabilities-and-strengthening-institutions-through-customer-centered-innovations/">Building Financial Capabilities &amp; Strengthening Institutions through Customer-Centered Innovations</a> project, supported by <a href="https://www.metlife.com/corporate-responsibility/metlife-foundation/">MetLife Foundation</a>.
<h2>Euros vs. dinars: Serbia’s dual-currency dynamic</h2>
[caption id="attachment_18520" align="alignleft" width="500"]<img class="wp-image-18520" src="https://accion-staging.flywheelsites.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/ECA-pic-2-1-1024x767.jpg" alt="Novi Sad taxi" width="500" height="375" /> Taxis in Novi Sad, Serbia, often quote cab fares in euros.[/caption]

As we pulled up to the hotel, I was perplexed when our driver, Božidar, quoted the cab fare in euros. Last time I checked, the dinar was the currency of Serbia, since it remains an EU candidate country. Yet Božidar demanded that we pay him in euros, as did many other local vendors. We discovered that our interviewees commonly use euros alongside dinars. One farmer said that she quickly deposits any payments made in euros, but she tends to use her dinars for everyday purchases or stash them at home for emergencies. A shop owner said the majority of her suppliers pay her in euros while she accepts payments from customers in both currencies.

The trend of “euroization” or “dollarization” — a foreign currency substituting or complementing the domestic one — is well studied. The graph below, from the <a href="https://www.oenb.at/en/Monetary-Policy/Surveys/OeNB-Euro-Survey.html">Austrian central bank’s Euro Survey</a>, shows that among its neighbors in central, eastern, and southeastern Europe, Serbia is the most euroized, with the highest proportion of all its cash and deposits held in the form of euros.

Why multiple currencies create financial health challenges in Serbia

If you’ve never used financial services in the past, you’re going to encounter a significant learning curve when you finally get access. That’s why more institutions are rolling out products to support first-time clients and equip them with actionable tips and tools to simplify their experience. These new services aren’t just good for customers, they’re good for business. By helping consumers attain the <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/a-change-in-behavior-catalogue-of-innovations-in-financial-capability">knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors</a> necessary to make sound financial decisions — what we call financial capability — customers can become more informed and engaged. In other words, they become better customers.

For any financial institution interested in increasing customer loyalty, building better financial capability is crucial.

<a href="https://www.accion.org/accion-and-metlife-foundation-announce-expanded-partnership-to-advance-financial-inclusion/">As we work with MetLife Foundation</a> to expand financial capability through customer-centered innovations, we’re excited about the potential benefits for both customers and institutions. Here are four reasons why helping clients build their financial capability is a win-win:
<h3>1. Financial capability drives active use of financial products </h3>
Products that help increase financial capability, <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/financial-capability-building-practices-in-mexico">drawing insight from behavioral science</a>, can encourage customers to use products more often, which translates to higher profitability for providers and greater usefulness to customers.

Take the case of <a href="https://www.grupobancolombia.com/wps/portal/personas/productos-servicios/cuentas/ahorro/transaccional/ahorro-a-la-mano">Ahorro a la Mano</a>, a mobile savings product and e-wallet from Bancolombia, the largest bank in Colombia. The bank discovered that if a customer does not make a transaction within the first month of opening the account, she is unlikely to make a transaction at all. It decided to use <a href="https://www.behavioraleconomics.com/resources/mini-encyclopedia-of-be/nudge/">“nudges”</a> to remind users to put money into their savings.

Bancolombia worked with<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/petercohan/2011/06/01/juntos-finanzas-helps-latinos-save-plan/#3c0a808d5db3"> Juntos</a>, a fintech company that specializes in data science and behavioral insights. Juntos developed a chatbot named <a href="https://content.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/IIF-CFI_FI-Fintech_Partnerships_Final.pdf">“Emilia,”</a>  that could point out opportunities to use the product and makes special offers to encourage transactions within the first month. Because they provide individually tailored messages in a friendly, personal voice, Emilia’s nudges and reminders build trust with clients, and they become more likely to act on her suggestions.
<h3>2. Customer loyalty increases</h3>
As customers use their products more frequently, they are likely to become more loyal. Most financial service providers’ balance sheets and product viability calculations do not figure long-term customer loyalty into their calculations, but customers that stick with a provider over time are important to business success.

In September 2017, BBVA launched <a href="https://www.bbva.com/en/bbva-opens-its-banking-app-in-spain-to-accounts-and-products-from-other-providers/">Bconomy</a>, a digital platform meant to add value to the customer experience by giving them a full picture of their financial health. Fueled by data analytics, the platform uses behavioral insights to encourage positive behavior. Clients can see an overall snapshot of their finances, turning their bank accounts into financial management hubs. The tool ensures that customers continue returning to the platform and rely on BBVA as their primary financial provider. To date, the platform has had over <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/banking-sector-approaches-to-customer-engagement-and-capability">2 million users per month.</a>
<h3> 3. Capable customers use more products</h3>
Part of the accepted definition of financial capability is a person’s confidence in using a wide range of products to meet their financial needs. Savvy institutions that promote financial capability also build appropriate follow-on products for customers. Institutions that ignore this strategy may see their first-time customers move on to other providers as they become more comfortable with formal finance.

<a href="https://acreimex.com.mx/">Acreimex,</a> a savings and credit cooperative in Mexico, has incorporated savings into payroll loan repayments so that customers who opt in can save painlessly while they repay their loans. Savings discipline is a key attribute of financially capable people, and automated savings is a tool that assists people to stick to their best intentions. Acreimex built this option by combining its two most popular products. It merged its payroll loan and savings services by rounding up repayment installment amounts and automatically depositing the excess amount into clients’ savings.

The combination of products resulted in significant increases in savings activity and balances. An <a href="https://optixproject.org/acreimex/">evaluation</a> showed that participants made about twice as many deposits and saved 30 percent more than those who didn’t participate. Additionally, <a href="https://nextbillion.net/stealthy-saving-building-on-payroll-credit-to-automate-savings/">96 percent of savers chose not to withdraw</a> the balances from their accounts throughout a 12-month pilot. 
<h3>4. Investing in financial capability is more effective — and less expensive </h3>
Traditional, classroom-based financial instruction is costly. Features that build financial capability are often cheaper and more effective because they generate direct and longer lasting behavior change.

When <a href="https://www.nefe.org/Portals/0/WhatWeProvide/PrimaryResearch/PDF/CU%20Final%20Report.pdf">researchers analyzed</a> more than 200 individual impact studies on financial education, they found that only 0.1 percent of the observed positive changes in people that had attended classroom-based financial education programs could be attributed to the programs themselves.

On the other hand, impact evaluations of financial products that incorporate behavioral insights to nudge client behavior consistently find statistically significant positive impacts. For example, in a study with <a href="http://www.bancoadopem.com.do/app/do/frontpage.aspx">Banco ADOPEM</a>, <a href="https://www.povertyactionlab.org/sites/default/files/publications/124_303%20Rules%20of%20Thumb%20AEJ%20Apr2014.pdf">researchers tracked customers</a> who attended either a traditional accounting-based financial education class or a class that, in keeping with behavioral insights, offered simple rules of thumb in accounting. Both classes aimed to assist customers to separate business and personal accounts. In the end, the customers who received the simplified rules of thumb displayed more positive business outcomes — they saw a 30 percent increase on average in the level of sales during weeks with typically low sales and saved an average of 6 percent more in personal savings.

More and more institutions are thoughtfully designing products and experiences that not only match their customers’ experiences and lives, but also consider their attitudes, skills, and behaviors. Financial institutions that invest in building up financial capability are likely ensuring they will have customers that are more active users of their products, that are loyal for longer, and that will use a wider variety of products.

We’ll continue to share insights on financial capability based on research conducted by Accion’s Global Advisory Services team and the Center for Financial Inclusion as part of our project on <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/about/what-we-do/building-financial-capabilities-and-strengthening-institutions-through-customer-centered-innovations/">Building Financial Capabilities and Strengthening Institutions through Customer-Centered Innovations project</a>, supported by MetLife Foundation.

Four reasons focusing on financial capability is good business

India is one of the fastest growing and most complex markets for inclusive finance, and there is a massive opportunity to extend financial services to the underserved. But the country has struggled in the past with unbridled growth of the microfinance sector leading to a crisis in debt stress, notably in <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/elisabeth-rhyne/on-microfinance-whos-to-b_b_777911.html">Andhra Pradesh</a> in 2010.

Policymakers and networks of microfinance institutions actively responded to these crises and elevated consumer protection on the policy agenda. But it’s one thing for regulators to signal policy support for consumer protection. It’s quite another to tackle the nuts and bolts of implementing best practices, especially in a market as complex as India.

One of the scalable solutions to arise in India is the concept of microfinance networks as Self-Regulatory Organizations (SROs). Networks that have been designated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as SRO networks are responsible for monitoring compliance of member microfinance institutions (MFIs) to the microfinance industry code of conduct and providing an effective grievance redressal mechanism between borrowers and member institutions. <a href="http://www.sa-dhan.net/">Sa-Dhan</a>, the largest organization of community banks in India, was designated an SRO in 2015. While Sa-Dhan had previously filled a quasi-regulatory role, this official designation expanded its mandate for monitoring and enforcement, in turn increasing its need for tools to identify and respond to risks at both the market and institution levels.
<div id="attachment_33139" class="wp-caption alignleft">

[caption id="attachment_33139" align="alignleft" width="500"]<img class="wp-image-33139" src="https://content.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/10/Sa-Dhan-tool-launch-photo-1024x714.jpg" alt="announcement-of-sadhan-monitoring-tool-group-photo" width="500" height="349" /> The Sa-Dhan monitoring tool was announced at a launch event during the Sa-Dhan Annual Conference in New Delhi in September 2018.[/caption]

</div>
Aiming to make a country-wide impact on the state of consumer protection in India, CFI’s Smart Campaign and Accion’s Global Advisory Services collaborated with Sa-Dhan to build a digital monitoring tool based on the <a href="https://www.smartcampaign.org/about/smart-microfinance-and-the-client-protection-principles">Smart Campaign’s global standards</a> for financial consumer protection and local regulatory guidelines. The tool is to be the vehicle through which Sa-Dhan collects the information it needs from its members to fulfill its supervisory role in maintaining compliance with the code of conduct. Accion’s advisory team led the digitization of the tool, building of the data warehouse, and the corresponding web platform. The tool was officially launched at <a href="https://www.accion.org/sa-dhan-the-smart-campaign-launch-ifc-backed-monitoring-tool-to-strengthen-consumer-protection">Sa-Dhan’s annual conference</a> with technical and financial support from the International Finance Corporation. Sa-Dhan’s members can now efficiently self-report data through the tool’s online interface, and Sa-Dhan can quantitatively assess market dynamics, especially areas of overindebtedness risk.

This new monitoring mechanism will help to instill consumer protection in Sa-Dhan’s nearly 200 member institutions and protect more than 30 million clients in India.

Across the microfinance sector, new examples of “regtech” and “suptech” are emerging. Just as technological transformation of microfinance institutions can scale their services to new clients, technology can help regulatory bodies meet their broadened responsibilities to oversee the proliferation of lenders. P. Satish, Executive Director of Sa-Dhan sees the new tool as an essential component for self-regulation because it will “help member MFIs with their data analytics and compliance measures, as well as reduce potential client distress.”

After the initial rollout and training workshops for microfinance institutions across the country, Sa-Dhan will put the tool into practice and will use the reports in consultation with the RBI to identify “hot spots” of overindebtedness or lack of compliance to the code of conduct. These reports will also help Sa-Dhan identify under-penetrated areas and help lenders to expand services.

India’s experimentation with self-regulation holds lessons for the world. Traditionally, self-regulation models have been met with skepticism, especially regarding how non-government networks can monitor and enforce compliance among members. The collaboration between the RBI and self-regulatory organizations in India give weight to the microfinance networks through a layered regulatory approach, and technology advances can build the capacity of networks like Sa-Dhan to access data from their members and oversee performance.

The Sa-Dhan monitoring tool can serve as a model for expanding consumer protection in other markets, especially those where there are concerns about rising debt stress. Better monitoring tools can serve as an early warning system and help provider networks or regulators head off crises before they spread.

This post was originally published on <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/a-new-digital-monitoring-tool-in-india-could-boost-consumer-protection-capacity">the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion blog</a>.

Increasing consumer protection for 30 million clients in India

According to the <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://globalfindex.worldbank.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Global Findex</a>, the percentage of adults in Mexico who are saving money at a formal institution plunged from 15 percent to 10 percent in just the <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://globalfindex.worldbank.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">past three years</a> — despite financial inclusion strategies <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://cfi-blog.org/2016/07/01/mexico-launches-comprehensive-financial-inclusion-strategy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">enacted by the government</a>. This steep decline in usage of savings accounts came as a surprise and also hit close to home for me as a Mexican. This <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://medium.com/accion/is-financial-inclusion-stalling-af0fbd502550" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">trend is a cause for concern</a>, and it’s also a call to action. At Accion, we took this as an opportunity to listen to the people we’d like to see benefit from financial services. <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://medium.com/accion/how-accion-metlife-foundation-will-improve-financial-inclusion-in-latam-1838b934d3e0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">With the support of MetLife Foundation</a>, we wanted to understand why fewer people were saving in banks, what products and services people were using — and who was providing those services if it wasn’t formal institutions.
To get answers about what people in Mexico want from their financial service providers, I recently traveled home to Mexico City as part of a team of researchers. We listened to small merchants map out their entire financial lives; their motivations, goals, and aspirations, how they feel about various types of financial services, the strategies they use to stay financially healthy, and more.
Our biggest surprise? The individuals we talked with know about and can access a lot of financial products — they just aren’t using them.
All of the individuals we spoke to reported having access to microloans, consumer store credit, credit cards, and savings accounts. Financial access didn’t seem to be an issue for them — not even in the more rural areas we visited two hours outside the city. Even though our small, qualitative study may not be rigorous enough to extrapolate to the broader population, this finding seems to be consistent with national data. In Mexico, <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://www.cnbv.gob.mx/Inclusi%C3%B3n/Documents/Reportes%20de%20IF/Reporte%20de%20Inclusion%20Financiera%208.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">86 percent of banking branches are located in urban areas</a>, so people close to the city are unlikely to deal with a shortage of services. What our interviews revealed is that a different issue is preventing further inclusion: lack of alignment between what low-income customers want and what current financial products offer. Most people we talked to dislike dealing with large commercial banks, and they continuously decline the offers for financial services they regularly receive, at their doorstep or in public places

<figure class="graf graf--figure graf--layoutOutsetLeft"></figure>
<div id="attachment_8449" class="wp-caption alignleft">

[caption id="attachment_8449" align="alignleft" width="500"]<img class="wp-image-8449" src="http://blogs.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/IMG_0825-768x1024.jpg" alt="Woman holding baby" width="500" height="667" /> Azucena works as a housewife in Alpuyeca, Morelos in Mexico.[/caption]


</div>
Many of the people we interviewed still prioritize saving cash at home, even if they also have a formal savings account. For example, Azucena, a former teller at a large commercial bank branch, told us that despite her relationship with a bank, she and her husband still prefer to store cash informally. “We save at home, but we do so separately, using different lock boxes for different purposes,” she says.
Through our conversations with clients like Azucena, we discovered that informal alternatives like lock boxes continue to be more convenient for clients and preferable to formal options. Keeping cash at home is, after all, indispensable for unexpected emergencies. If your money is in a bank, you’d have the hassle of getting there and waiting. Plus, it may not be available 24/7, and you can run into issues if the ATM is offline or the pharmacist, mechanic, or whomever else you’re turning to for help doesn’t take a debit card.
In many cases, the interviewees’ savings accounts had been opened for them by former employers to serve as payroll accounts or by government programs for disbursement of benefits. These accounts were less “savings accounts” and more “distribution” accounts that were immediately turned into cash and saved at home. Because the savings aspect wasn’t used — in fact, was never emphasized — once they switched jobs or stopped receiving benefits, they let the accounts lapse.
Convenience may be a key issue, but it is not the only one. Feeling unsafe withdrawing money from a bank branch is also an issue because thieves wait where the money is — outside bank branches and near ATMs. The lack of trust our interviewees placed in financial institutions was often less about security and more about the unclear, high (real, or perceived) maintenance fees banks charge on savings accounts.
Despite this perceived aversion to formal accounts, we found that people still continue to save and set high financial goals for themselves. In all the interviews we conducted, the number one financial goal was saving to access better opportunities: the education of their children, a home for their family, or the chance of opening their own business. The demand is clearly there, and most of the people we talked to were indeed saving.
We heard from customers, and now we’re working with a mix of fintechs and financial service providers of all sizes to use those insights to create financial products that customers will want to use as key tools for their financial lives. Stay tuned!
This research was conducted by Accion, the <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion</a>, and <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://www.dalbergdesign.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Dalberg Design</a> as part of our part of our <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://www.accion.org/accion-and-metlife-foundation-announce-expanded-partnership-to-advance-financial-inclusion/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Building Financial Capabilities and Strengthening Institutions through Customer-Centered Innovations</a> project, supported by MetLife Foundation.

Why aren’t people saving money in Mexico?

Accelerating Financial Inclusion with New Data 

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Justin Matheson-Turner

Mibanco supports Felicitas and other women-owned microenterprises in Peru

Megan Peterson

Personal financial management platform Destacame enabled Andrea to build her financial health and follow her dreams

María Belén Garrett

CÍVICO is helping micro, small, and medium enterprises innovate so traditional family businesses can succeed in a changing world

Prateek Shrivastava

Emma Morse

civico

<img class="wp-image-18081 size-medium alignright" src="https://accion-staging.flywheelsites.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/civicoimage1-300x300.jpeg" alt="CÍVICO on mobile phone" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://accion-staging.flywheelsites.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/civicoimage1-300x300.jpeg 300w, https://accion-staging.flywheelsites.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/civicoimage1-150x150.jpeg 150w, https://accion-staging.flywheelsites.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/civicoimage1-768x768.jpeg 768w, https://accion-staging.flywheelsites.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/civicoimage1-1024x1024.jpeg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
<a href="https://www.accion.org/how-one-platform-connects-cities-and-boosts-small-businesses/">CÍVICO is a digital platform</a> with operations in Colombia, Mexico, and Chile. It enables access to information and services to improve the quality of life of individuals in Latin America. CÍVICO has geolocated many hundreds of thousands of micro businesses —including Merqueya, where Angela works — to make it easier for customers to find what they need in their local environment. These interactions bring more business to the merchants, helping them sell better. CÍVICO’s clients expressed the desire to access financial services to help them run better and buy better. In response to this, through the Mastercard/Accion partnership, CÍVICO plans to work with financial service providers to offer digital-first financial services, such as credit and insurance, to underserved micro businesses in its networks.

amfb

<a href="https://www.accion.org/clients/accion-microfinance-bank/">Accion Microfinance Bank (AMfB) in Nigeria</a> provides loans and savings products to low-income customers, many of whom are microentrepreneurs. AMfB hopes to triple the number of clients it reaches through a “digital-first” model to both acquire new clients and to make internal processes even more efficient. These changes aim to have a substantial positive impact on AMfB’s clients — both new and existing. Clients should have greater access to various financial products and services, and they’ll benefit from an enhanced customer experience and the convenience of being able to complete transactions without having to visit a branch.

subk

Currently operating in 26 states across India, <a href="https://www.accion.org/instead-sending-people-bank-sub-k-brings-banking-people">BASIX Sub-K</a>’s mission is to provide a technology-enabled financial platform for India’s unbanked and underbanked populations. The company offers affordable and accessible digital finance solutions (e.g., credit, savings, and payments) by partnering with 12 banks, nationwide, through an agent-assisted model. Embracing digital transformation will enable Sub-K to reach even more clients by offering meaningful, customer segment-specific, value-added services such as business management tools in addition to a variety of financial products.

Our work with CÍVICO, Accion Microfinance Bank, and Sub-K will help these institutions increase efficiencies in the delivery of financial services, improve customer engagement through digital channels, and upskill staff to support a digital transformation. By supporting these partners and selecting more promising institutions, we hope to reach 10 million clients, including 4 million merchants over the next four years. These institutions will help businesses digitize and formalize so they can increase sales through digital payments and save time on bookkeeping through management tools. From Angela in Bogota to Osholabi in Lagos to countless others around the world, this will ensure that small businesses, their employees, and their customers can benefit from the security and opportunities that formal financial services provide.

Mastercard/Accion partnership leverages digital transformation to unlock economic opportunities for small and medium sized enterprises

Fintech is making educational finance accessible for Colombians 

Ashley Lewis

Insights on big data, mobile payments, and what China’s model means for financial inclusion in Nigeria

Accion, MetLife Foundation, and the Chinese Association of Microfinance launched the first holistic, systematic microfinance management training and capacity building initiative in China. The program involved a hands-on approach so participants could develop their leadership and management skills, as well as sound technical knowledge in microfinance operations and human capital management. The program reached 73 participants from 34 leading microfinance institutions which serve more than one million clients.

We recently expanded our partnership with programs that leverage digital solutions to enhance underserved customers’ financial capabilities and engagement. In Latin America, we are working to better understand customer needs and help financial service providers design, test, and implement innovations that drive usage and improve customers’ financial capabilities. In Eastern Europe, we are partnering with Microfinance Centre, a regional microfinance resource center and network of organizations in Europe and Central Asia, to develop and promote digital tools that providers can use to diagnose clients’ financial health, identify gaps, and develop actionable plans to improve their financial well-being.

Accion and MetLife Foundation pursue joint opportunities — like content collaborations, speaking opportunities, research, and commentary — to engage the industry and help it better reach the underserved. Accion shares stories of our impact through MetLife Foundation initiatives like the Wall Street Journal’s <a href="https://partners.wsj.com/metlife/multipliers/articles/bridging-entrepreneurial-gender-gap/?cx_testId=0&amp;cx_testVariant=cx_1&amp;cx_artPos=24&amp;cx_type=search&amp;cx_spnsr=djcc_metlife&amp;cx_navSource=djcc_metlife-unfiltered#cxrecs_s">Multipliers of Prosperity</a> platform and the <a href="https://nextbillion.net/does-greater-inclusion-lead-to-financial-health/">Next Billion</a> blog. Together, the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion (CFI) and MetLife Foundation support the Economist Intelligence Unit&#8217;s Global Microscope, which benchmarks national progress on financial inclusion around the world and catalyzes reform. And a two-year initiative between CFI, the Institute of International Finance, and MetLife Foundation is using research, knowledge exchange, best practices, real world examples, and expert insights, to identify and share practical guidance that financial institutions can use to expand quality services to the poor.

In 2011, CFI launched an initiative using 2020 as a target date to spur the financial inclusion community to more significant impact. MetLife Foundation advised the effort and provided financial support to CFI’s working groups, each tasked with creating a roadmap for a different enabler of inclusion. This effort culminated in a global forum that brought together practitioners and thought leaders in financial inclusion. To help sustain the momentum, the Foundation sponsored several CFI initiatives to develop tools and research for the industry.
Today, MetLife Foundation continues to be a thought partner, a collaborator, a funder, and an advisor to Accion, providing critical support for our efforts to build a financially inclusive world.

Jim Rosenberg

Microfinance manager shares her secrets for success financing entrepreneurs

Delia Harrington

Jacqueline Foelster

Research shows how small business owners hone their financial capability as they build job skills

People choose to use euros instead of local currency to protect wealth and hedge against risks of exchange rate depreciation —  something that’s a relatively recent bad memory in Serbia. Many of our interviewees recall the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/09/world/isolated-and-corrupt-serbia-s-economy-stagnates.html">hyperinflation</a> that plagued the economy in the early- to mid-1990s around the dissolution of the Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia. At the peak of Yugoslavia’s hyperinflation, <a href="https://www.vice.com/sv/article/4w38wq/poorest-billionaires-serbia-876">500,000,000 dinars bought a loaf of bread</a>. Several of our interviewees recognized that some of their attitudes toward money might be rooted in the past. And while current realities suggest that the dinar is stable today, risk aversion may be the more prudent course.
<h2>Euros are for saving — dinars are for spending</h2>
Our interviews revealed several insights, particularly around operating in multiple currencies. First, people form mental constructs about the purpose and use of each currency. For the farmer, and several other of our interviewees, euros are for saving, and dinars are for spending. People perceive euros as more stable, and depositing the euros in a bank account or any other formal or informal savings instrument may remove the temptation to spend them If these constructs hold, it could mean that individuals who receive most of their cash in dinars may spend their money more quickly than their peers who rely more on euros.
Our interviews also highlighted the need to manage liquidity properly, which is more complicated in two currencies. The shop owner we spoke with uses euros to pay for her inventory, but she also needs to ensure that her till is stocked with dinars so that she is ready to accept customer payments in both currencies.
Perhaps most important, our field research also confirmed that the risks involved in using multiple currencies, such as borrowing in one currency while operating in another, are a significant consideration when it comes to building financial health. Financial institutions, which have offered loans in a hard currency to people operating primarily in a soft local currency, have often exported currency risk to clients who are not well positioned to handle it. And they have suffered along with their customers when devaluations made it too costly for customers to repay hard-currency loans.
<h2>Next steps in our financial health project </h2>
As we start to develop a digital tool that clients can use to understand their financial health better, one challenge is making sure it accounts for the particular financial behaviors and cognitive biases of a dual-currency system. In addition to brainstorming ideas for behavioral nudges, we need to consider the tool’s user interface, i.e., for our target users in Serbia, are we going to express the value of money in terms of dinars or euros — or both?
We’re excited to put the insights we gained in Serbia to the test and use a customer-centered approach to designing and developing a new solution to help customers build their financial health. Keep an eye on the <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/blog">CFI Blog</a> for an update when we’re done prototyping in a couple of months!
We’ll continue to share insights on financial capability based on research conducted by the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion (CFI) and Accion’s Global Advisory Solutions (GLAS) as part of our project on <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/about/what-we-do/building-financial-capabilities-and-strengthening-institutions-through-customer-centered-innovations/">Building Financial Capabilities and Strengthening Institutions through Customer-Centered Innovations project</a>, supported by MetLife Foundation.
This post was originally published on <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/dinars-vs-euros-financial-health-and-the-multiple-currency-dynamic">the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion blog</a>.

Currency is one issue that will inform prototyping of a financial health digital tool for Serbia and other countries in Eastern Europe

Pablo Anton-Diaz

Expanding financial capability benefits financial service providers and customers

Alex Taylor

The Smart Campaign and Accion’s Global Advisory Solutions team up to build a digital monitoring tool for Sa-Dhan, the largest network of microfinance institutions in India

Customer research offers insights into the drop in financial product usage in Mexico

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