SPTF Annual Meeting
Mexico City – June 7, 2017
Workshop: Empowering Customers to Use Digital Financial Services (DFS)
Leaders:
• YaninaSeltzer,CGAP(USA)
• GabrielaZapataAlvarez,consultant(Mexico)
Introduction
• TrueorFalse:DigitalizingG2P(governmenttransfer)isanexcellentpathtofinancialinclusion.
o Someonesaidtrue,giventhesizeofthetargetgroup.Withasingleactivityyoucan
financiallyincludehundredsofthousandsofwomen.
o GabrielaZapatasaidwherethere’salotofpenetrationorintermediariestotakeoutthe
money,that’sgreat,butwhenit’sdigitizedandtheydon’thavetheoption,thatcanbe
difficult.
• TrueorFalse:DFSshouldfocusondesigninguserinterfacebutalsointheuserexperience.
o True.Youhavetobeconcernedabouttheuserexperience,ornobodywilluseitandthe
userinterfacewon’tmatter.
• Gabrielasaidthescaleoffinancialexclusionisgigantic.InHaitiandNicaragua,morethan80%
arefinanciallyexcluded.ThepercentageismuchlowerelsewhereinLACsothere’sabig
difference.Manyhaveanaccountandtheydon’tuseit.Iftheydon’tuseit,it’sequivalenttonot
havingaccess.
• TherearedifferencesworldwideonwhatDFSmeans.CGAPdefinesDFSasabroadrangeof
financialservicesofferedandaccessiblethroughadigitalchannel.Digitalchannelsincludethe
Internet,cellphones(basicandsmart),tablets,chips,ATMs,cards.
• WithinDFS,youhavemobilefinancialservices,whichyouaccessthroughmobilephoneonly.
• Digitalfinancialinclusionhas4components:
o Digitaldevice
o Correspondents
o Digitaltransactionplatform
o Additionalfinancialproducts
ClientStories
YaninaSeltzeraskedparticipantstothinkthroughanexperiencewithDFS.Didyoufeelempowered?
Whatdidyoulikeaboutit?Whatdidyounotlike?
• Positives:
o WithDFS,IcancarryoutmytransactionswhenItravel.Icancontinuemanagingmyfinances
fromadistance.Iworrythatitmayrunoutofbattery.
o Icaneasilysendmoneytosomeoneelse.
• Negatives
o Thereisnohumanpersontosolveaproblem.Whenyoucomplainaboutsomething,itcan
bedifficulttogettoanactualperson.
o Don’tlikethatbankingsessionstimeoutwithoutmebeingabletofinish.
o Canbecomplextouse.
Activity:Participantswereaskedtothinkaboutclients.Whoisyouraveragecustomer?Whatistheir
gender,age,occupation?Talkabouttheirhopes,feelings,problems,needs.
Providerstories
• YaninadiscussedanexampleofEKO,whichisworkingtodesigntheinteractionoftheclientwith
thecorrespondentbankanditsclients.
• GabrieladiscussedanexampleoftransactionaltraditionalaccountissuedbyCitiBanamex.It’sthe
accountwiththelargestgrowthinMexicoandissoldatOxxo,whichisashopthathasmany
locationsinMexico.Activatedatthecorrespondent’sbank.
o Oxxodidalotofresearchtodiscusswhatitclientsneeded.Theydidalotofresearchto
knowhowtosellit,marketit,etc.Theycreatedapocketbookguide,whichexplains
whatyoucandowiththecard,thefees,etc.Itcomeswiththecard.
o Youcanusethecardaloneorlinkittothephonetothemobiletransferprogram
o Thedreamoftheprojectisclear,simpleandfocusedontheclients.
§ Efficient:Cangetanaccountin3.5minutes,oneID
§ Transparentandaccessible:30pesos,clearfees
§ Tangible:card,optionalmobileuse
§ Accessible:morethan15,500OXXOstores,ATMsforCitiBanamex,mobile
option
o Nofeeforcashin,buttheydon’tcharge10pesosforcashout.
• Exampleofgeneralsocialgovernmenttransfers(G2P).It’softenmandatory.You’renotgiving
someonetheoption.Iftheywanttogetmoney,theyhavetogetmoneythisway.How
empoweredistheuseriftheyarenotgiventheoption?Bemindfulofthesethingsthatseemso
great.Theydon’talwaysworkwell.Theabilitytodrawoutmoneynearbyisfundamentaltoit
workingwell.
• Experiencesharing
o OftenwithDFS,wethinkwe’regoingtoprovideanewservicethatourclientsaregoing
toloveandmakeusmoreprestigiousasafinancialinstitution.Butifyoudon’tconsider
howtheclientsaregoingtousetheproduct,theydesignadigitalsolutionandcreatea
probleminsteadofsolvingit.
o Alsoyouhavetoconsiderthatbusinesspeoplewhoacceptpaymentviathesemethods
havetohaveaccountsaswell.Thatcansubjectthemtoregulationandtaxing,which
canbepassedontothecustomer.
Clientempowerment
• Yaninasaidtherearefourkeyfactorstoclientempowerment:Choice,respect,voice,andcontrol.
Theseapplytodigitalandnon-digitalfinancialservices.
• Thesefactorsareabitintangible,buttheybuildtherelationshipbetweentheprovider
andtheclient.WhenwespeakaboutclientempowermentinDFS,howdoweturnthisinto
tangibleactionsfortheprovider:
o Choice-Action:Givetheclientsnecessaryinformationandoptionstomakeachoice.
§ OneorganizationworkingintheIvoryCoastwithdigitalsavingsforilliterate
farmers.Whenapersondecidestosave,they’reaskedhowmuchmoneytoput
intopersonalsavingsaccount.Havingthischoice,empowerstheclient.
o Respect-Action:Treatclientswelltocreateaninclusiveenvironment.
§ AnorganizationinIndiaprovideschairs,water,andbathroomsforclientsas
theywait.Womenfeelhappierandmoreloyalty.They’veimplementeditin130
branches.
o Voice-Action:Providerecourseforclientcomplaints.
Often,feedbackcyclesarenotinplaceordonotwork.Institutionsneedto
makesurethereareconfidentialwaystoprovideclients.
§ JuntosprovidesaconversationalSMSplatformthatconnectsclientsandthe
institutioninrealtime.
o Control-Action:Giveclientstoolssotheyareabletocontroltheirfinanciallife.
§ Offeraspacefortrialanderrorandlearningondigitalinterfaces.
• Pathwayforclientsdealingwithfinancialservices(digitalornon-digital):Necessity,searchand
selection,registration,use,regularuse
• DisempowermentofclientsthroughDFSonthepathway
o Necessity:DFSisn’talwaysrelevantforuse.Fearofservices.
o Searchandselection:DFSisn’talwaysaccessible.Informalproductscanbemore
favorable.Riskofunknown.
o Registration:Feeswithregistration.Lackofrespectfromagents
o Use:Confusinginterface.Promiseisnotalwaysthesameastheactualexperience
o Regularuse:Productsarenotalwaysrelevant.Situationswithinstitutiondon’talways
evolvewell
§
Activity:Thinkthroughasituationwherethisisdisempowerment?Howdoyouworkwithvoice,control,
choiceorrespect?Whatisatangiblesolutiontochangingthisdisempowerment?
• Withoutvoice,there’sdisempowermentandcancauseangeranddistrusttowardtheinstitution.
Callcentersorothercomplaintmanagementsystemscanbevaluableresourcesinempowering
clients.
• InHonduras,MFIshavepartnershipswithbanksthatallowclientstopaythere.Whenbankssaw
thereweremanyMFIclients,theysaidthesystemwasdown.Ifthesystemwasdown,theclient
wouldgoawaywithoutpaying.Partnershipscanbeanissueofcontrol.Clientsareunhappy
becausetheMFIthinkstheyhavenotpaid.Thesolution:therecouldbeacorrespondentagent.
• Withagents,itcanbeanissueofcontrol.InBangladesh,whenclientswenttoagentsandwanted
tocashout,theclientsweretoldtheyhadnocashtocashout.Inmanysituations,clientshave
traveledfarortheyneedthecashimmediately.And,someagentsthentriedtoselltheclients
theirproducts.Inthesesituations,clientswon’tsay,“Whataterribleagent.”They’llsay,“Whata
terribleservice.”Providersshould:
o Publiclydemonstratethatthereiszerotoleranceforfraud
o Makethecustomersawareoftheirrightsandknowrecourseforbadservice.
o Makethecustomersawarethattheagentisnotthebank,butisoneagentofthebank.
Theyshouldreportbadserviceimmediately.
o Domysteryshoppingtoseehowagentsreact.
GCAPcustomercentricityguidewillbeavailablelaterthisyear.