Initiation of SPM IP Project with Utkarsh and PPI Training
As part of the Social Performance Implementation Project, MicroSave has started work with Utkarsh Micro Finance Pvt. Ltd. in India, a Non Banking Finance Company (NBFC) with its corporate office in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. Utkarsh works with a mission to support opportunities for underprivileged by providing access to financial and non-financial services through optimal and innovative use of resources in sustainable and scalable manner. MicroSave will be be working with Utkarsh on implementing Phase I of the Social Performance Management Implementation Project (SPM IP) to help the organisation assess their current social performance levels and identify gaps; help them improve their ability to report to external stakeholders including industry reporting standards such as MIX Market etc; and increase MFI's understanding and adoption of industry tools [including the Grameen Foundation Progress out of Povert IndexTM (PPI) and CERISE Social Performance Indicators (SPI)]. As a part of this project, MicroSave conducted training from December 19-24, 2011 for the staff. The training focussed on the importance of SPM for Utkarsh; brainstorming on the mission and vision of Utkarsh; and the ways SPM can help in the effective fulfilment of the mission and vision. The training also included the importance of Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI) tool and its application in the field. The participants included credit officers, area managers and divisional managers of Utkarsh. This interactive workshop helped in healthy exchange of ideas. As next step, Utkarsh will be undertaking 2200 client survey with questions on PPI and other social indicators across different regions. |  | Agent Journal Studies
Agent Journal is a unique research methodology employed to study the business environment of the agents. The research team stays at the agent location from start to close of business and records all banking and non-banking transactions. This transaction data helps assess profitability of the banking business, identify key drivers of profitability, analyse time motion details of the banking business and related interaction with the non-banking business. The findings point to the best way to allocate resources in a manner that helps leverage the interaction between banking and non-banking business to the advantage of both. The understanding of drivers and key measures to be undertaken to improve the performance of banking business is further fine tuned through qualitative data on these aspects, in addition to the transaction details. The studies have been conducted with agents focussing on remittance, No Frills Accounts (NFA) and elctronic benefit transfers. In almost all the cases, the findings indicate that the agents operate below the breakeven level, when banking is considered core business. The reasons are: low revenue that fail to absorb the fixed cost structure, low working capital turnover especially in the remittance business and inadequate cooperation by banks and agent network managers. Some of these reasons can be addressed by the agents while others need attention of agent network managers and banks. Agents need to be more efficient in the use of working capital and more aggressive in the business development efforts. However, if they really want to meet their income expectations, then the above mentioned efforts should be combined with the treatment of business as non-core business. The agent network managers and banks can extend cooperation by making the transactions platform more reliable and assisting in business development. Current commission structure is not a concern for the remittance focussed agents, however it needs to be more remunerative for NFA focussed agents.
| | Rapid Agent Assessments Agent banking is a new concept as until now banks have always been associated with brick and mortar structures. Given the newness of the concept, there are no benchmarks for the banks to evaluate Business Correspondent's (BC)/agent's performance. The regulation around choice of BCs is open from 'for profit' companies to a retired school teacher in a village, which makes the task of monitoring and coordinating with these BCs difficult and challenging. Customer Service has also become a major challenge for banks opting for this model. The Rapid Agent Assessment tool is a dipstick study into the performance, capability and potential of a BC Network Manager (BCNM), i.e., institutional BCs. The tool is a mix of objective analysis supported with qualitative observations providing a holistic picture about the BCNM (organisation). It measures the organisation's performance on ten financial and non-financial parameters, which are vital for any business organisation. The tool objectively assesses a BCNM for: - Financial and non-financial business performance assessment. The latter includes assessment of operations, backend support, effectiveness of training and frequency, management strength, business plan and so on.
- Identifying specific areas for improvement or organisational strengthening, through recommendations around process improvement, training, technical assistance or other handholding support.
The results can prove useful for: - The BCNM - to improve and strengthen its systems and operations;
- The Bank - to assess existing BCs and help in decision making about new applicant BCNM;
- Investors- to compliment their assessments of BCNMs with qualitative inputs about different aspects of the organisation.
| | Eko ASHA Review Eko India Financial Services, a BC for SBI and ICICI Bank, uses mobile banking technology platform to provide branchless banking services to its customers through neighbourhood retail stores. Since January 2011, Eko is conducting a pilot test for Mobile Money Transfer (MMT) of G2P payments to Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) in Sheikhpura district of Bihar. The pilot test is a joint initiative of UNOPS-NIPI Programs and Eko Aspire Foundation along with State Bank of India and State Health Society, Bihar. MicroSave was commissioned to conduct a project review and visited the pilot location. The team used qualitative market research tools (FGDs and individual interviews) to gather feedback from all the relevant stakeholders - ASHAs, Primary Health Centre (PHC) staff at a block, District Health Society (DHS) staff at district, m-banking Customer Service Points, Eko staff and UNOPS-NIPI staff. Based on the research, the team evaluated the impact of the programme, identified current challenges, and also made recommendations to overcome the challenges for the current pilot and the scale up in other districts. | | WatSan Study for Water.org MicroSave conducted a market assessement of South-Central region in India to understand the supply and demand side issues involved in water and sanitation financing. The study tried to address the following issues: - Overall macro and policy environment around water and sanitation.
- State of water and sanitation infrastructure in terms of usage patterns, accessebility of sources, sustainability, quality and affordability for the clients of select MFIs operating in the region.
- Capacity of MFIs and expertise available to scale up activities related to water and sanitation financing.
MicroSave was involved in all the stages of the study including secondary research on the overall sector; designing, and conducting a qualitative market research for understanding both the demand and supply side issues; and collation and analysis of the market research data. The study also included one-on-one interviews with MFIs involved in delivering services for water and sanitation. The report will guide Water.org to expand its WaterCredit programme in the region and identify suitable financial institutions as partners. The report also specifies the key 'product design issues' that any financial institution needs to consider prior to designing products focussed on watsan related financing. | |
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