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(39971, 12, '2019-01-15 07:17:56', '2019-01-15 07:17:56', '[vc_row equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\" type=\"image\" enable_parallax=\"false\" parallax_speed=\"0.4\" padding_top=\"110\" padding_bottom=\"0\" bg_image=\"40038\"][vc_column][kleo_gap size=\"100px\"][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"2/3\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"USING COMIC BOOKS TO INCREASE DIGITAL FINANCIAL CAPABILITIES IN LOW-INCOME CLUSTERS\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:48px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:54px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][kleo_gap size=\"140px\"][kleo_gap size=\"50px\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\" padding_bottom=\"0\"][vc_column width=\"1/2\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/2\"][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner width=\"5/12\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/3\" css=\".vc_custom_1488531456733{padding-right: 0px !important;}\"][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"][addtoany][/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\" css=\".vc_custom_1488531444909{padding-left: 0px !important;}\"][kleo_button title=\"Print this page\" href=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Comic-learning-note-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"custom\" position=\"left\" size=\"lg\" special=\"no\" border=\"no\" icon=\"print\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"grey-icon\" custom_text=\"#d11e3c\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=\"INTRODUCTION\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:left|color:%23383b3b|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][vc_row_inner css=\".vc_custom_1537456868816{margin-bottom: 35px !important;}\"][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]The 2011 Census of India reports a total of 65.49 million slum inhabitants living in 13.92 million households in India. Although India’s urban population has an estimated total of 33,510 slums, great variability exists in legal status, deprivation, living condition, type of structure, etc. The inhabitants of these slums are the urban poor and remain outside the ambit of formal finance. Conventional finance so far has not been able to serve this last mile, keeping them excluded from the financial system. Uptake of digital payments can greatly benefit these last mile consumers by facilitating faster and simpler financial transactions, thereby connecting them to formal financial channels. Recognizing this potential, CATALYST launched its pilot project in Bhatta Basti, an urban slum located on the outskirts of Jaipur city, Rajasthan. A migrant settlement with a population of 45,000 people and 1,000 households, it is predominantly a Muslim community where most of the population has low educational achievement.\r\n\r\nOur baseline study in 2017 indicated that digital financial capability of slum dwellers in Bhatta Basti was significantly low. Thus, CATALYST experimented with a range of collaterals to promote digital financial inclusion in Bhatta Basti and attempted to understand people’s attitude and perceptions towards each of these media. One such attempt involved using illustrated comic books to spread awareness and encourage adoption of digital payment solutions among people. Past research in the field had indicated that comic books may be a successful medium for sensitization on a range of issues because they appeal to people from various age groups. A study on digital financial inclusion conducted by Institute for Financial Management and Research -Leveraging Evidence for Access and Development (IFMR LEAD) in Mumbai’s Dharavi slums in 2012 used comic books for disseminating important information. The learnings from this study helped us in establishing important guidelines for designing our comics and their stories.\r\n\r\nA significant learning from the Dharavi study was that it is important to customize the comic books to the target audience. Use of characters and scenarios similar to those seen by the target audience every day is crucial to enable them to form a connection between issues they face and benefits of adopting digital payments. There exists a huge gap in awareness and access to financial services between men and women in low-income clusters and using women as protagonists in the stories may be more effective to reach out and impact women in lowincome clusters.\r\n\r\nUsing this learning as a guideline, we created and distributed three comic books over the course of three months: one on Automated Teller Machine\r\n(ATM) pin generation; one on Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS); and one on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payments. The comic books\r\non ATM pin generation and AEPS had women as the main characters while the one on UPI payments had male protagonists.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_color=\"#c9213b\" enable_parallax=\"false\" padding_top=\"75\" padding_bottom=\"75\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"1. ATM PIN GENERATION\r\n\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style \"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Our primary research in Bhatta Basti indicated that there existed a huge information gap related to the importance and correct usage of ATM cards. Many\r\npeople who had received ATM cards from the banks were unaware of how to generate an ATM pin and how to use the card to withdraw money. Further, people in this community had various misconceptions regarding the safety of ATM cards; they had been victims of various frauds due to which they lacked trust in digital payment platforms. Thus, we decided to provide a detailed explanation on how to generate an ATM pin and keep the account safe in our first comic book. We created two versions: one for men and one for women. Insights from the Dharavi study indicated that women tend to relate more to a story when female protagonists are used. Since women were a major section of our target audience, we decided to create two versions. A sample of what the “ATM Pin Generation” comic looked like is provided below:\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner css=\".vc_custom_1547558063100{padding-top: 25px !important;padding-bottom: 25px !important;}\"][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\"][vc_single_image image=\"40029\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\"][vc_single_image image=\"40030\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#373b3c\" padding_top=\"75\" padding_bottom=\"75\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"2. AADHAAR ENABLED PAYMENT SYSTEM (AEPS)\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\"][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Another mode of digital payments that we promoted through comic books was AEPS. Since many people in Bhatta Basti faced problems related to access and usage of ATM cards, AEPS acted as a good alternative for enabling usage of digital payment solutions. AEPS allowed customers to pay by just scanning their fingerprint and thus was an easy solution for many people in Bhatta Basti who did not have access to ATM cards. One of our incubatees, Fingpay, worked on providing biometric devices to vegetable vendors and other small merchants and we distributed the comic books to the target audience to create awareness about these services. Since women formed a larger percentage of customers for these vendors, we decided to use female characters for our comics.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"2/3\"][vc_single_image image=\"39993\" img_size=\"746*526\" alignment=\"center\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#c9213b\" padding_top=\"75\" padding_bottom=\"75\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"3. UPI\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\"][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]The third comic book that we created and distributed was on UPI payments. This was mainly targeted at people towards the end of the digital payments user journey and sought to increase adoption and usage of UPI-based platforms such as PhonePe, Bhim UPI, WhatsApp payments, etc. The comic book contained step-by-step illustrations on how to register on such platforms and make transactions. It also focused on highlighting the advantages of using UPI, through a story format. Since our past research had indicated that the last stages of the digital payments user journeys in Bhatta Basti were male dominated, we decided to use male protagonists in this comic book. However, this learning cannot be universalized as selection of characters and stories should be context specific. Creating comic books to spread awareness should be grounded in the findings from that community.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner css=\".vc_custom_1547558084322{padding-top: 25px !important;}\"][vc_column_inner width=\"1/2\"][vc_single_image image=\"39999\" img_size=\"728*520\" alignment=\"center\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/2\"][vc_single_image image=\"40000\" img_size=\"727*520\" alignment=\"center\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"2/3\"][vc_single_image image=\"40001\" img_size=\"922*540\" alignment=\"center\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/3\"][vc_single_image image=\"40002\" img_size=\"531*540\" alignment=\"center\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#373b3c\" padding_top=\"75\" padding_bottom=\"75\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"LEARNING AND FEEDBACK\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\"][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]We also conducted a feedback exercise to understand people’s perception of the content and form of the UPI comic books. This was conducted over two days, in early November 2018, and aimed to understand how these collaterals can be improved to benefit people at different points of the user journey. We distributed the comic books to a sample of 20 people of varying age groups and financial literacy levels. On the first day, we carried out a dipstick survey to gather information on demographics and to gauge the audiences’ understanding of financial services. We followed this up with distribution of comic books. The next day, we collected feedback on the content and form of the collateral. While the period of research was too short and the sample size too small to gauge clear results and make generalized conclusions, we were still able to gather various interesting insights about the usage of comic books for promoting digital financial awareness in low-income clusters.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_single_image image=\"40014\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#c9213b\" padding_top=\"75\" padding_bottom=\"75\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"FINDINGS\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=\"Characteristics of the sample\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:left|color:%23383b3b|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\"][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Forty-one percent of the sample was male, 59 percent was female and age of the respondents ranged from 14 to 61 years. More than half of the respondents had studied till class10. While almost 76 percent claimed to have bank accounts, only 41 percent had ATM cards and, even among those with ATM cards, 35 percent had been unsuccessful in generating an ATM pin. Thirty percent of the sample did not have access to smartphones or the internet which prevented them from accessing new digital payments services such as UPI. It was surprising to find that more than 80 percent of the respondents did not use an ATM card and less than 30 percent was actively making transactions using any digital method of payment. Awareness about UPI and other online method of payments was low and 47 percent claimed to have no knowledge whatsoever. Even among those who did, awareness was restricted to the benefits of using digital payment methods and a very small percentage was aware about usage of UPI-based apps.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"Insights\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:left|color:%23383b3b|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\"][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Most people claimed to have easily understood the comic book and its contents. Those who didn’t were either illiterate or not involved in the process of making transactions from their bank accounts (someone else in the family was doing it for them). While the response was less positive among the elderly population, the comic books were fairly well received by school and college students, working youth and middle-aged people.\r\n\r\nThe respondents involved in the feedback exercise seemed to show a significant increase in their awareness of UPI. The majority claimed to have learnt about multiple topics such as benefits of digital payments, registration and usage of UPI due to the comic’s interactive and illustrative approach. Eighty eight percent of the sample said that they enjoyed reading the comic book and went through the entire document because of its ‘fun to read’ nature; almost half of the sample found it easy to read and follow. Children and youth, in particular, seemed to find the stories really interesting. Comic books, therefore, may be a successful way of reaching out to them especially while dealing with a serious topic such as financial inclusion.\r\n\r\nWe also received suggestions on the importance of using highly simplified language and short sentences in the comics. Featuring a higher number of illustrations and pictures and minimal text is important while communicating information on complex topics such as new financial services. Further, elucidating each and every single step for registering/making transactions is essential even if it results in a lengthier comic as it increases the chances of people taking action after reading the collateral.\r\n\r\nLastly, in communities such as Bhatta Basti where there are low levels of financial awareness and independence, comic books may be a costeffective solution for increasing adoption of digital payments. However, it is important to pinpoint the stage at which people are in their user journeys. Instead of creating and distributing comic books uniformly across the entire population, it may be more beneficial to customize these collaterals in such a way so that people at different stages of the user journey spectrum are able to use them to proceed step by step to the next level.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][kleo_button title=\"Download full report\" href=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Comic-learning-note-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" position=\"center\" size=\"lg\" type=\"boxed-icon\" special=\"no\" icon=\"download\" font_size=\"14px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"pkirbtn\" icon_custom_background=\"#d11e3c\" icon_custom_text=\"#ffffff\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=\"footer_area\" text_align=\"center\" type=\"image\" bg_position_horizontal=\"center\" enable_parallax=\"false\" padding_top=\"50px\" padding_bottom=\"50px\" bg_image=\"7886\"][vc_column width=\"1/4\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/2\" offset=\"vc_col-lg-offset-0 vc_col-md-offset-0 vc_col-sm-offset-0\"][vc_single_image image=\"7888\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#ffffff\" font_size=\"14px\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1549446052443{margin-top: 35px !important;margin-bottom: 5px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;}\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">[footer_copy]</p>\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_gap][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1484051069491{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">[email-newsletter-plugin]</p>\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_icon icon=\"facebook\" href=\"https://www.facebook.com/CashlessCatalyst/\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"linkedin\" href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/company/13221050?trk=tyah&amp;trkInfo=clickedVertical%3Acompany%2CclickedEntityId%3A13221050%2Cidx%3A2-1-2%2CtarId%3A1476420479247%2Ctas%3Acashless%20catalyst\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"twitter\" href=\"https://twitter.com/cashlesscatalys\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"youtube-play\" href=\"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChuc38_PfawDOu44IfYS4lw\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/4\"][/vc_column][/vc_row]', 'USING COMIC BOOKS TO INCREASE DIGITAL FINANCIAL CAPABILITIES IN LOW-INCOME CLUSTERS', '', 'publish', 'closed', 'closed', '', 'using-comic-books-increase-digital-financial-capabilities-low-income-clusters', '', '', '2019-02-06 09:40:57', '2019-02-06 09:40:57', '', 0, 'https://cashlesscatalyst.org/?page_id=39971', 0, 'page', '', 0),
(39985, 12, '2019-01-15 08:00:36', '2019-01-15 08:00:36', '[vc_row equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\" type=\"image\" enable_parallax=\"false\" parallax_speed=\"0.4\" padding_top=\"110\" padding_bottom=\"0\" bg_image=\"39430\"][vc_column][kleo_gap size=\"100px\"][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"2/3\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"USING COMIC BOOKS TO INCREASE DIGITAL FINANCIAL CAPABILITIES IN LOW-INCOME CLUSTERS\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:48px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:54px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][kleo_gap size=\"140px\"][kleo_gap size=\"50px\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\" padding_bottom=\"0\"][vc_column width=\"1/2\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/2\"][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner width=\"5/12\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/3\" css=\".vc_custom_1488531456733{padding-right: 0px !important;}\"][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"][addtoany][/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\" css=\".vc_custom_1488531444909{padding-left: 0px !important;}\"][kleo_button title=\"Print this page\" href=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/CH-Learning-Note-v2.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"custom\" position=\"left\" size=\"lg\" special=\"no\" border=\"no\" icon=\"print\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"grey-icon\" custom_text=\"#d11e3c\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=\"INTRODUCTION\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:left|color:%23383b3b|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][vc_row_inner css=\".vc_custom_1537456868816{margin-bottom: 35px !important;}\"][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]The 2011 Census of India reports a total of 65.49 million slum inhabitants living in 13.92 million households in India. Although India’s urban population has an estimated total of 33,510 slums, great variability exists in legal status, deprivation, living condition, type of structure, etc. The inhabitants of these slums are the urban poor and remain outside the ambit of formal finance. Conventional finance so far has not been able to serve this last mile, keeping them excluded from the financial system. Uptake of digital payments can greatly benefit these last mile consumers by facilitating faster and simpler financial transactions, thereby connecting them to formal financial channels. Recognizing this potential, CATALYST launched its pilot project in Bhatta Basti, an urban slum located on the outskirts of Jaipur city, Rajasthan. A migrant settlement with a population of 45,000 people and 1,000 households, it is predominantly a Muslim community where most of the population has low educational achievement.\r\n\r\nOur baseline study in 2017 indicated that digital financial capability of slum dwellers in Bhatta Basti was significantly low. Thus, CATALYST experimented with a range of collaterals to promote digital financial inclusion in Bhatta Basti and attempted to understand people’s attitude and perceptions towards each of these media. One such attempt involved using illustrated comic books to spread awareness and encourage adoption of digital payment solutions among people. Past research in the field had indicated that comic books may be a successful medium for sensitization on a range of\r\nissues because they appeal to people from various age groups. A study on digital financial inclusion conducted by Institute for Financial Management and Research -Leveraging Evidence for Access and Development (IFMR LEAD) in Mumbai’s Dharavi slums in 2012 used comic books for disseminating important information. The learnings from this study helped us in establishing important guidelines for designing our comics and their stories.\r\n\r\nA significant learning from the Dharavi study was that it is important to customize the comic books to the target audience. Use of characters and scenarios similar to those seen by the target audience every day is crucial to enable them to form a connection between issues they face and benefits of adopting digital payments. There exists a huge gap in awareness and access to financial services between men and women in low-income clusters and using women as protagonists in the stories may be more effective to reach out and impact women in lowincome clusters.\r\n\r\nUsing this learning as a guideline, we created and distributed three comic books over the course of three months: one on Automated Teller Machine\r\n(ATM) pin generation; one on Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS); and one on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payments. The comic books\r\non ATM pin generation and AEPS had women as the main characters while the one on UPI payments had male protagonists.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_color=\"#c9213b\" enable_parallax=\"false\" padding_top=\"150\" padding_bottom=\"150\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\" bg_image=\"39439\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"MERCHANTS’ PERCEPTION ON THE BUNDLED PRODUCT\r\n\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style \"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Perceived vs. real interest in loan: When offered the bundled product of payment device and credit, 25 merchants showed initial interest solely in accessing the loan during their first interaction with the CATALYST FoS team. However, 24 had changed their minds when the lender’s agent approached them after a week, perhaps because merchants are always interested in understanding options for credit but may not avail of it even if they express an interest initially.\r\n\r\nOne merchant who agreed to try the combination of a PoS device and loan had a fixed cloth store in Shastri Nagar market. He wanted a loan of INR 1-2 lakhs. Unfortunately, the request was denied since his residence was located outside the serviceable area set by the lender. This fact was discovered after the processing was done, and resulted in a poor customer experience for the merchant.\r\n\r\n<strong>Why was there a low uptake? </strong>\r\n\r\nThe experiment shows that while there was individual adoption of the card swipe machines, there was little uptake of the bundled product. Technology did seamlessly bind the products together but the communication to merchants was often unclear and did not explain how payment device usage would help them get a loan of higher amount in the future. The reasons this product could not cater to customer expectations or improve customer experience as expected are:\r\n\r\n<strong>Loan structure:</strong> While the lender assured the merchants of a credit-build-up model, the merchants were keen to understand the exact qualifiers for the build-up process, i.e., number and/or value of transactions required to qualify for the next tranche of loans. Additionally, they wanted to know by what percentage the loan amount could grow through increased usage of digital transactions. None of this information was provided to merchants since the lender had not yet thought it through. The product’s value proposition stated in one line by the lender as ‘enhanced loan size for incremental usage of digital payments’ failed to gain the merchants’ trust.\r\n\r\n<strong>Single interface for credit and digital payments:</strong> During the CATALYST pilot, the lending company and the digital payment solution company used two separate applications to onboard customers. For the merchants who saw the two as a single product, it was important for the digital payment solution provider and the lending partner to integrate their solution into one single application for simplicity and usage. The existing process offered poor customer experience because filling out two applications is a time-consuming process.\r\n\r\n<strong>Large time lags:</strong> Loan disbursal followed a lengthy process, i.e., lead generation by field agents (CATALYST FoS team) from an initial interaction, followed by a calling exercise by the credit assessor and then a site verification. This long time period between initial contact and disbursement was a pain point. Additionally, there were delays in disbursing the card swipe machine. Partnering with an early stage startup for PoS machines led to a resource crunch, which resulted in operational delays. The time lag between initial lead generation and delivery of the machine ranged from 15-20 days which was too long a time to retain interest.\r\n\r\n<strong>High cost of on boarding:</strong> The loan offer had a customer onboarding cost plus GST that hiked up the existing rates of interest by 3 to 4 percent so the lending interest rate worked out to be around 30 percent annually. These nuanced details deterred many of the merchants to finally take up the loan despite having shown an initial interest in the loan product.\r\n\r\n<strong>Short tenure of the pilot:</strong> Lastly, one must note that three or four months is too short a time to launch and iterate on a product bundle that includes a loan repayment timeline of nine to 36 months. To understand access and usage of repeat loans, the pilot experiment should essentially be of a much longer tenure.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#373b3c\" padding_top=\"75\" padding_bottom=\"75\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"RECOMMENDATIONS\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\"][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<strong>Need for a local presence: </strong>An implementation challenge that needs to be addressed in order to iterate on the pilot experiment and help it succeed is decreasing the time lags between the first point of contact to in-person onboarding with the card swipe machine and the loan. To avoid such operational delays, it is advisable to work with a local company with a greater field presence than with a well-known company based out of another metropolis but with little field support, as was the case during this pilot. Otherwise, the card swipe company/loan company should partner with a channel partner that should be assigned locally to cover the high customer acquisition cost which must be incurred (by default) for wider reach and larger impact among the segment of merchants who are new to digital payment usage.\r\n\r\n<strong>Lower cost of product:</strong> If such loans could get priority sector lending status, obtaining funds would be easier for an NBFC, making access to credit easier and cheaper.\r\n\r\n<strong>Alternate digital payment solutions:</strong> Current credit products are more inclined towards PoS machine uptake and usage. However, given the rise in use of other digital payment modes such as Unified Payments Interface (UPI), e-wallets and other Aadhaar-based solutions could lead to faster and cheaper adoption among merchants.\r\n\r\n<strong>Simple product structure:</strong> As the pilot results suggest, clearly informing the merchants of the exact qualifying factors for incremental loans will help develop higher trust and better customer relationships for a credit-builder model.\r\n\r\n<strong>Provide digital training and awareness:</strong> Multiple field visits and available data on awareness of credit history or usage of digital payments suggest that small fixed store merchants need substantial handholding, training and awareness to understand fundamental financial concepts, the importance of formal loans, and use of credit history. The experiment results suggest that the small merchants would be better off with expert handholding support and training from their first point of contact, as they would be without operational delays. Further, digital training and awareness building must extend to consumers who shop at these merchant locations, since customer demand is a huge driver in merchant acceptance of digital solutions.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#c9213b\" padding_top=\"75\" padding_bottom=\"75\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"CONCLUSION\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\"][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Credit can potentially act as a hook for usage of digital solutions, provided the effective costs are lower compared to credit from informal sources, and access is speedier. Merchants also need to be provided information on the clear pathway on increase in credit as they continue using the digital facilities. Lenders and payment service providers must present a unified front and offer a superior customer experience to the merchants. Lastly, acceptance of new payment solutions requires end customers to be sensitized equally[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #da092b;\">TECHNICAL WRITERS:</span> John Arun and Shubhranka Mondal</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #da092b;\">ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:</span> The authors would like to thank Jayshree Venkatesan for her expert advice, and CATALYST’s Feet on Street team, for their ground support</p>\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_button title=\"Download full report\" href=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/CH-Learning-Note-v2.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" position=\"center\" size=\"lg\" type=\"boxed-icon\" special=\"no\" icon=\"download\" font_size=\"14px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"pkirbtn\" icon_custom_background=\"#d11e3c\" icon_custom_text=\"#ffffff\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=\"footer_area\" text_align=\"center\" type=\"image\" bg_position_horizontal=\"center\" enable_parallax=\"false\" padding_top=\"50px\" padding_bottom=\"50px\" bg_image=\"7886\"][vc_column width=\"1/4\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/2\" offset=\"vc_col-lg-offset-0 vc_col-md-offset-0 vc_col-sm-offset-0\"][vc_single_image image=\"7888\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#ffffff\" font_size=\"14px\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1484826151396{margin-top: 35px !important;margin-bottom: 5px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;}\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">CATALYST is an initiative seeded by an alliance between the Government of India &amp; USAID, to expand digital payments and financial inclusion in India, especially for small merchants and low-income consumers.</p>\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_gap][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1484051069491{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">[email-newsletter-plugin]</p>\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_icon icon=\"facebook\" href=\"https://www.facebook.com/CashlessCatalyst/\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"linkedin\" href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/company/13221050?trk=tyah&amp;trkInfo=clickedVertical%3Acompany%2CclickedEntityId%3A13221050%2Cidx%3A2-1-2%2CtarId%3A1476420479247%2Ctas%3Acashless%20catalyst\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"twitter\" href=\"https://twitter.com/cashlesscatalys\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"youtube-play\" href=\"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChuc38_PfawDOu44IfYS4lw\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/4\"][/vc_column][/vc_row]', 'USING COMIC BOOKS TO INCREASE DIGITAL FINANCIAL CAPABILITIES IN LOW-INCOME CLUSTERS', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '39971-revision-v1', '', '', '2019-01-15 08:00:36', '2019-01-15 08:00:36', '', 39971, 'https://cashlesscatalyst.org/media/39971-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0);
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(39984, 12, '2019-01-15 07:59:46', '2019-01-15 07:59:46', '[vc_row equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\" type=\"image\" enable_parallax=\"false\" parallax_speed=\"0.4\" padding_top=\"110\" padding_bottom=\"0\" bg_image=\"39430\"][vc_column][kleo_gap size=\"100px\"][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"2/3\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"USING COMIC BOOKS TO INCREASE DIGITAL FINANCIAL CAPABILITIES IN LOW-INCOME CLUSTERS\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:48px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:54px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][kleo_gap size=\"140px\"][kleo_gap size=\"50px\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\" padding_bottom=\"0\"][vc_column width=\"1/2\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/2\"][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner width=\"5/12\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/3\" css=\".vc_custom_1488531456733{padding-right: 0px !important;}\"][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"][addtoany][/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\" css=\".vc_custom_1488531444909{padding-left: 0px !important;}\"][kleo_button title=\"Print this page\" href=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/CH-Learning-Note-v2.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"custom\" position=\"left\" size=\"lg\" special=\"no\" border=\"no\" icon=\"print\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"grey-icon\" custom_text=\"#d11e3c\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=\"INTRODUCTION\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:left|color:%23383b3b|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][vc_row_inner css=\".vc_custom_1537456868816{margin-bottom: 35px !important;}\"][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]The 2011 Census of India reports a total of 65.49 million slum inhabitants living in 13.92 million households in India. Although India’s urban population has an estimated total of 33,510 slums, great variability exists in legal status, deprivation, living condition, type of structure, etc. The inhabitants of these slums are the urban poor and remain outside the ambit of formal finance. Conventional finance so far has not been able to serve this last mile, keeping them excluded from the financial system. Uptake of digital payments can greatly benefit these last mile consumers by facilitating faster and simpler financial transactions, thereby connecting them to formal financial channels. Recognizing this potential, CATALYST launched its pilot project in Bhatta Basti, an urban slum located on the outskirts of Jaipur city, Rajasthan. A migrant settlement with a population of 45,000 people and 1,000 households, it is predominantly a Muslim community where most of the population has low educational achievement.\r\n\r\nOur baseline study in 2017 indicated that digital financial capability of slum dwellers in Bhatta Basti was significantly low. Thus, CATALYST experimented with a range of collaterals to promote digital financial inclusion in Bhatta Basti and attempted to understand people’s attitude and perceptions towards each of these media. One such attempt involved using illustrated comic books to spread awareness and encourage adoption of digital payment solutions among people. Past research in the field had indicated that comic books may be a successful medium for sensitization on a range of\r\nissues because they appeal to people from various age groups. A study on digital financial inclusion conducted by Institute for Financial Management and Research -Leveraging Evidence for Access and Development (IFMR LEAD) in Mumbai’s Dharavi slums in 2012 used comic books for disseminating important information. The learnings from this study helped us in establishing important guidelines for designing our comics and their stories.\r\n\r\nA significant learning from the Dharavi study was that it is important to customize the comic books to the target audience. Use of characters and scenarios similar to those seen by the target audience every day is crucial to enable them to form a connection between issues they face and benefits of adopting digital payments. There exists a huge gap in awareness and access to financial services between men and women in low-income clusters and using women as protagonists in the stories may be more effective to reach out and impact women in lowincome clusters.\r\n\r\nUsing this learning as a guideline, we created and distributed three comic books over the course of three months: one on Automated Teller Machine\r\n(ATM) pin generation; one on Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS); and one on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payments. The comic books\r\non ATM pin generation and AEPS had women as the main characters while the one on UPI payments had male protagonists.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_position_horizontal=\"center\" enable_parallax=\"false\" parallax_speed=\"0.4\" padding_top=\"150\" padding_bottom=\"150\" bg_image=\"39431\"][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=\"1. ATM PIN GENERATION\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Our primary research in Bhatta Basti indicated that there existed a huge information gap related to the importance and correct usage of ATM cards. Many\r\npeople who had received ATM cards from the banks were unaware of how to generate an ATM pin and how to use the card to withdraw money. Further, people in this community had various misconceptions regarding the safety of ATM cards; they had been victims of various frauds due to which they lacked trust in digital payment platforms. Thus, we decided to provide a detailed explanation on how to generate an ATM pin and keep the account safe in our first comic book. We created two versions: one for men and one for women. Insights from the Dharavi study indicated that women tend to relate more to a story when female protagonists are used. Since women were a major section of our target audience, we decided to create two versions. A sample of what the “ATM Pin Generation” comic looked like is provided below:\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_column_inner width=\"1/2\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner css=\".vc_custom_1537937440359{padding-top: 30px !important;}\"][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<strong>Key results from the experiment were:</strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>There were eight fixed store merchants who had never used a card swipe machine but eventually adopted digital payment solutions after being trained on card swipe usage by the CATALYST FoS team.</li>\r\n	<li>The primary reason for adoption was that it would allow them to service a broader customer segment that used (debit/credit) cards to make payments. In other words, the ability to serve a specific customer segment that was familiar with digital solutions was a key driver. This would also result in new customer acquisition over a period of time.</li>\r\n	<li>Among the merchants who refused to use or adopt a PoS machine, the dominant reason for nonadoption was the absence of customer demand (62 percent, Figure 1). These merchants were unwilling to act as enablers to train customers in using a new digital solution. If the customers asked for the service, they were happy to provide it.</li>\r\n	<li>The remaining 10 percent (Figure 1) reported the inherent cash stickiness of their business as a major deterrent. Another 2 percent (Figure 1) cited the cost of the machine as a major barrier to accepting digital payments.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=\"39433\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<em>Note: From top right: existing loan usage, source of loan, purpose of loans and awareness about CIBIL scores of 18 merchants who agreed to reveal information about a prior loan.</em>[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]While most merchants who were part of the pilot preferred not to share their current loan practices, those who revealed that they had availed a loan (18 out of 409) had done so from a formal source. Fourteen of the 18 were also aware of their credit score (CIBIL) and its related impact on their credit eligibility.\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>Only 18 fixed store merchants (4 percent) with an average monthly revenue of INR 90,000 (double the population median of INR 45,000) reported that they had availed of a loan in the past.</li>\r\n	<li>The average tenure of the loans was two to three years; 17 merchants sourced the loan from banks and one from a Micro Finance Institution (MFI);</li>\r\n	<li>The purpose for which loans were taken varied from business expansion (10 merchants), household requirements (four merchants) to health emergencies (one merchant). Utility loans such as for two wheelers (three merchants) formed another major category of reasons for taking loans; and</li>\r\n	<li>The ticket size of the loans taken by the merchants varied from INR 40,000 to INR 9 lakhs.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_color=\"#c9213b\" enable_parallax=\"false\" padding_top=\"150\" padding_bottom=\"150\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\" bg_image=\"39439\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"MERCHANTS’ PERCEPTION ON THE BUNDLED PRODUCT\r\n\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style \"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Perceived vs. real interest in loan: When offered the bundled product of payment device and credit, 25 merchants showed initial interest solely in accessing the loan during their first interaction with the CATALYST FoS team. However, 24 had changed their minds when the lender’s agent approached them after a week, perhaps because merchants are always interested in understanding options for credit but may not avail of it even if they express an interest initially.\r\n\r\nOne merchant who agreed to try the combination of a PoS device and loan had a fixed cloth store in Shastri Nagar market. He wanted a loan of INR 1-2 lakhs. Unfortunately, the request was denied since his residence was located outside the serviceable area set by the lender. This fact was discovered after the processing was done, and resulted in a poor customer experience for the merchant.\r\n\r\n<strong>Why was there a low uptake? </strong>\r\n\r\nThe experiment shows that while there was individual adoption of the card swipe machines, there was little uptake of the bundled product. Technology did seamlessly bind the products together but the communication to merchants was often unclear and did not explain how payment device usage would help them get a loan of higher amount in the future. The reasons this product could not cater to customer expectations or improve customer experience as expected are:\r\n\r\n<strong>Loan structure:</strong> While the lender assured the merchants of a credit-build-up model, the merchants were keen to understand the exact qualifiers for the build-up process, i.e., number and/or value of transactions required to qualify for the next tranche of loans. Additionally, they wanted to know by what percentage the loan amount could grow through increased usage of digital transactions. None of this information was provided to merchants since the lender had not yet thought it through. The product’s value proposition stated in one line by the lender as ‘enhanced loan size for incremental usage of digital payments’ failed to gain the merchants’ trust.\r\n\r\n<strong>Single interface for credit and digital payments:</strong> During the CATALYST pilot, the lending company and the digital payment solution company used two separate applications to onboard customers. For the merchants who saw the two as a single product, it was important for the digital payment solution provider and the lending partner to integrate their solution into one single application for simplicity and usage. The existing process offered poor customer experience because filling out two applications is a time-consuming process.\r\n\r\n<strong>Large time lags:</strong> Loan disbursal followed a lengthy process, i.e., lead generation by field agents (CATALYST FoS team) from an initial interaction, followed by a calling exercise by the credit assessor and then a site verification. This long time period between initial contact and disbursement was a pain point. Additionally, there were delays in disbursing the card swipe machine. Partnering with an early stage startup for PoS machines led to a resource crunch, which resulted in operational delays. The time lag between initial lead generation and delivery of the machine ranged from 15-20 days which was too long a time to retain interest.\r\n\r\n<strong>High cost of on boarding:</strong> The loan offer had a customer onboarding cost plus GST that hiked up the existing rates of interest by 3 to 4 percent so the lending interest rate worked out to be around 30 percent annually. These nuanced details deterred many of the merchants to finally take up the loan despite having shown an initial interest in the loan product.\r\n\r\n<strong>Short tenure of the pilot:</strong> Lastly, one must note that three or four months is too short a time to launch and iterate on a product bundle that includes a loan repayment timeline of nine to 36 months. To understand access and usage of repeat loans, the pilot experiment should essentially be of a much longer tenure.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#373b3c\" padding_top=\"75\" padding_bottom=\"75\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"RECOMMENDATIONS\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\"][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<strong>Need for a local presence: </strong>An implementation challenge that needs to be addressed in order to iterate on the pilot experiment and help it succeed is decreasing the time lags between the first point of contact to in-person onboarding with the card swipe machine and the loan. To avoid such operational delays, it is advisable to work with a local company with a greater field presence than with a well-known company based out of another metropolis but with little field support, as was the case during this pilot. Otherwise, the card swipe company/loan company should partner with a channel partner that should be assigned locally to cover the high customer acquisition cost which must be incurred (by default) for wider reach and larger impact among the segment of merchants who are new to digital payment usage.\r\n\r\n<strong>Lower cost of product:</strong> If such loans could get priority sector lending status, obtaining funds would be easier for an NBFC, making access to credit easier and cheaper.\r\n\r\n<strong>Alternate digital payment solutions:</strong> Current credit products are more inclined towards PoS machine uptake and usage. However, given the rise in use of other digital payment modes such as Unified Payments Interface (UPI), e-wallets and other Aadhaar-based solutions could lead to faster and cheaper adoption among merchants.\r\n\r\n<strong>Simple product structure:</strong> As the pilot results suggest, clearly informing the merchants of the exact qualifying factors for incremental loans will help develop higher trust and better customer relationships for a credit-builder model.\r\n\r\n<strong>Provide digital training and awareness:</strong> Multiple field visits and available data on awareness of credit history or usage of digital payments suggest that small fixed store merchants need substantial handholding, training and awareness to understand fundamental financial concepts, the importance of formal loans, and use of credit history. The experiment results suggest that the small merchants would be better off with expert handholding support and training from their first point of contact, as they would be without operational delays. Further, digital training and awareness building must extend to consumers who shop at these merchant locations, since customer demand is a huge driver in merchant acceptance of digital solutions.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#c9213b\" padding_top=\"75\" padding_bottom=\"75\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"CONCLUSION\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\"][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Credit can potentially act as a hook for usage of digital solutions, provided the effective costs are lower compared to credit from informal sources, and access is speedier. Merchants also need to be provided information on the clear pathway on increase in credit as they continue using the digital facilities. Lenders and payment service providers must present a unified front and offer a superior customer experience to the merchants. Lastly, acceptance of new payment solutions requires end customers to be sensitized equally[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #da092b;\">TECHNICAL WRITERS:</span> John Arun and Shubhranka Mondal</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #da092b;\">ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:</span> The authors would like to thank Jayshree Venkatesan for her expert advice, and CATALYST’s Feet on Street team, for their ground support</p>\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_button title=\"Download full report\" href=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/CH-Learning-Note-v2.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" position=\"center\" size=\"lg\" type=\"boxed-icon\" special=\"no\" icon=\"download\" font_size=\"14px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"pkirbtn\" icon_custom_background=\"#d11e3c\" icon_custom_text=\"#ffffff\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=\"footer_area\" text_align=\"center\" type=\"image\" bg_position_horizontal=\"center\" enable_parallax=\"false\" padding_top=\"50px\" padding_bottom=\"50px\" bg_image=\"7886\"][vc_column width=\"1/4\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/2\" offset=\"vc_col-lg-offset-0 vc_col-md-offset-0 vc_col-sm-offset-0\"][vc_single_image image=\"7888\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#ffffff\" font_size=\"14px\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1484826151396{margin-top: 35px !important;margin-bottom: 5px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;}\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">CATALYST is an initiative seeded by an alliance between the Government of India &amp; USAID, to expand digital payments and financial inclusion in India, especially for small merchants and low-income consumers.</p>\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_gap][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1484051069491{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">[email-newsletter-plugin]</p>\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_icon icon=\"facebook\" href=\"https://www.facebook.com/CashlessCatalyst/\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"linkedin\" href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/company/13221050?trk=tyah&amp;trkInfo=clickedVertical%3Acompany%2CclickedEntityId%3A13221050%2Cidx%3A2-1-2%2CtarId%3A1476420479247%2Ctas%3Acashless%20catalyst\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"twitter\" href=\"https://twitter.com/cashlesscatalys\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"youtube-play\" href=\"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChuc38_PfawDOu44IfYS4lw\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/4\"][/vc_column][/vc_row]', 'USING COMIC BOOKS TO INCREASE DIGITAL FINANCIAL CAPABILITIES IN LOW-INCOME CLUSTERS', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '39971-revision-v1', '', '', '2019-01-15 07:59:46', '2019-01-15 07:59:46', '', 39971, 'https://cashlesscatalyst.org/media/39971-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(39983, 12, '2019-01-15 07:57:40', '2019-01-15 07:57:40', '[vc_row equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\" type=\"image\" enable_parallax=\"false\" parallax_speed=\"0.4\" padding_top=\"110\" padding_bottom=\"0\" bg_image=\"39430\"][vc_column][kleo_gap size=\"100px\"][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"2/3\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"USING COMIC BOOKS TO INCREASE DIGITAL FINANCIAL CAPABILITIES IN LOW-INCOME CLUSTERS\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:48px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:54px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][kleo_gap size=\"140px\"][kleo_gap size=\"50px\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\" padding_bottom=\"0\"][vc_column width=\"1/2\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/2\"][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner width=\"5/12\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/3\" css=\".vc_custom_1488531456733{padding-right: 0px !important;}\"][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"][addtoany][/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\" css=\".vc_custom_1488531444909{padding-left: 0px !important;}\"][kleo_button title=\"Print this page\" href=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/CH-Learning-Note-v2.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"custom\" position=\"left\" size=\"lg\" special=\"no\" border=\"no\" icon=\"print\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"grey-icon\" custom_text=\"#d11e3c\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=\"INTRODUCTION\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:left|color:%23383b3b|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][vc_row_inner css=\".vc_custom_1537456868816{margin-bottom: 35px !important;}\"][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]The 2011 Census of India reports a total of 65.49 million slum inhabitants living in 13.92 million households in India. Although India’s urban population has an estimated total of 33,510 slums, great variability exists in legal status, deprivation, living condition, type of structure, etc. The inhabitants of these slums are the urban poor and remain outside the ambit of formal finance. Conventional finance so far has not been able to serve this last mile, keeping them excluded from the financial system. Uptake of digital payments can greatly benefit these last mile consumers by facilitating faster and simpler financial transactions, thereby connecting them to formal financial channels. Recognizing this potential, CATALYST launched its pilot project in Bhatta Basti, an urban slum located on the outskirts of Jaipur city, Rajasthan. A migrant settlement with a population of 45,000 people and 1,000 households, it is predominantly a Muslim community where most of the population has low educational achievement.\r\n\r\nOur baseline study in 2017 indicated that digital financial capability of slum dwellers in Bhatta Basti was significantly low. Thus, CATALYST experimented with a range of collaterals to promote digital financial inclusion in Bhatta Basti and attempted to understand people’s attitude and perceptions towards each of these media. One such attempt involved using illustrated comic books to spread awareness and encourage adoption of digital payment solutions among people. Past research in the field had indicated that comic books may be a successful medium for sensitization on a range of\r\nissues because they appeal to people from various age groups. A study on digital financial inclusion conducted by Institute for Financial Management and Research -Leveraging Evidence for Access and Development (IFMR LEAD) in Mumbai’s Dharavi slums in 2012 used comic books for disseminating important information. The learnings from this study helped us in establishing important guidelines for designing our comics and their stories.\r\n\r\nA significant learning from the Dharavi study was that it is important to customize the comic books to the target audience. Use of characters and scenarios similar to those seen by the target audience every day is crucial to enable them to form a connection between issues they face and benefits of adopting digital payments. There exists a huge gap in awareness and access to financial services between men and women in low-income clusters and using women as protagonists in the stories may be more effective to reach out and impact women in lowincome clusters.\r\n\r\nUsing this learning as a guideline, we created and distributed three comic books over the course of three months: one on Automated Teller Machine\r\n(ATM) pin generation; one on Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS); and one on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payments. The comic books\r\non ATM pin generation and AEPS had women as the main characters while the one on UPI payments had male protagonists.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_position_horizontal=\"center\" enable_parallax=\"false\" parallax_speed=\"0.4\" padding_top=\"150\" padding_bottom=\"150\" bg_image=\"39431\"][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=\"1. ATM PIN GENERATION\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<p>Our primary research in Bhatta Basti indicated that there existed a huge information gap related to the importance and correct usage of ATM cards. Many\r\npeople who had received ATM cards from the banks were unaware of how to generate an ATM pin and how to use the card to withdraw money. Further, people in this community had various misconceptions regarding the safety of ATM cards; they had been victims of various frauds due to which they lacked trust in digital payment platforms. Thus, we decided to provide a detailed explanation on how to generate an ATM pin and keep the account safe in our first comic book. We created two versions: one for men and one for women. Insights from the Dharavi study indicated that women tend to relate more to a story when female protagonists are used. Since women were a major section of our target audience, we decided to create two versions. A sample of what the “ATM Pin Generation” comic looked like is provided below:</p>[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/2\"][vc_single_image image=\"39622\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/2\"][vc_single_image image=\"39622\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner css=\".vc_custom_1537937440359{padding-top: 30px !important;}\"][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<strong>Key results from the experiment were:</strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>There were eight fixed store merchants who had never used a card swipe machine but eventually adopted digital payment solutions after being trained on card swipe usage by the CATALYST FoS team.</li>\r\n	<li>The primary reason for adoption was that it would allow them to service a broader customer segment that used (debit/credit) cards to make payments. In other words, the ability to serve a specific customer segment that was familiar with digital solutions was a key driver. This would also result in new customer acquisition over a period of time.</li>\r\n	<li>Among the merchants who refused to use or adopt a PoS machine, the dominant reason for nonadoption was the absence of customer demand (62 percent, Figure 1). These merchants were unwilling to act as enablers to train customers in using a new digital solution. If the customers asked for the service, they were happy to provide it.</li>\r\n	<li>The remaining 10 percent (Figure 1) reported the inherent cash stickiness of their business as a major deterrent. Another 2 percent (Figure 1) cited the cost of the machine as a major barrier to accepting digital payments.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=\"39433\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<em>Note: From top right: existing loan usage, source of loan, purpose of loans and awareness about CIBIL scores of 18 merchants who agreed to reveal information about a prior loan.</em>[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]While most merchants who were part of the pilot preferred not to share their current loan practices, those who revealed that they had availed a loan (18 out of 409) had done so from a formal source. Fourteen of the 18 were also aware of their credit score (CIBIL) and its related impact on their credit eligibility.\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>Only 18 fixed store merchants (4 percent) with an average monthly revenue of INR 90,000 (double the population median of INR 45,000) reported that they had availed of a loan in the past.</li>\r\n	<li>The average tenure of the loans was two to three years; 17 merchants sourced the loan from banks and one from a Micro Finance Institution (MFI);</li>\r\n	<li>The purpose for which loans were taken varied from business expansion (10 merchants), household requirements (four merchants) to health emergencies (one merchant). Utility loans such as for two wheelers (three merchants) formed another major category of reasons for taking loans; and</li>\r\n	<li>The ticket size of the loans taken by the merchants varied from INR 40,000 to INR 9 lakhs.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_color=\"#c9213b\" enable_parallax=\"false\" padding_top=\"150\" padding_bottom=\"150\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\" bg_image=\"39439\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"MERCHANTS’ PERCEPTION ON THE BUNDLED PRODUCT\r\n\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style \"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Perceived vs. real interest in loan: When offered the bundled product of payment device and credit, 25 merchants showed initial interest solely in accessing the loan during their first interaction with the CATALYST FoS team. However, 24 had changed their minds when the lender’s agent approached them after a week, perhaps because merchants are always interested in understanding options for credit but may not avail of it even if they express an interest initially.\r\n\r\nOne merchant who agreed to try the combination of a PoS device and loan had a fixed cloth store in Shastri Nagar market. He wanted a loan of INR 1-2 lakhs. Unfortunately, the request was denied since his residence was located outside the serviceable area set by the lender. This fact was discovered after the processing was done, and resulted in a poor customer experience for the merchant.\r\n\r\n<strong>Why was there a low uptake? </strong>\r\n\r\nThe experiment shows that while there was individual adoption of the card swipe machines, there was little uptake of the bundled product. Technology did seamlessly bind the products together but the communication to merchants was often unclear and did not explain how payment device usage would help them get a loan of higher amount in the future. The reasons this product could not cater to customer expectations or improve customer experience as expected are:\r\n\r\n<strong>Loan structure:</strong> While the lender assured the merchants of a credit-build-up model, the merchants were keen to understand the exact qualifiers for the build-up process, i.e., number and/or value of transactions required to qualify for the next tranche of loans. Additionally, they wanted to know by what percentage the loan amount could grow through increased usage of digital transactions. None of this information was provided to merchants since the lender had not yet thought it through. The product’s value proposition stated in one line by the lender as ‘enhanced loan size for incremental usage of digital payments’ failed to gain the merchants’ trust.\r\n\r\n<strong>Single interface for credit and digital payments:</strong> During the CATALYST pilot, the lending company and the digital payment solution company used two separate applications to onboard customers. For the merchants who saw the two as a single product, it was important for the digital payment solution provider and the lending partner to integrate their solution into one single application for simplicity and usage. The existing process offered poor customer experience because filling out two applications is a time-consuming process.\r\n\r\n<strong>Large time lags:</strong> Loan disbursal followed a lengthy process, i.e., lead generation by field agents (CATALYST FoS team) from an initial interaction, followed by a calling exercise by the credit assessor and then a site verification. This long time period between initial contact and disbursement was a pain point. Additionally, there were delays in disbursing the card swipe machine. Partnering with an early stage startup for PoS machines led to a resource crunch, which resulted in operational delays. The time lag between initial lead generation and delivery of the machine ranged from 15-20 days which was too long a time to retain interest.\r\n\r\n<strong>High cost of on boarding:</strong> The loan offer had a customer onboarding cost plus GST that hiked up the existing rates of interest by 3 to 4 percent so the lending interest rate worked out to be around 30 percent annually. These nuanced details deterred many of the merchants to finally take up the loan despite having shown an initial interest in the loan product.\r\n\r\n<strong>Short tenure of the pilot:</strong> Lastly, one must note that three or four months is too short a time to launch and iterate on a product bundle that includes a loan repayment timeline of nine to 36 months. To understand access and usage of repeat loans, the pilot experiment should essentially be of a much longer tenure.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#373b3c\" padding_top=\"75\" padding_bottom=\"75\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"RECOMMENDATIONS\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\"][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<strong>Need for a local presence: </strong>An implementation challenge that needs to be addressed in order to iterate on the pilot experiment and help it succeed is decreasing the time lags between the first point of contact to in-person onboarding with the card swipe machine and the loan. To avoid such operational delays, it is advisable to work with a local company with a greater field presence than with a well-known company based out of another metropolis but with little field support, as was the case during this pilot. Otherwise, the card swipe company/loan company should partner with a channel partner that should be assigned locally to cover the high customer acquisition cost which must be incurred (by default) for wider reach and larger impact among the segment of merchants who are new to digital payment usage.\r\n\r\n<strong>Lower cost of product:</strong> If such loans could get priority sector lending status, obtaining funds would be easier for an NBFC, making access to credit easier and cheaper.\r\n\r\n<strong>Alternate digital payment solutions:</strong> Current credit products are more inclined towards PoS machine uptake and usage. However, given the rise in use of other digital payment modes such as Unified Payments Interface (UPI), e-wallets and other Aadhaar-based solutions could lead to faster and cheaper adoption among merchants.\r\n\r\n<strong>Simple product structure:</strong> As the pilot results suggest, clearly informing the merchants of the exact qualifying factors for incremental loans will help develop higher trust and better customer relationships for a credit-builder model.\r\n\r\n<strong>Provide digital training and awareness:</strong> Multiple field visits and available data on awareness of credit history or usage of digital payments suggest that small fixed store merchants need substantial handholding, training and awareness to understand fundamental financial concepts, the importance of formal loans, and use of credit history. The experiment results suggest that the small merchants would be better off with expert handholding support and training from their first point of contact, as they would be without operational delays. Further, digital training and awareness building must extend to consumers who shop at these merchant locations, since customer demand is a huge driver in merchant acceptance of digital solutions.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#c9213b\" padding_top=\"75\" padding_bottom=\"75\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"CONCLUSION\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\"][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Credit can potentially act as a hook for usage of digital solutions, provided the effective costs are lower compared to credit from informal sources, and access is speedier. Merchants also need to be provided information on the clear pathway on increase in credit as they continue using the digital facilities. Lenders and payment service providers must present a unified front and offer a superior customer experience to the merchants. Lastly, acceptance of new payment solutions requires end customers to be sensitized equally[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #da092b;\">TECHNICAL WRITERS:</span> John Arun and Shubhranka Mondal</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #da092b;\">ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:</span> The authors would like to thank Jayshree Venkatesan for her expert advice, and CATALYST’s Feet on Street team, for their ground support</p>\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_button title=\"Download full report\" href=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/CH-Learning-Note-v2.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" position=\"center\" size=\"lg\" type=\"boxed-icon\" special=\"no\" icon=\"download\" font_size=\"14px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"pkirbtn\" icon_custom_background=\"#d11e3c\" icon_custom_text=\"#ffffff\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=\"footer_area\" text_align=\"center\" type=\"image\" bg_position_horizontal=\"center\" enable_parallax=\"false\" padding_top=\"50px\" padding_bottom=\"50px\" bg_image=\"7886\"][vc_column width=\"1/4\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/2\" offset=\"vc_col-lg-offset-0 vc_col-md-offset-0 vc_col-sm-offset-0\"][vc_single_image image=\"7888\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#ffffff\" font_size=\"14px\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1484826151396{margin-top: 35px !important;margin-bottom: 5px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;}\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">CATALYST is an initiative seeded by an alliance between the Government of India &amp; USAID, to expand digital payments and financial inclusion in India, especially for small merchants and low-income consumers.</p>\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_gap][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1484051069491{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">[email-newsletter-plugin]</p>\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_icon icon=\"facebook\" href=\"https://www.facebook.com/CashlessCatalyst/\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"linkedin\" href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/company/13221050?trk=tyah&amp;trkInfo=clickedVertical%3Acompany%2CclickedEntityId%3A13221050%2Cidx%3A2-1-2%2CtarId%3A1476420479247%2Ctas%3Acashless%20catalyst\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"twitter\" href=\"https://twitter.com/cashlesscatalys\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"youtube-play\" href=\"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChuc38_PfawDOu44IfYS4lw\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/4\"][/vc_column][/vc_row]', 'USING COMIC BOOKS TO INCREASE DIGITAL FINANCIAL CAPABILITIES IN LOW-INCOME CLUSTERS', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '39971-revision-v1', '', '', '2019-01-15 07:57:40', '2019-01-15 07:57:40', '', 39971, 'https://cashlesscatalyst.org/media/39971-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0);
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(39972, 12, '2019-01-15 07:17:56', '2019-01-15 07:17:56', '[vc_row equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\" type=\"image\" enable_parallax=\"false\" parallax_speed=\"0.4\" padding_top=\"110\" padding_bottom=\"0\" bg_image=\"39430\"][vc_column][kleo_gap size=\"100px\"][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"2/3\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"DIGITAL LENDING FOR SMALL MERCHANTS: THE MISSING ROAD TO THE LAST MILE\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:48px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:54px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][kleo_gap size=\"140px\"][kleo_gap size=\"50px\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\" padding_bottom=\"0\"][vc_column width=\"1/2\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/2\"][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner width=\"5/12\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/3\" css=\".vc_custom_1488531456733{padding-right: 0px !important;}\"][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"][addtoany][/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\" css=\".vc_custom_1488531444909{padding-left: 0px !important;}\"][kleo_button title=\"Print this page\" href=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/CH-Learning-Note-v2.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"custom\" position=\"left\" size=\"lg\" special=\"no\" border=\"no\" icon=\"print\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"grey-icon\" custom_text=\"#d11e3c\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=\"BACKGROUND\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:left|color:%23383b3b|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][vc_row_inner css=\".vc_custom_1537456868816{margin-bottom: 35px !important;}\"][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Ninety-three percent of India’s US$670 billion retail market continues to be unorganized, operating through mom-and-pop, kirana or standalone stores.<sup>1</sup> According to a recent Boston Consulting GroupConfederation of Indian Industry (BCG-CII) report, this sector is projected to double from a US$1.1-1.2 trillion market by 2020, driven by a 70 percent rise in income levels and a 100 million addition in the number of youth entering the labor force.<sup>2</sup> However, despite growth projections, there are several factors that hinder the growth of these informal enterprises which provide livelihood options to nearly 111 million workers,<sup>3</sup> thus forming an important engine for India’s economic growth.\r\n\r\nThe lack of proper infrastructure and technical skills notwithstanding, a pressing factor hindering attainment of scale by informal enterprises is the lack of credit from formal sources at affordable rates of interest. According to an International Finance Corporation (IFC) report, the credit gap for informal enterprises within the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector in India was estimated at US$418 billion in 2012-13.<sup>4</sup> Underlying the gap in accessing formal credit is the story of missing applicant credit histories or other parameters of credit worthiness used in traditional appraisal processes by lenders.<sup>5</sup> Under such circumstances, most enterprises resort to informal lenders, despite the high interest rates charged. Reluctance to adopt digital payments further exacerbates this situation, since it is near impossible to convince lenders of credit worthiness in the face of missing information on credit and other transactional histories. Lack of awareness, low capability and unwillingness to try new technologies for fear of failure are some reasons that contribute to this wariness and create a vicious cycle that has been hard to break.\r\n\r\nCATALYST, in its drive to explore the digital readiness of this segment, hypothesized that providing access to a small amount of credit at lower rates could act as a hook for digital payment adoption and usage, which in turn could trigger a positive spiral to access higher amounts of credit. In a preliminary study to understand the financial behavior and borrowing pattern of small businesses, CATALYST conducted a Credit Needs Assessment Survey (CNAS) where 1,140 small fixed store merchants in Jaipur were interviewed in September 2017. The survey showed that 69 percent of the merchants sourced their credit from informal sources such as friends, family and local moneylenders. Merchants expressed dissatisfaction with local moneylenders because they charged an interest rate of over 30 percent per month. But they still tend to prefer informal lenders over formal ones because of ease of access, no requirement of lengthy documentation, and speedy processes.\r\n\r\nArmed with these insights, CATALYST launched the Credit as a Hook pilot in Jaipur in June 2018 for a select set of merchants. The pilot aimed to provide incremental loans through a starter-builder model starting with a small loan that would increase based on usage of digital payments, where the payment footprint would help merchants build their formal credit history. CATALYST hypothesized that, for the  merchants, this would result in larger loans over a period of time at better rates of interest. For lenders, the presence of a digital footprint would provide the means to underwrite loans better and allow them to acquire new customers (i.e., a set of small merchants that was hitherto unserved by formal financial institutions). The initial pre-assessment survey carried out prior to the product launch, CATALYST’s CNAS report, revealed that 92 percent merchants contacted during the survey was aware of digital payment solutions. Of these, 53.5 percent was interested in availing credit through a digital platform with an expectation of quick processing time.\r\n\r\nThe first challenge that CATALYST faced was to convince lenders to provide an initial loan, albeit small, in the absence of a digital payment history. Traditionally, the route to access credit has been via an established digital payment footprint because of the inherent difference in the way payment and credit operates. Payment systems work better when more people use them, and therefore are designed to be more inclusive in nature. Credit, on the other hand, is designed to hedge excessive risks, and therefore is harder to establish as the first step to financial inclusion of the underserved market segment with no credit history.\r\n\r\nA lending model is predicated on profits from taking calculated risks. So, lenders seek to build strong relationships with their customers and get a broad base of information to calculate the exact underlying risk. On the other hand, payment companies are inherently less dependent on understanding customer risk. Payment businesses therefore tend to be more transactional and less relationship-based than lending ones. The quality or depth of individual customer relationships matters less. Instead, the number and breadth of customers and their networks matter more.<sup>6</sup>\r\n\r\nUnderstanding these basic functions of payments and credit is critical to exploring how the two can be linked. Technology and access to customer data play a huge role in leveraging the payment and credit lens to achieve financial inclusion.\r\n\r\nThe CATALYST pilot aimed at precisely this understanding. How can we urge merchants to start using digital solutions, which in turn can help them access credit at better terms?\r\n\r\nWhile the merits of credit are known, research is beginning to show the advantages of digital credit as well. Early evidence from studying M-Shawri<sup>7</sup> in Kenya has shown that uptake of digital loans has helped improve household resilience against shocks and increased the propensity of families to spend on welfare activities such as health and education.<sup>8</sup> While we have little evidence available from similar experiments in India, we expect the positive benefits would be similar.\r\n\r\nWe hope that the following results of CATALYST’s Credit as a Hook pilot reveal the opportunities and challenges of launching a digital payment and loan product bundle for underserved informal sector merchants in India.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text text_color=\"#757c74\" font_size=\"14px\" letter_spacing=\"\"]<em><sup>1</sup>India’s $670 billion retail market is heading for a dream run, April 16, 2018, Quartz.</em>\r\n\r\n<em><sup>2</sup>Retail Transformation: Changing Your Performance Trajectory, BCG-CII National Retail Summit Report, 2016.</em>\r\n\r\n<em><sup>3</sup>Found: 111 million MSME workers in India as data rules changes, Livemint, November 22, 2017.</em>\r\n\r\n<em><sup>4</sup>MSME Finance Gap, Assessment of the shortfalls and opportunities in financing micro, small and medium enterprises in emerging markets, IFC, 2017.</em>\r\n\r\n<em><sup>5</sup>Research by Entrepreneurial Finance Lab, retrieved from The Hindu Business Line, ‘There is a credit gap of 56% in the MSME sector’, July 2, 2014</em>\r\n\r\n<em><sup>6</sup>Buckley, R. and I.Mas. The coming of age of digital payment as a field of expertise, Journal of Law Technology and Policy, June 2016, Vol.2016.</em>\r\n\r\n<em><sup>7</sup>M-Shwari is a paperless banking service offered through M-Pesa. M-Shwari bank accounts are opened and maintained through mobile phones.</em>\r\n\r\n<em><sup>8</sup>Bharadwaj, P., W. Jack and T. Suri. Can Digital Loans Deliver: Take Up and Impact of Digital Loans in Kenya, 2018 (Working Paper, draft received on special request from T. Suri).</em>[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_position_horizontal=\"center\" enable_parallax=\"false\" parallax_speed=\"0.4\" padding_top=\"150\" padding_bottom=\"150\" bg_image=\"39431\"][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=\"INSIGHTS FROM THE PILOT\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Testing the hypothesis involved bringing together a payment provider and a lender — a role that was played by CATALYST. For the pilot, CATALYST partnered with Nupay, a Point of Sale (PoS) device or card swipe machine provider and an early stage startup, and Capital First, a Non Banking Financial Company (NBFC), which agreed to provide term loans to fixed store merchants in Jaipur. The combination of a payment device and loan was offered as a bundle, with the intention of testing the extent to which credit can act as a ‘hook’ to adopt and use digital payments. This combination was created for the purpose of the pilot alone since lenders are unclear of the risks involved in offering a small amount of credit, no matter how small, before they can establish credit history based on transactions on the device provided. Since the combination of partners was arranged by CATALYST for the pilot, CATALYST also had to provide a set of Feet on Street (FoS) for on-the-ground support to roll out the services. The FoS team, trained by CATALYST, provided support in marketing and customer acquisition.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong>Product bundle: Capital First and Nupay, a term loan with a card swipe machine</strong>\r\n\r\nProduct bundle details: Capital First (the lender) agreed to provide loans of a ticket size of INR 25,000 to INR 5 lakh at an interest rate of 18 percent to 24 percent annually for a tenure of nine months to 36 months, depending on the ticket size and repayment capacity.\r\n\r\nNupay’s card swipe machine had a monthly rental of INR 350 (~ US$5) plus 18 percent Goods and Service Tax (GST), which was also to be paid by merchants. The lender agreed that merchants would be considered for an incremental loan based on their repayment history observed in the first tranche of the loan, and their digital transaction footprint.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong>Project roll-out and findings: digital payment adoption vs. non-adoption</strong>\r\n\r\nDuring the pilot, CATALYST reached out to 409 fixed store merchants across six major markets in Jaipur (Shastri Nagar, Sodala, Durgapura, Khatirpura, Jhotwara and Bani Park).<sup>9</sup> These stores have been in business for an average of 10 years and had a median monthly revenue of INR 45,000. Most stores (99 percent) were owned by men; 87 percent was sole proprietorships while a smaller group (13 percent) was managed jointly with other family members. Sixty-five of them were already using a PoS or a card swipe machine and the remaining 344 merchants were given a demo on using a new PoS machine with the help of CATALYST’s FoS team.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=\"39426\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#757c74\" font_size=\"14px\" letter_spacing=\"\"]<em><sup>9</sup>This data set is separate from the earlier CNAS data. With a time lag of eight months, it is often difficult to work with earlier data sets. So, 490 new fixed stores were chosen from six new markets in Jaipur</em>[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner css=\".vc_custom_1537937440359{padding-top: 30px !important;}\"][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<strong>Key results from the experiment were:</strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n 	<li>There were eight fixed store merchants who had never used a card swipe machine but eventually adopted digital payment solutions after being trained on card swipe usage by the CATALYST FoS team.</li>\r\n 	<li>The primary reason for adoption was that it would allow them to service a broader customer segment that used (debit/credit) cards to make payments. In other words, the ability to serve a specific customer segment that was familiar with digital solutions was a key driver. This would also result in new customer acquisition over a period of time.</li>\r\n 	<li>Among the merchants who refused to use or adopt a PoS machine, the dominant reason for nonadoption was the absence of customer demand (62 percent, Figure 1). These merchants were unwilling to act as enablers to train customers in using a new digital solution. If the customers asked for the service, they were happy to provide it.</li>\r\n 	<li>The remaining 10 percent (Figure 1) reported the inherent cash stickiness of their business as a major deterrent. Another 2 percent (Figure 1) cited the cost of the machine as a major barrier to accepting digital payments.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=\"39433\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<em>Note: From top right: existing loan usage, source of loan, purpose of loans and awareness about CIBIL scores of 18 merchants who agreed to reveal information about a prior loan.</em>[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]While most merchants who were part of the pilot preferred not to share their current loan practices, those who revealed that they had availed a loan (18 out of 409) had done so from a formal source. Fourteen of the 18 were also aware of their credit score (CIBIL) and its related impact on their credit eligibility.\r\n<ul>\r\n 	<li>Only 18 fixed store merchants (4 percent) with an average monthly revenue of INR 90,000 (double the population median of INR 45,000) reported that they had availed of a loan in the past.</li>\r\n 	<li>The average tenure of the loans was two to three years; 17 merchants sourced the loan from banks and one from a Micro Finance Institution (MFI);</li>\r\n 	<li>The purpose for which loans were taken varied from business expansion (10 merchants), household requirements (four merchants) to health emergencies (one merchant). Utility loans such as for two wheelers (three merchants) formed another major category of reasons for taking loans; and</li>\r\n 	<li>The ticket size of the loans taken by the merchants varied from INR 40,000 to INR 9 lakhs.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_color=\"#c9213b\" enable_parallax=\"false\" padding_top=\"150\" padding_bottom=\"150\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\" bg_image=\"39439\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"MERCHANTS’ PERCEPTION ON THE BUNDLED PRODUCT\r\n\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style \"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Perceived vs. real interest in loan: When offered the bundled product of payment device and credit, 25 merchants showed initial interest solely in accessing the loan during their first interaction with the CATALYST FoS team. However, 24 had changed their minds when the lender’s agent approached them after a week, perhaps because merchants are always interested in understanding options for credit but may not avail of it even if they express an interest initially.\r\n\r\nOne merchant who agreed to try the combination of a PoS device and loan had a fixed cloth store in Shastri Nagar market. He wanted a loan of INR 1-2 lakhs. Unfortunately, the request was denied since his residence was located outside the serviceable area set by the lender. This fact was discovered after the processing was done, and resulted in a poor customer experience for the merchant.\r\n\r\n<strong>Why was there a low uptake? </strong>\r\n\r\nThe experiment shows that while there was individual adoption of the card swipe machines, there was little uptake of the bundled product. Technology did seamlessly bind the products together but the communication to merchants was often unclear and did not explain how payment device usage would help them get a loan of higher amount in the future. The reasons this product could not cater to customer expectations or improve customer experience as expected are:\r\n\r\n<strong>Loan structure:</strong> While the lender assured the merchants of a credit-build-up model, the merchants were keen to understand the exact qualifiers for the build-up process, i.e., number and/or value of transactions required to qualify for the next tranche of loans. Additionally, they wanted to know by what percentage the loan amount could grow through increased usage of digital transactions. None of this information was provided to merchants since the lender had not yet thought it through. The product’s value proposition stated in one line by the lender as ‘enhanced loan size for incremental usage of digital payments’ failed to gain the merchants’ trust.\r\n\r\n<strong>Single interface for credit and digital payments:</strong> During the CATALYST pilot, the lending company and the digital payment solution company used two separate applications to onboard customers. For the merchants who saw the two as a single product, it was important for the digital payment solution provider and the lending partner to integrate their solution into one single application for simplicity and usage. The existing process offered poor customer experience because filling out two applications is a time-consuming process.\r\n\r\n<strong>Large time lags:</strong> Loan disbursal followed a lengthy process, i.e., lead generation by field agents (CATALYST FoS team) from an initial interaction, followed by a calling exercise by the credit assessor and then a site verification. This long time period between initial contact and disbursement was a pain point. Additionally, there were delays in disbursing the card swipe machine. Partnering with an early stage startup for PoS machines led to a resource crunch, which resulted in operational delays. The time lag between initial lead generation and delivery of the machine ranged from 15-20 days which was too long a time to retain interest.\r\n\r\n<strong>High cost of on boarding:</strong> The loan offer had a customer onboarding cost plus GST that hiked up the existing rates of interest by 3 to 4 percent so the lending interest rate worked out to be around 30 percent annually. These nuanced details deterred many of the merchants to finally take up the loan despite having shown an initial interest in the loan product.\r\n\r\n<strong>Short tenure of the pilot:</strong> Lastly, one must note that three or four months is too short a time to launch and iterate on a product bundle that includes a loan repayment timeline of nine to 36 months. To understand access and usage of repeat loans, the pilot experiment should essentially be of a much longer tenure.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#373b3c\" padding_top=\"75\" padding_bottom=\"75\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"RECOMMENDATIONS\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\"][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<strong>Need for a local presence: </strong>An implementation challenge that needs to be addressed in order to iterate on the pilot experiment and help it succeed is decreasing the time lags between the first point of contact to in-person onboarding with the card swipe machine and the loan. To avoid such operational delays, it is advisable to work with a local company with a greater field presence than with a well-known company based out of another metropolis but with little field support, as was the case during this pilot. Otherwise, the card swipe company/loan company should partner with a channel partner that should be assigned locally to cover the high customer acquisition cost which must be incurred (by default) for wider reach and larger impact among the segment of merchants who are new to digital payment usage.\r\n\r\n<strong>Lower cost of product:</strong> If such loans could get priority sector lending status, obtaining funds would be easier for an NBFC, making access to credit easier and cheaper.\r\n\r\n<strong>Alternate digital payment solutions:</strong> Current credit products are more inclined towards PoS machine uptake and usage. However, given the rise in use of other digital payment modes such as Unified Payments Interface (UPI), e-wallets and other Aadhaar-based solutions could lead to faster and cheaper adoption among merchants.\r\n\r\n<strong>Simple product structure:</strong> As the pilot results suggest, clearly informing the merchants of the exact qualifying factors for incremental loans will help develop higher trust and better customer relationships for a credit-builder model.\r\n\r\n<strong>Provide digital training and awareness:</strong> Multiple field visits and available data on awareness of credit history or usage of digital payments suggest that small fixed store merchants need substantial handholding, training and awareness to understand fundamental financial concepts, the importance of formal loans, and use of credit history. The experiment results suggest that the small merchants would be better off with expert handholding support and training from their first point of contact, as they would be without operational delays. Further, digital training and awareness building must extend to consumers who shop at these merchant locations, since customer demand is a huge driver in merchant acceptance of digital solutions.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#c9213b\" padding_top=\"75\" padding_bottom=\"75\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"CONCLUSION\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\"][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Credit can potentially act as a hook for usage of digital solutions, provided the effective costs are lower compared to credit from informal sources, and access is speedier. Merchants also need to be provided information on the clear pathway on increase in credit as they continue using the digital facilities. Lenders and payment service providers must present a unified front and offer a superior customer experience to the merchants. Lastly, acceptance of new payment solutions requires end customers to be sensitized equally[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #da092b;\">TECHNICAL WRITERS:</span> John Arun and Shubhranka Mondal</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #da092b;\">ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:</span> The authors would like to thank Jayshree Venkatesan for her expert advice, and CATALYST’s Feet on Street team, for their ground support</p>\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_button title=\"Download full report\" href=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/CH-Learning-Note-v2.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" position=\"center\" size=\"lg\" type=\"boxed-icon\" special=\"no\" icon=\"download\" font_size=\"14px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"pkirbtn\" icon_custom_background=\"#d11e3c\" icon_custom_text=\"#ffffff\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=\"footer_area\" text_align=\"center\" type=\"image\" bg_position_horizontal=\"center\" enable_parallax=\"false\" padding_top=\"50px\" padding_bottom=\"50px\" bg_image=\"7886\"][vc_column width=\"1/4\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/2\" offset=\"vc_col-lg-offset-0 vc_col-md-offset-0 vc_col-sm-offset-0\"][vc_single_image image=\"7888\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#ffffff\" font_size=\"14px\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1484826151396{margin-top: 35px !important;margin-bottom: 5px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;}\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">CATALYST is an initiative seeded by an alliance between the Government of India &amp; USAID, to expand digital payments and financial inclusion in India, especially for small merchants and low-income consumers.</p>\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_gap][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1484051069491{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">[email-newsletter-plugin]</p>\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_icon icon=\"facebook\" href=\"https://www.facebook.com/CashlessCatalyst/\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"linkedin\" href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/company/13221050?trk=tyah&amp;trkInfo=clickedVertical%3Acompany%2CclickedEntityId%3A13221050%2Cidx%3A2-1-2%2CtarId%3A1476420479247%2Ctas%3Acashless%20catalyst\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"twitter\" href=\"https://twitter.com/cashlesscatalys\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"youtube-play\" href=\"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChuc38_PfawDOu44IfYS4lw\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/4\"][/vc_column][/vc_row]', 'USING COMIC BOOKS TO INCREASE DIGITAL FINANCIAL CAPABILITIES IN LOW-INCOME CLUSTERS', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '39971-revision-v1', '', '', '2019-01-15 07:17:56', '2019-01-15 07:17:56', '', 39971, 'https://cashlesscatalyst.org/media/39971-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0);
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(39976, 12, '2019-01-15 07:29:22', '2019-01-15 07:29:22', '[vc_row equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\" type=\"image\" enable_parallax=\"false\" parallax_speed=\"0.4\" padding_top=\"110\" padding_bottom=\"0\" bg_image=\"39430\"][vc_column][kleo_gap size=\"100px\"][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"2/3\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"USING COMIC BOOKS TO INCREASE DIGITAL FINANCIAL CAPABILITIES IN LOW-INCOME CLUSTERS\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:48px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:54px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][kleo_gap size=\"140px\"][kleo_gap size=\"50px\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\" padding_bottom=\"0\"][vc_column width=\"1/2\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/2\"][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner width=\"5/12\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/3\" css=\".vc_custom_1488531456733{padding-right: 0px !important;}\"][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"][addtoany][/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\" css=\".vc_custom_1488531444909{padding-left: 0px !important;}\"][kleo_button title=\"Print this page\" href=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/CH-Learning-Note-v2.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"custom\" position=\"left\" size=\"lg\" special=\"no\" border=\"no\" icon=\"print\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"grey-icon\" custom_text=\"#d11e3c\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=\"INTRODUCTION\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:left|color:%23383b3b|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][vc_row_inner css=\".vc_custom_1537456868816{margin-bottom: 35px !important;}\"][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<p>The 2011 Census of India reports a total of 65.49 million slum inhabitants living in 13.92 million households in India. Although India’s urban population has an estimated total of 33,510 slums, great variability exists in legal status, deprivation, living condition, type of structure, etc. The inhabitants of these slums are the urban poor and remain outside the ambit of formal finance. Conventional finance so far has not been able to serve this last mile, keeping them excluded from the financial system. Uptake of digital payments can greatly benefit these last mile consumers by facilitating faster and simpler financial transactions, thereby connecting them to formal financial channels. Recognizing this potential, CATALYST launched its pilot project in Bhatta Basti, an urban slum located on the outskirts of Jaipur city, Rajasthan. A migrant settlement with a population of 45,000 people and 1,000 households, it is predominantly a Muslim community where most of the population has low educational achievement.</p>\r\n<p>Our baseline study in 2017 indicated that digital financial capability of slum dwellers in Bhatta Basti was significantly low. Thus, CATALYST experimented with a range of collaterals to promote digital financial inclusion in Bhatta Basti and attempted to understand people’s attitude and perceptions towards each of these media. One such attempt involved using illustrated comic books to spread awareness and encourage adoption of digital\r\npayment solutions among people. Past research in the field had indicated that comic books may be a successful medium for sensitization on a range of\r\nissues because they appeal to people from various age groups. A study on digital financial inclusion conducted by Institute for Financial Management and Research -Leveraging Evidence for Access and Development (IFMR LEAD) in Mumbai’s Dharavi slums in 2012 used comic books for disseminating important information. The learnings from this study helped us in establishing important guidelines for designing our comics and their stories.</p>\r\n<p>A significant learning from the Dharavi study was that it is important to customize the comic books to the target audience. Use of characters and scenarios similar to those seen by the target audience every day is crucial to enable them to form a connection between issues they face and benefits of adopting digital payments. There exists a huge gap in awareness and access to financial services between men and women in low-income clusters and using women as protagonists in the stories may be more effective to reach out and impact women in lowincome clusters.</p>\r\n<p>Using this learning as a guideline, we created and distributed three comic books over the course of three months: one on Automated Teller Machine\r\n(ATM) pin generation; one on Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS); and one on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payments. The comic books\r\non ATM pin generation and AEPS had women as the main characters while the one on UPI payments had male protagonists.</p>[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_position_horizontal=\"center\" enable_parallax=\"false\" parallax_speed=\"0.4\" padding_top=\"150\" padding_bottom=\"150\" bg_image=\"39431\"][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=\"INSIGHTS FROM THE PILOT\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Testing the hypothesis involved bringing together a payment provider and a lender — a role that was played by CATALYST. For the pilot, CATALYST partnered with Nupay, a Point of Sale (PoS) device or card swipe machine provider and an early stage startup, and Capital First, a Non Banking Financial Company (NBFC), which agreed to provide term loans to fixed store merchants in Jaipur. The combination of a payment device and loan was offered as a bundle, with the intention of testing the extent to which credit can act as a ‘hook’ to adopt and use digital payments. This combination was created for the purpose of the pilot alone since lenders are unclear of the risks involved in offering a small amount of credit, no matter how small, before they can establish credit history based on transactions on the device provided. Since the combination of partners was arranged by CATALYST for the pilot, CATALYST also had to provide a set of Feet on Street (FoS) for on-the-ground support to roll out the services. The FoS team, trained by CATALYST, provided support in marketing and customer acquisition.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong>Product bundle: Capital First and Nupay, a term loan with a card swipe machine</strong>\r\n\r\nProduct bundle details: Capital First (the lender) agreed to provide loans of a ticket size of INR 25,000 to INR 5 lakh at an interest rate of 18 percent to 24 percent annually for a tenure of nine months to 36 months, depending on the ticket size and repayment capacity.\r\n\r\nNupay’s card swipe machine had a monthly rental of INR 350 (~ US$5) plus 18 percent Goods and Service Tax (GST), which was also to be paid by merchants. The lender agreed that merchants would be considered for an incremental loan based on their repayment history observed in the first tranche of the loan, and their digital transaction footprint.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong>Project roll-out and findings: digital payment adoption vs. non-adoption</strong>\r\n\r\nDuring the pilot, CATALYST reached out to 409 fixed store merchants across six major markets in Jaipur (Shastri Nagar, Sodala, Durgapura, Khatirpura, Jhotwara and Bani Park).<sup>9</sup> These stores have been in business for an average of 10 years and had a median monthly revenue of INR 45,000. Most stores (99 percent) were owned by men; 87 percent was sole proprietorships while a smaller group (13 percent) was managed jointly with other family members. Sixty-five of them were already using a PoS or a card swipe machine and the remaining 344 merchants were given a demo on using a new PoS machine with the help of CATALYST’s FoS team.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=\"39426\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#757c74\" font_size=\"14px\" letter_spacing=\"\"]<em><sup>9</sup>This data set is separate from the earlier CNAS data. With a time lag of eight months, it is often difficult to work with earlier data sets. So, 490 new fixed stores were chosen from six new markets in Jaipur</em>[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner css=\".vc_custom_1537937440359{padding-top: 30px !important;}\"][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<strong>Key results from the experiment were:</strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>There were eight fixed store merchants who had never used a card swipe machine but eventually adopted digital payment solutions after being trained on card swipe usage by the CATALYST FoS team.</li>\r\n	<li>The primary reason for adoption was that it would allow them to service a broader customer segment that used (debit/credit) cards to make payments. In other words, the ability to serve a specific customer segment that was familiar with digital solutions was a key driver. This would also result in new customer acquisition over a period of time.</li>\r\n	<li>Among the merchants who refused to use or adopt a PoS machine, the dominant reason for nonadoption was the absence of customer demand (62 percent, Figure 1). These merchants were unwilling to act as enablers to train customers in using a new digital solution. If the customers asked for the service, they were happy to provide it.</li>\r\n	<li>The remaining 10 percent (Figure 1) reported the inherent cash stickiness of their business as a major deterrent. Another 2 percent (Figure 1) cited the cost of the machine as a major barrier to accepting digital payments.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=\"39433\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<em>Note: From top right: existing loan usage, source of loan, purpose of loans and awareness about CIBIL scores of 18 merchants who agreed to reveal information about a prior loan.</em>[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]While most merchants who were part of the pilot preferred not to share their current loan practices, those who revealed that they had availed a loan (18 out of 409) had done so from a formal source. Fourteen of the 18 were also aware of their credit score (CIBIL) and its related impact on their credit eligibility.\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>Only 18 fixed store merchants (4 percent) with an average monthly revenue of INR 90,000 (double the population median of INR 45,000) reported that they had availed of a loan in the past.</li>\r\n	<li>The average tenure of the loans was two to three years; 17 merchants sourced the loan from banks and one from a Micro Finance Institution (MFI);</li>\r\n	<li>The purpose for which loans were taken varied from business expansion (10 merchants), household requirements (four merchants) to health emergencies (one merchant). Utility loans such as for two wheelers (three merchants) formed another major category of reasons for taking loans; and</li>\r\n	<li>The ticket size of the loans taken by the merchants varied from INR 40,000 to INR 9 lakhs.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_color=\"#c9213b\" enable_parallax=\"false\" padding_top=\"150\" padding_bottom=\"150\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\" bg_image=\"39439\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"MERCHANTS’ PERCEPTION ON THE BUNDLED PRODUCT\r\n\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style \"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Perceived vs. real interest in loan: When offered the bundled product of payment device and credit, 25 merchants showed initial interest solely in accessing the loan during their first interaction with the CATALYST FoS team. However, 24 had changed their minds when the lender’s agent approached them after a week, perhaps because merchants are always interested in understanding options for credit but may not avail of it even if they express an interest initially.\r\n\r\nOne merchant who agreed to try the combination of a PoS device and loan had a fixed cloth store in Shastri Nagar market. He wanted a loan of INR 1-2 lakhs. Unfortunately, the request was denied since his residence was located outside the serviceable area set by the lender. This fact was discovered after the processing was done, and resulted in a poor customer experience for the merchant.\r\n\r\n<strong>Why was there a low uptake? </strong>\r\n\r\nThe experiment shows that while there was individual adoption of the card swipe machines, there was little uptake of the bundled product. Technology did seamlessly bind the products together but the communication to merchants was often unclear and did not explain how payment device usage would help them get a loan of higher amount in the future. The reasons this product could not cater to customer expectations or improve customer experience as expected are:\r\n\r\n<strong>Loan structure:</strong> While the lender assured the merchants of a credit-build-up model, the merchants were keen to understand the exact qualifiers for the build-up process, i.e., number and/or value of transactions required to qualify for the next tranche of loans. Additionally, they wanted to know by what percentage the loan amount could grow through increased usage of digital transactions. None of this information was provided to merchants since the lender had not yet thought it through. The product’s value proposition stated in one line by the lender as ‘enhanced loan size for incremental usage of digital payments’ failed to gain the merchants’ trust.\r\n\r\n<strong>Single interface for credit and digital payments:</strong> During the CATALYST pilot, the lending company and the digital payment solution company used two separate applications to onboard customers. For the merchants who saw the two as a single product, it was important for the digital payment solution provider and the lending partner to integrate their solution into one single application for simplicity and usage. The existing process offered poor customer experience because filling out two applications is a time-consuming process.\r\n\r\n<strong>Large time lags:</strong> Loan disbursal followed a lengthy process, i.e., lead generation by field agents (CATALYST FoS team) from an initial interaction, followed by a calling exercise by the credit assessor and then a site verification. This long time period between initial contact and disbursement was a pain point. Additionally, there were delays in disbursing the card swipe machine. Partnering with an early stage startup for PoS machines led to a resource crunch, which resulted in operational delays. The time lag between initial lead generation and delivery of the machine ranged from 15-20 days which was too long a time to retain interest.\r\n\r\n<strong>High cost of on boarding:</strong> The loan offer had a customer onboarding cost plus GST that hiked up the existing rates of interest by 3 to 4 percent so the lending interest rate worked out to be around 30 percent annually. These nuanced details deterred many of the merchants to finally take up the loan despite having shown an initial interest in the loan product.\r\n\r\n<strong>Short tenure of the pilot:</strong> Lastly, one must note that three or four months is too short a time to launch and iterate on a product bundle that includes a loan repayment timeline of nine to 36 months. To understand access and usage of repeat loans, the pilot experiment should essentially be of a much longer tenure.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#373b3c\" padding_top=\"75\" padding_bottom=\"75\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"RECOMMENDATIONS\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\"][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<strong>Need for a local presence: </strong>An implementation challenge that needs to be addressed in order to iterate on the pilot experiment and help it succeed is decreasing the time lags between the first point of contact to in-person onboarding with the card swipe machine and the loan. To avoid such operational delays, it is advisable to work with a local company with a greater field presence than with a well-known company based out of another metropolis but with little field support, as was the case during this pilot. Otherwise, the card swipe company/loan company should partner with a channel partner that should be assigned locally to cover the high customer acquisition cost which must be incurred (by default) for wider reach and larger impact among the segment of merchants who are new to digital payment usage.\r\n\r\n<strong>Lower cost of product:</strong> If such loans could get priority sector lending status, obtaining funds would be easier for an NBFC, making access to credit easier and cheaper.\r\n\r\n<strong>Alternate digital payment solutions:</strong> Current credit products are more inclined towards PoS machine uptake and usage. However, given the rise in use of other digital payment modes such as Unified Payments Interface (UPI), e-wallets and other Aadhaar-based solutions could lead to faster and cheaper adoption among merchants.\r\n\r\n<strong>Simple product structure:</strong> As the pilot results suggest, clearly informing the merchants of the exact qualifying factors for incremental loans will help develop higher trust and better customer relationships for a credit-builder model.\r\n\r\n<strong>Provide digital training and awareness:</strong> Multiple field visits and available data on awareness of credit history or usage of digital payments suggest that small fixed store merchants need substantial handholding, training and awareness to understand fundamental financial concepts, the importance of formal loans, and use of credit history. The experiment results suggest that the small merchants would be better off with expert handholding support and training from their first point of contact, as they would be without operational delays. Further, digital training and awareness building must extend to consumers who shop at these merchant locations, since customer demand is a huge driver in merchant acceptance of digital solutions.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#c9213b\" padding_top=\"75\" padding_bottom=\"75\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"CONCLUSION\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\"][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Credit can potentially act as a hook for usage of digital solutions, provided the effective costs are lower compared to credit from informal sources, and access is speedier. Merchants also need to be provided information on the clear pathway on increase in credit as they continue using the digital facilities. Lenders and payment service providers must present a unified front and offer a superior customer experience to the merchants. Lastly, acceptance of new payment solutions requires end customers to be sensitized equally[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #da092b;\">TECHNICAL WRITERS:</span> John Arun and Shubhranka Mondal</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #da092b;\">ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:</span> The authors would like to thank Jayshree Venkatesan for her expert advice, and CATALYST’s Feet on Street team, for their ground support</p>\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_button title=\"Download full report\" href=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/CH-Learning-Note-v2.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" position=\"center\" size=\"lg\" type=\"boxed-icon\" special=\"no\" icon=\"download\" font_size=\"14px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"pkirbtn\" icon_custom_background=\"#d11e3c\" icon_custom_text=\"#ffffff\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=\"footer_area\" text_align=\"center\" type=\"image\" bg_position_horizontal=\"center\" enable_parallax=\"false\" padding_top=\"50px\" padding_bottom=\"50px\" bg_image=\"7886\"][vc_column width=\"1/4\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/2\" offset=\"vc_col-lg-offset-0 vc_col-md-offset-0 vc_col-sm-offset-0\"][vc_single_image image=\"7888\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#ffffff\" font_size=\"14px\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1484826151396{margin-top: 35px !important;margin-bottom: 5px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;}\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">CATALYST is an initiative seeded by an alliance between the Government of India &amp; USAID, to expand digital payments and financial inclusion in India, especially for small merchants and low-income consumers.</p>\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_gap][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1484051069491{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">[email-newsletter-plugin]</p>\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_icon icon=\"facebook\" href=\"https://www.facebook.com/CashlessCatalyst/\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"linkedin\" href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/company/13221050?trk=tyah&amp;trkInfo=clickedVertical%3Acompany%2CclickedEntityId%3A13221050%2Cidx%3A2-1-2%2CtarId%3A1476420479247%2Ctas%3Acashless%20catalyst\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"twitter\" href=\"https://twitter.com/cashlesscatalys\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"youtube-play\" href=\"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChuc38_PfawDOu44IfYS4lw\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/4\"][/vc_column][/vc_row]', 'USING COMIC BOOKS TO INCREASE DIGITAL FINANCIAL CAPABILITIES IN LOW-INCOME CLUSTERS', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '39971-revision-v1', '', '', '2019-01-15 07:29:22', '2019-01-15 07:29:22', '', 39971, 'https://cashlesscatalyst.org/media/39971-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0);
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(39973, 12, '2019-01-15 07:22:52', '2019-01-15 07:22:52', '[vc_row equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\" type=\"image\" enable_parallax=\"false\" parallax_speed=\"0.4\" padding_top=\"110\" padding_bottom=\"0\" bg_image=\"39430\"][vc_column][kleo_gap size=\"100px\"][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"2/3\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"USING COMIC BOOKS TO INCREASE DIGITAL FINANCIAL CAPABILITIES IN LOW-INCOME CLUSTERS\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:48px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:54px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][kleo_gap size=\"140px\"][kleo_gap size=\"50px\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\" padding_bottom=\"0\"][vc_column width=\"1/2\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/2\"][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner width=\"5/12\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/3\" css=\".vc_custom_1488531456733{padding-right: 0px !important;}\"][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"][addtoany][/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\" css=\".vc_custom_1488531444909{padding-left: 0px !important;}\"][kleo_button title=\"Print this page\" href=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/CH-Learning-Note-v2.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"custom\" position=\"left\" size=\"lg\" special=\"no\" border=\"no\" icon=\"print\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"grey-icon\" custom_text=\"#d11e3c\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=\"BACKGROUND\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:left|color:%23383b3b|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][vc_row_inner css=\".vc_custom_1537456868816{margin-bottom: 35px !important;}\"][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Ninety-three percent of India’s US$670 billion retail market continues to be unorganized, operating through mom-and-pop, kirana or standalone stores.<sup>1</sup> According to a recent Boston Consulting GroupConfederation of Indian Industry (BCG-CII) report, this sector is projected to double from a US$1.1-1.2 trillion market by 2020, driven by a 70 percent rise in income levels and a 100 million addition in the number of youth entering the labor force.<sup>2</sup> However, despite growth projections, there are several factors that hinder the growth of these informal enterprises which provide livelihood options to nearly 111 million workers,<sup>3</sup> thus forming an important engine for India’s economic growth.\r\n\r\nThe lack of proper infrastructure and technical skills notwithstanding, a pressing factor hindering attainment of scale by informal enterprises is the lack of credit from formal sources at affordable rates of interest. According to an International Finance Corporation (IFC) report, the credit gap for informal enterprises within the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector in India was estimated at US$418 billion in 2012-13.<sup>4</sup> Underlying the gap in accessing formal credit is the story of missing applicant credit histories or other parameters of credit worthiness used in traditional appraisal processes by lenders.<sup>5</sup> Under such circumstances, most enterprises resort to informal lenders, despite the high interest rates charged. Reluctance to adopt digital payments further exacerbates this situation, since it is near impossible to convince lenders of credit worthiness in the face of missing information on credit and other transactional histories. Lack of awareness, low capability and unwillingness to try new technologies for fear of failure are some reasons that contribute to this wariness and create a vicious cycle that has been hard to break.\r\n\r\nCATALYST, in its drive to explore the digital readiness of this segment, hypothesized that providing access to a small amount of credit at lower rates could act as a hook for digital payment adoption and usage, which in turn could trigger a positive spiral to access higher amounts of credit. In a preliminary study to understand the financial behavior and borrowing pattern of small businesses, CATALYST conducted a Credit Needs Assessment Survey (CNAS) where 1,140 small fixed store merchants in Jaipur were interviewed in September 2017. The survey showed that 69 percent of the merchants sourced their credit from informal sources such as friends, family and local moneylenders. Merchants expressed dissatisfaction with local moneylenders because they charged an interest rate of over 30 percent per month. But they still tend to prefer informal lenders over formal ones because of ease of access, no requirement of lengthy documentation, and speedy processes.\r\n\r\nArmed with these insights, CATALYST launched the Credit as a Hook pilot in Jaipur in June 2018 for a select set of merchants. The pilot aimed to provide incremental loans through a starter-builder model starting with a small loan that would increase based on usage of digital payments, where the payment footprint would help merchants build their formal credit history. CATALYST hypothesized that, for the  merchants, this would result in larger loans over a period of time at better rates of interest. For lenders, the presence of a digital footprint would provide the means to underwrite loans better and allow them to acquire new customers (i.e., a set of small merchants that was hitherto unserved by formal financial institutions). The initial pre-assessment survey carried out prior to the product launch, CATALYST’s CNAS report, revealed that 92 percent merchants contacted during the survey was aware of digital payment solutions. Of these, 53.5 percent was interested in availing credit through a digital platform with an expectation of quick processing time.\r\n\r\nThe first challenge that CATALYST faced was to convince lenders to provide an initial loan, albeit small, in the absence of a digital payment history. Traditionally, the route to access credit has been via an established digital payment footprint because of the inherent difference in the way payment and credit operates. Payment systems work better when more people use them, and therefore are designed to be more inclusive in nature. Credit, on the other hand, is designed to hedge excessive risks, and therefore is harder to establish as the first step to financial inclusion of the underserved market segment with no credit history.\r\n\r\nA lending model is predicated on profits from taking calculated risks. So, lenders seek to build strong relationships with their customers and get a broad base of information to calculate the exact underlying risk. On the other hand, payment companies are inherently less dependent on understanding customer risk. Payment businesses therefore tend to be more transactional and less relationship-based than lending ones. The quality or depth of individual customer relationships matters less. Instead, the number and breadth of customers and their networks matter more.<sup>6</sup>\r\n\r\nUnderstanding these basic functions of payments and credit is critical to exploring how the two can be linked. Technology and access to customer data play a huge role in leveraging the payment and credit lens to achieve financial inclusion.\r\n\r\nThe CATALYST pilot aimed at precisely this understanding. How can we urge merchants to start using digital solutions, which in turn can help them access credit at better terms?\r\n\r\nWhile the merits of credit are known, research is beginning to show the advantages of digital credit as well. Early evidence from studying M-Shawri<sup>7</sup> in Kenya has shown that uptake of digital loans has helped improve household resilience against shocks and increased the propensity of families to spend on welfare activities such as health and education.<sup>8</sup> While we have little evidence available from similar experiments in India, we expect the positive benefits would be similar.\r\n\r\nWe hope that the following results of CATALYST’s Credit as a Hook pilot reveal the opportunities and challenges of launching a digital payment and loan product bundle for underserved informal sector merchants in India.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text text_color=\"#757c74\" font_size=\"14px\" letter_spacing=\"\"]<em><sup>1</sup>India’s $670 billion retail market is heading for a dream run, April 16, 2018, Quartz.</em>\r\n\r\n<em><sup>2</sup>Retail Transformation: Changing Your Performance Trajectory, BCG-CII National Retail Summit Report, 2016.</em>\r\n\r\n<em><sup>3</sup>Found: 111 million MSME workers in India as data rules changes, Livemint, November 22, 2017.</em>\r\n\r\n<em><sup>4</sup>MSME Finance Gap, Assessment of the shortfalls and opportunities in financing micro, small and medium enterprises in emerging markets, IFC, 2017.</em>\r\n\r\n<em><sup>5</sup>Research by Entrepreneurial Finance Lab, retrieved from The Hindu Business Line, ‘There is a credit gap of 56% in the MSME sector’, July 2, 2014</em>\r\n\r\n<em><sup>6</sup>Buckley, R. and I.Mas. The coming of age of digital payment as a field of expertise, Journal of Law Technology and Policy, June 2016, Vol.2016.</em>\r\n\r\n<em><sup>7</sup>M-Shwari is a paperless banking service offered through M-Pesa. M-Shwari bank accounts are opened and maintained through mobile phones.</em>\r\n\r\n<em><sup>8</sup>Bharadwaj, P., W. Jack and T. Suri. Can Digital Loans Deliver: Take Up and Impact of Digital Loans in Kenya, 2018 (Working Paper, draft received on special request from T. Suri).</em>[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_position_horizontal=\"center\" enable_parallax=\"false\" parallax_speed=\"0.4\" padding_top=\"150\" padding_bottom=\"150\" bg_image=\"39431\"][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=\"INSIGHTS FROM THE PILOT\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Testing the hypothesis involved bringing together a payment provider and a lender — a role that was played by CATALYST. For the pilot, CATALYST partnered with Nupay, a Point of Sale (PoS) device or card swipe machine provider and an early stage startup, and Capital First, a Non Banking Financial Company (NBFC), which agreed to provide term loans to fixed store merchants in Jaipur. The combination of a payment device and loan was offered as a bundle, with the intention of testing the extent to which credit can act as a ‘hook’ to adopt and use digital payments. This combination was created for the purpose of the pilot alone since lenders are unclear of the risks involved in offering a small amount of credit, no matter how small, before they can establish credit history based on transactions on the device provided. Since the combination of partners was arranged by CATALYST for the pilot, CATALYST also had to provide a set of Feet on Street (FoS) for on-the-ground support to roll out the services. The FoS team, trained by CATALYST, provided support in marketing and customer acquisition.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong>Product bundle: Capital First and Nupay, a term loan with a card swipe machine</strong>\r\n\r\nProduct bundle details: Capital First (the lender) agreed to provide loans of a ticket size of INR 25,000 to INR 5 lakh at an interest rate of 18 percent to 24 percent annually for a tenure of nine months to 36 months, depending on the ticket size and repayment capacity.\r\n\r\nNupay’s card swipe machine had a monthly rental of INR 350 (~ US$5) plus 18 percent Goods and Service Tax (GST), which was also to be paid by merchants. The lender agreed that merchants would be considered for an incremental loan based on their repayment history observed in the first tranche of the loan, and their digital transaction footprint.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong>Project roll-out and findings: digital payment adoption vs. non-adoption</strong>\r\n\r\nDuring the pilot, CATALYST reached out to 409 fixed store merchants across six major markets in Jaipur (Shastri Nagar, Sodala, Durgapura, Khatirpura, Jhotwara and Bani Park).<sup>9</sup> These stores have been in business for an average of 10 years and had a median monthly revenue of INR 45,000. Most stores (99 percent) were owned by men; 87 percent was sole proprietorships while a smaller group (13 percent) was managed jointly with other family members. Sixty-five of them were already using a PoS or a card swipe machine and the remaining 344 merchants were given a demo on using a new PoS machine with the help of CATALYST’s FoS team.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=\"39426\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#757c74\" font_size=\"14px\" letter_spacing=\"\"]<em><sup>9</sup>This data set is separate from the earlier CNAS data. With a time lag of eight months, it is often difficult to work with earlier data sets. So, 490 new fixed stores were chosen from six new markets in Jaipur</em>[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner css=\".vc_custom_1537937440359{padding-top: 30px !important;}\"][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<strong>Key results from the experiment were:</strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>There were eight fixed store merchants who had never used a card swipe machine but eventually adopted digital payment solutions after being trained on card swipe usage by the CATALYST FoS team.</li>\r\n	<li>The primary reason for adoption was that it would allow them to service a broader customer segment that used (debit/credit) cards to make payments. In other words, the ability to serve a specific customer segment that was familiar with digital solutions was a key driver. This would also result in new customer acquisition over a period of time.</li>\r\n	<li>Among the merchants who refused to use or adopt a PoS machine, the dominant reason for nonadoption was the absence of customer demand (62 percent, Figure 1). These merchants were unwilling to act as enablers to train customers in using a new digital solution. If the customers asked for the service, they were happy to provide it.</li>\r\n	<li>The remaining 10 percent (Figure 1) reported the inherent cash stickiness of their business as a major deterrent. Another 2 percent (Figure 1) cited the cost of the machine as a major barrier to accepting digital payments.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=\"39433\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<em>Note: From top right: existing loan usage, source of loan, purpose of loans and awareness about CIBIL scores of 18 merchants who agreed to reveal information about a prior loan.</em>[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]While most merchants who were part of the pilot preferred not to share their current loan practices, those who revealed that they had availed a loan (18 out of 409) had done so from a formal source. Fourteen of the 18 were also aware of their credit score (CIBIL) and its related impact on their credit eligibility.\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>Only 18 fixed store merchants (4 percent) with an average monthly revenue of INR 90,000 (double the population median of INR 45,000) reported that they had availed of a loan in the past.</li>\r\n	<li>The average tenure of the loans was two to three years; 17 merchants sourced the loan from banks and one from a Micro Finance Institution (MFI);</li>\r\n	<li>The purpose for which loans were taken varied from business expansion (10 merchants), household requirements (four merchants) to health emergencies (one merchant). Utility loans such as for two wheelers (three merchants) formed another major category of reasons for taking loans; and</li>\r\n	<li>The ticket size of the loans taken by the merchants varied from INR 40,000 to INR 9 lakhs.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_color=\"#c9213b\" enable_parallax=\"false\" padding_top=\"150\" padding_bottom=\"150\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\" bg_image=\"39439\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"MERCHANTS’ PERCEPTION ON THE BUNDLED PRODUCT\r\n\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style \"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Perceived vs. real interest in loan: When offered the bundled product of payment device and credit, 25 merchants showed initial interest solely in accessing the loan during their first interaction with the CATALYST FoS team. However, 24 had changed their minds when the lender’s agent approached them after a week, perhaps because merchants are always interested in understanding options for credit but may not avail of it even if they express an interest initially.\r\n\r\nOne merchant who agreed to try the combination of a PoS device and loan had a fixed cloth store in Shastri Nagar market. He wanted a loan of INR 1-2 lakhs. Unfortunately, the request was denied since his residence was located outside the serviceable area set by the lender. This fact was discovered after the processing was done, and resulted in a poor customer experience for the merchant.\r\n\r\n<strong>Why was there a low uptake? </strong>\r\n\r\nThe experiment shows that while there was individual adoption of the card swipe machines, there was little uptake of the bundled product. Technology did seamlessly bind the products together but the communication to merchants was often unclear and did not explain how payment device usage would help them get a loan of higher amount in the future. The reasons this product could not cater to customer expectations or improve customer experience as expected are:\r\n\r\n<strong>Loan structure:</strong> While the lender assured the merchants of a credit-build-up model, the merchants were keen to understand the exact qualifiers for the build-up process, i.e., number and/or value of transactions required to qualify for the next tranche of loans. Additionally, they wanted to know by what percentage the loan amount could grow through increased usage of digital transactions. None of this information was provided to merchants since the lender had not yet thought it through. The product’s value proposition stated in one line by the lender as ‘enhanced loan size for incremental usage of digital payments’ failed to gain the merchants’ trust.\r\n\r\n<strong>Single interface for credit and digital payments:</strong> During the CATALYST pilot, the lending company and the digital payment solution company used two separate applications to onboard customers. For the merchants who saw the two as a single product, it was important for the digital payment solution provider and the lending partner to integrate their solution into one single application for simplicity and usage. The existing process offered poor customer experience because filling out two applications is a time-consuming process.\r\n\r\n<strong>Large time lags:</strong> Loan disbursal followed a lengthy process, i.e., lead generation by field agents (CATALYST FoS team) from an initial interaction, followed by a calling exercise by the credit assessor and then a site verification. This long time period between initial contact and disbursement was a pain point. Additionally, there were delays in disbursing the card swipe machine. Partnering with an early stage startup for PoS machines led to a resource crunch, which resulted in operational delays. The time lag between initial lead generation and delivery of the machine ranged from 15-20 days which was too long a time to retain interest.\r\n\r\n<strong>High cost of on boarding:</strong> The loan offer had a customer onboarding cost plus GST that hiked up the existing rates of interest by 3 to 4 percent so the lending interest rate worked out to be around 30 percent annually. These nuanced details deterred many of the merchants to finally take up the loan despite having shown an initial interest in the loan product.\r\n\r\n<strong>Short tenure of the pilot:</strong> Lastly, one must note that three or four months is too short a time to launch and iterate on a product bundle that includes a loan repayment timeline of nine to 36 months. To understand access and usage of repeat loans, the pilot experiment should essentially be of a much longer tenure.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#373b3c\" padding_top=\"75\" padding_bottom=\"75\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"RECOMMENDATIONS\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\"][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<strong>Need for a local presence: </strong>An implementation challenge that needs to be addressed in order to iterate on the pilot experiment and help it succeed is decreasing the time lags between the first point of contact to in-person onboarding with the card swipe machine and the loan. To avoid such operational delays, it is advisable to work with a local company with a greater field presence than with a well-known company based out of another metropolis but with little field support, as was the case during this pilot. Otherwise, the card swipe company/loan company should partner with a channel partner that should be assigned locally to cover the high customer acquisition cost which must be incurred (by default) for wider reach and larger impact among the segment of merchants who are new to digital payment usage.\r\n\r\n<strong>Lower cost of product:</strong> If such loans could get priority sector lending status, obtaining funds would be easier for an NBFC, making access to credit easier and cheaper.\r\n\r\n<strong>Alternate digital payment solutions:</strong> Current credit products are more inclined towards PoS machine uptake and usage. However, given the rise in use of other digital payment modes such as Unified Payments Interface (UPI), e-wallets and other Aadhaar-based solutions could lead to faster and cheaper adoption among merchants.\r\n\r\n<strong>Simple product structure:</strong> As the pilot results suggest, clearly informing the merchants of the exact qualifying factors for incremental loans will help develop higher trust and better customer relationships for a credit-builder model.\r\n\r\n<strong>Provide digital training and awareness:</strong> Multiple field visits and available data on awareness of credit history or usage of digital payments suggest that small fixed store merchants need substantial handholding, training and awareness to understand fundamental financial concepts, the importance of formal loans, and use of credit history. The experiment results suggest that the small merchants would be better off with expert handholding support and training from their first point of contact, as they would be without operational delays. Further, digital training and awareness building must extend to consumers who shop at these merchant locations, since customer demand is a huge driver in merchant acceptance of digital solutions.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#c9213b\" padding_top=\"75\" padding_bottom=\"75\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"CONCLUSION\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\"][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Credit can potentially act as a hook for usage of digital solutions, provided the effective costs are lower compared to credit from informal sources, and access is speedier. Merchants also need to be provided information on the clear pathway on increase in credit as they continue using the digital facilities. Lenders and payment service providers must present a unified front and offer a superior customer experience to the merchants. Lastly, acceptance of new payment solutions requires end customers to be sensitized equally[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #da092b;\">TECHNICAL WRITERS:</span> John Arun and Shubhranka Mondal</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #da092b;\">ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:</span> The authors would like to thank Jayshree Venkatesan for her expert advice, and CATALYST’s Feet on Street team, for their ground support</p>\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_button title=\"Download full report\" href=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/CH-Learning-Note-v2.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" position=\"center\" size=\"lg\" type=\"boxed-icon\" special=\"no\" icon=\"download\" font_size=\"14px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"pkirbtn\" icon_custom_background=\"#d11e3c\" icon_custom_text=\"#ffffff\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=\"footer_area\" text_align=\"center\" type=\"image\" bg_position_horizontal=\"center\" enable_parallax=\"false\" padding_top=\"50px\" padding_bottom=\"50px\" bg_image=\"7886\"][vc_column width=\"1/4\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/2\" offset=\"vc_col-lg-offset-0 vc_col-md-offset-0 vc_col-sm-offset-0\"][vc_single_image image=\"7888\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#ffffff\" font_size=\"14px\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1484826151396{margin-top: 35px !important;margin-bottom: 5px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;}\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">CATALYST is an initiative seeded by an alliance between the Government of India &amp; USAID, to expand digital payments and financial inclusion in India, especially for small merchants and low-income consumers.</p>\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_gap][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1484051069491{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">[email-newsletter-plugin]</p>\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_icon icon=\"facebook\" href=\"https://www.facebook.com/CashlessCatalyst/\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"linkedin\" href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/company/13221050?trk=tyah&amp;trkInfo=clickedVertical%3Acompany%2CclickedEntityId%3A13221050%2Cidx%3A2-1-2%2CtarId%3A1476420479247%2Ctas%3Acashless%20catalyst\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"twitter\" href=\"https://twitter.com/cashlesscatalys\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"youtube-play\" href=\"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChuc38_PfawDOu44IfYS4lw\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/4\"][/vc_column][/vc_row]', 'USING COMIC BOOKS TO INCREASE DIGITAL FINANCIAL CAPABILITIES IN LOW-INCOME CLUSTERS', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '39971-revision-v1', '', '', '2019-01-15 07:22:52', '2019-01-15 07:22:52', '', 39971, 'https://cashlesscatalyst.org/media/39971-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0);
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(39974, 12, '2019-01-15 13:12:18', '2019-01-15 13:12:18', '[vc_row equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\" type=\"image\" enable_parallax=\"false\" parallax_speed=\"0.4\" padding_top=\"110\" padding_bottom=\"0\" bg_image=\"39430\"][vc_column][kleo_gap size=\"100px\"][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"2/3\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"USING COMIC BOOKS TO INCREASE DIGITAL FINANCIAL CAPABILITIES IN LOW-INCOME CLUSTERS\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:48px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:54px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][kleo_gap size=\"140px\"][kleo_gap size=\"50px\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\" padding_bottom=\"0\"][vc_column width=\"1/2\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/2\"][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner width=\"5/12\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/3\" css=\".vc_custom_1488531456733{padding-right: 0px !important;}\"][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"][addtoany][/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\" css=\".vc_custom_1488531444909{padding-left: 0px !important;}\"][kleo_button title=\"Print this page\" href=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Comic-learning-note-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"custom\" position=\"left\" size=\"lg\" special=\"no\" border=\"no\" icon=\"print\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"grey-icon\" custom_text=\"#d11e3c\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=\"INTRODUCTION\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:left|color:%23383b3b|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][vc_row_inner css=\".vc_custom_1537456868816{margin-bottom: 35px !important;}\"][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]The 2011 Census of India reports a total of 65.49 million slum inhabitants living in 13.92 million households in India. Although India’s urban population has an estimated total of 33,510 slums, great variability exists in legal status, deprivation, living condition, type of structure, etc. The inhabitants of these slums are the urban poor and remain outside the ambit of formal finance. Conventional finance so far has not been able to serve this last mile, keeping them excluded from the financial system. Uptake of digital payments can greatly benefit these last mile consumers by facilitating faster and simpler financial transactions, thereby connecting them to formal financial channels. Recognizing this potential, CATALYST launched its pilot project in Bhatta Basti, an urban slum located on the outskirts of Jaipur city, Rajasthan. A migrant settlement with a population of 45,000 people and 1,000 households, it is predominantly a Muslim community where most of the population has low educational achievement.\n\nOur baseline study in 2017 indicated that digital financial capability of slum dwellers in Bhatta Basti was significantly low. Thus, CATALYST experimented with a range of collaterals to promote digital financial inclusion in Bhatta Basti and attempted to understand people’s attitude and perceptions towards each of these media. One such attempt involved using illustrated comic books to spread awareness and encourage adoption of digital payment solutions among people. Past research in the field had indicated that comic books may be a successful medium for sensitization on a range of\nissues because they appeal to people from various age groups. A study on digital financial inclusion conducted by Institute for Financial Management and Research -Leveraging Evidence for Access and Development (IFMR LEAD) in Mumbai’s Dharavi slums in 2012 used comic books for disseminating important information. The learnings from this study helped us in establishing important guidelines for designing our comics and their stories.\n\nA significant learning from the Dharavi study was that it is important to customize the comic books to the target audience. Use of characters and scenarios similar to those seen by the target audience every day is crucial to enable them to form a connection between issues they face and benefits of adopting digital payments. There exists a huge gap in awareness and access to financial services between men and women in low-income clusters and using women as protagonists in the stories may be more effective to reach out and impact women in lowincome clusters.\n\nUsing this learning as a guideline, we created and distributed three comic books over the course of three months: one on Automated Teller Machine\n(ATM) pin generation; one on Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS); and one on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payments. The comic books\non ATM pin generation and AEPS had women as the main characters while the one on UPI payments had male protagonists.\n\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_color=\"#c9213b\" enable_parallax=\"false\" padding_top=\"75\" padding_bottom=\"75\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"1. ATM PIN GENERATION\n\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style \"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Our primary research in Bhatta Basti indicated that there existed a huge information gap related to the importance and correct usage of ATM cards. Many\npeople who had received ATM cards from the banks were unaware of how to generate an ATM pin and how to use the card to withdraw money. Further, people in this community had various misconceptions regarding the safety of ATM cards; they had been victims of various frauds due to which they lacked trust in digital payment platforms. Thus, we decided to provide a detailed explanation on how to generate an ATM pin and keep the account safe in our first comic book. We created two versions: one for men and one for women. Insights from the Dharavi study indicated that women tend to relate more to a story when female protagonists are used. Since women were a major section of our target audience, we decided to create two versions. A sample of what the “ATM Pin Generation” comic looked like is provided below:\n\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner css=\".vc_custom_1547558063100{padding-top: 25px !important;padding-bottom: 25px !important;}\"][vc_column_inner width=\"1/2\"][vc_single_image image=\"40029\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/2\"][vc_single_image image=\"40030\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#373b3c\" padding_top=\"75\" padding_bottom=\"75\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"2. AADHAAR ENABLED PAYMENT SYSTEM (AEPS)\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\"][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Another mode of digital payments that we promoted through comic books was AEPS. Since many people in Bhatta Basti faced problems related to access and usage of ATM cards, AEPS acted as a good alternative for enabling usage of digital payment solutions. AEPS allowed customers to pay by just scanning their fingerprint and thus was an easy solution for many people in Bhatta Basti who did not have access to ATM cards. One of our incubatees, Fingpay, worked on providing biometric devices to vegetable vendors and other small merchants and we distributed the comic books to the target audience to create awareness about these services. Since women formed a larger percentage of customers for these vendors, we decided to use female characters for our comics.\n\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"2/3\"][vc_single_image image=\"39993\" img_size=\"746*526\" alignment=\"center\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#c9213b\" padding_top=\"75\" padding_bottom=\"75\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"3. UPI\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\"][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]The third comic book that we created and distributed was on UPI payments. This was mainly targeted at people towards the end of the digital payments user journey and sought to increase adoption and usage of UPI-based platforms such as PhonePe, Bhim UPI, WhatsApp payments, etc. The comic book contained step-by-step illustrations on how to register on such platforms and make transactions. It also focused on highlighting the advantages of using UPI, through a story format. Since our past research had indicated that the last stages of the digital payments user journeys in Bhatta Basti were male dominated, we decided to use male protagonists in this comic book. However, this learning cannot be universalized as selection of characters and stories should be context specific. Creating comic books to spread awareness should be grounded in the findings from that community.\n\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/2\"][vc_single_image image=\"39999\" img_size=\"728*520\" alignment=\"center\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/2\"][vc_single_image image=\"40000\" img_size=\"727*520\" alignment=\"center\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/2\"][vc_single_image image=\"40001\" img_size=\"922*540\" alignment=\"center\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/2\"][vc_single_image image=\"40002\" img_size=\"531*540\" alignment=\"center\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#373b3c\" padding_top=\"75\" padding_bottom=\"75\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"LEARNING AND FEEDBACK\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\"][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]We also conducted a feedback exercise to understand people’s perception of the content and form of the UPI comic books. This was conducted over two days, in early November 2018, and aimed to understand how these collaterals can be improved to benefit people at different points of the user journey. We distributed the comic books to a sample of 20 people of varying age groups and financial literacy levels. On the first day, we carried out a dipstick survey to gather information on demographics and to gauge the audiences’ understanding of financial services. We followed this up with distribution of comic books. The next day, we collected feedback on the content and form of the collateral. While the period of research was too short and the sample size too small to gauge clear results and make generalized conclusions, we were still able to gather various interesting insights about the usage of comic books for promoting digital financial awareness in low-income clusters.\n\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_single_image image=\"40014\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#c9213b\" padding_top=\"75\" padding_bottom=\"75\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"FINDINGS\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=\"Characteristics of the sample\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:left|color:%23383b3b|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\"][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Forty-one percent of the sample was male, 59 percent was female and age of the respondents ranged from 14 to 61 years. More than half of the respondents had studied till class10. While almost 76 percent claimed to have bank accounts, only 41 percent had ATM cards and, even among those with ATM cards, 35 percent had been unsuccessful in generating an ATM pin. Thirty percent of the sample did not have access to smartphones or the internet which prevented them from accessing new digital payments services such as UPI. It was surprising to find that more than 80 percent of the respondents did not use an ATM card and less than 30 percent was actively making transactions using any digital method of payment. Awareness about UPI and other online method of payments was low and 47 percent claimed to have no knowledge whatsoever. Even among those who did, awareness was restricted to the benefits of using digital payment methods and a very small percentage was aware about usage of UPI-based apps.\n\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"Insights\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:left|color:%23383b3b|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\"][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Most people claimed to have easily understood the comic book and its contents. Those who didn’t were either illiterate or not involved in the process of making transactions from their bank accounts (someone else in the family was doing it for them). While the response was less positive among the elderly population, the comic books were fairly well received by school and college students, working youth and middle-aged people.\n\nThe respondents involved in the feedback exercise seemed to show a significant increase in their awareness of UPI. The majority claimed to have learnt about multiple topics such as benefits of digital payments, registration and usage of UPI due to the comic’s interactive and illustrative approach. Eighty eight percent of the sample said that they enjoyed reading the comic book and went through the entire document because of its ‘fun to read’ nature; almost half of the sample found it easy to read and follow. Children and youth, in particular, seemed to find the stories really interesting. Comic books, therefore, may be a successful way of reaching out to them especially while dealing with a serious topic such as financial inclusion.\n\nWe also received suggestions on the importance of using highly simplified language and short sentences in the comics. Featuring a higher number of illustrations and pictures and minimal text is important while communicating information on complex topics such as new financial services. Further, elucidating each and every single step for registering/making transactions is essential even if it results in a lengthier comic as it increases the chances of people taking action after reading the collateral.\n\nLastly, in communities such as Bhatta Basti where there are low levels of financial awareness and independence, comic books may be a costeffective solution for increasing adoption of digital payments. However, it is important to pinpoint the stage at which people are in their user journeys. Instead of creating and distributing comic books uniformly across the entire population, it may be more beneficial to customize these collaterals in such a way so that people at different stages of the user journey spectrum are able to use them to proceed step by step to the next level.\n\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][kleo_button title=\"Download full report\" href=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Comic-learning-note-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" position=\"center\" size=\"lg\" type=\"boxed-icon\" special=\"no\" icon=\"download\" font_size=\"14px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"pkirbtn\" icon_custom_background=\"#d11e3c\" icon_custom_text=\"#ffffff\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=\"footer_area\" text_align=\"center\" type=\"image\" bg_position_horizontal=\"center\" enable_parallax=\"false\" padding_top=\"50px\" padding_bottom=\"50px\" bg_image=\"7886\"][vc_column width=\"1/4\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/2\" offset=\"vc_col-lg-offset-0 vc_col-md-offset-0 vc_col-sm-offset-0\"][vc_single_image image=\"7888\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#ffffff\" font_size=\"14px\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1484826151396{margin-top: 35px !important;margin-bottom: 5px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;}\"]\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">CATALYST is an initiative seeded by an alliance between the Government of India &amp; USAID, to expand digital payments and financial inclusion in India, especially for small merchants and low-income consumers.</p>\n\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_gap][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1484051069491{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}\"]\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">[email-newsletter-plugin]</p>\n\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_icon icon=\"facebook\" href=\"https://www.facebook.com/CashlessCatalyst/\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"linkedin\" href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/company/13221050?trk=tyah&amp;trkInfo=clickedVertical%3Acompany%2CclickedEntityId%3A13221050%2Cidx%3A2-1-2%2CtarId%3A1476420479247%2Ctas%3Acashless%20catalyst\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"twitter\" href=\"https://twitter.com/cashlesscatalys\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"youtube-play\" href=\"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChuc38_PfawDOu44IfYS4lw\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/4\"][/vc_column][/vc_row]', 'USING COMIC BOOKS TO INCREASE DIGITAL FINANCIAL CAPABILITIES IN LOW-INCOME CLUSTERS', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '39971-autosave-v1', '', '', '2019-01-15 13:12:18', '2019-01-15 13:12:18', '', 39971, 'https://cashlesscatalyst.org/media/39971-autosave-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(39988, 12, '2019-01-15 08:05:14', '2019-01-15 08:05:14', '[vc_row equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\" type=\"image\" enable_parallax=\"false\" parallax_speed=\"0.4\" padding_top=\"110\" padding_bottom=\"0\" bg_image=\"39430\"][vc_column][kleo_gap size=\"100px\"][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"2/3\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"USING COMIC BOOKS TO INCREASE DIGITAL FINANCIAL CAPABILITIES IN LOW-INCOME CLUSTERS\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:48px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:54px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][kleo_gap size=\"140px\"][kleo_gap size=\"50px\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\" padding_bottom=\"0\"][vc_column width=\"1/2\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/2\"][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner width=\"5/12\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/3\" css=\".vc_custom_1488531456733{padding-right: 0px !important;}\"][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"][addtoany][/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\" css=\".vc_custom_1488531444909{padding-left: 0px !important;}\"][kleo_button title=\"Print this page\" href=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/CH-Learning-Note-v2.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"custom\" position=\"left\" size=\"lg\" special=\"no\" border=\"no\" icon=\"print\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"grey-icon\" custom_text=\"#d11e3c\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=\"INTRODUCTION\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:left|color:%23383b3b|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][vc_row_inner css=\".vc_custom_1537456868816{margin-bottom: 35px !important;}\"][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]The 2011 Census of India reports a total of 65.49 million slum inhabitants living in 13.92 million households in India. Although India’s urban population has an estimated total of 33,510 slums, great variability exists in legal status, deprivation, living condition, type of structure, etc. The inhabitants of these slums are the urban poor and remain outside the ambit of formal finance. Conventional finance so far has not been able to serve this last mile, keeping them excluded from the financial system. Uptake of digital payments can greatly benefit these last mile consumers by facilitating faster and simpler financial transactions, thereby connecting them to formal financial channels. Recognizing this potential, CATALYST launched its pilot project in Bhatta Basti, an urban slum located on the outskirts of Jaipur city, Rajasthan. A migrant settlement with a population of 45,000 people and 1,000 households, it is predominantly a Muslim community where most of the population has low educational achievement.\r\n\r\nOur baseline study in 2017 indicated that digital financial capability of slum dwellers in Bhatta Basti was significantly low. Thus, CATALYST experimented with a range of collaterals to promote digital financial inclusion in Bhatta Basti and attempted to understand people’s attitude and perceptions towards each of these media. One such attempt involved using illustrated comic books to spread awareness and encourage adoption of digital payment solutions among people. Past research in the field had indicated that comic books may be a successful medium for sensitization on a range of\r\nissues because they appeal to people from various age groups. A study on digital financial inclusion conducted by Institute for Financial Management and Research -Leveraging Evidence for Access and Development (IFMR LEAD) in Mumbai’s Dharavi slums in 2012 used comic books for disseminating important information. The learnings from this study helped us in establishing important guidelines for designing our comics and their stories.\r\n\r\nA significant learning from the Dharavi study was that it is important to customize the comic books to the target audience. Use of characters and scenarios similar to those seen by the target audience every day is crucial to enable them to form a connection between issues they face and benefits of adopting digital payments. There exists a huge gap in awareness and access to financial services between men and women in low-income clusters and using women as protagonists in the stories may be more effective to reach out and impact women in lowincome clusters.\r\n\r\nUsing this learning as a guideline, we created and distributed three comic books over the course of three months: one on Automated Teller Machine\r\n(ATM) pin generation; one on Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS); and one on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payments. The comic books\r\non ATM pin generation and AEPS had women as the main characters while the one on UPI payments had male protagonists.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_color=\"#c9213b\" enable_parallax=\"false\" padding_top=\"150\" padding_bottom=\"150\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\" bg_image=\"39439\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"1. ATM PIN GENERATION\r\n\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style \"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<p>Our primary research in Bhatta Basti indicated that there existed a huge information gap related to the importance and correct usage of ATM cards. Many\r\npeople who had received ATM cards from the banks were unaware of how to generate an ATM pin and how to use the card to withdraw money. Further, people in this community had various misconceptions regarding the safety of ATM cards; they had been victims of various frauds due to which they lacked trust in digital payment platforms. Thus, we decided to provide a detailed explanation on how to generate an ATM pin and keep the account safe in our first comic book. We created two versions: one for men and one for women. Insights from the Dharavi study indicated that women tend to relate more to a story when female protagonists are used. Since women were a major section of our target audience, we decided to create two versions. A sample of what the “ATM Pin Generation” comic looked like is provided below:</p>[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/2\"][vc_single_image image=\"39622\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/2\"][vc_single_image image=\"39622\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#373b3c\" padding_top=\"75\" padding_bottom=\"75\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"RECOMMENDATIONS\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\"][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<strong>Need for a local presence: </strong>An implementation challenge that needs to be addressed in order to iterate on the pilot experiment and help it succeed is decreasing the time lags between the first point of contact to in-person onboarding with the card swipe machine and the loan. To avoid such operational delays, it is advisable to work with a local company with a greater field presence than with a well-known company based out of another metropolis but with little field support, as was the case during this pilot. Otherwise, the card swipe company/loan company should partner with a channel partner that should be assigned locally to cover the high customer acquisition cost which must be incurred (by default) for wider reach and larger impact among the segment of merchants who are new to digital payment usage.\r\n\r\n<strong>Lower cost of product:</strong> If such loans could get priority sector lending status, obtaining funds would be easier for an NBFC, making access to credit easier and cheaper.\r\n\r\n<strong>Alternate digital payment solutions:</strong> Current credit products are more inclined towards PoS machine uptake and usage. However, given the rise in use of other digital payment modes such as Unified Payments Interface (UPI), e-wallets and other Aadhaar-based solutions could lead to faster and cheaper adoption among merchants.\r\n\r\n<strong>Simple product structure:</strong> As the pilot results suggest, clearly informing the merchants of the exact qualifying factors for incremental loans will help develop higher trust and better customer relationships for a credit-builder model.\r\n\r\n<strong>Provide digital training and awareness:</strong> Multiple field visits and available data on awareness of credit history or usage of digital payments suggest that small fixed store merchants need substantial handholding, training and awareness to understand fundamental financial concepts, the importance of formal loans, and use of credit history. The experiment results suggest that the small merchants would be better off with expert handholding support and training from their first point of contact, as they would be without operational delays. Further, digital training and awareness building must extend to consumers who shop at these merchant locations, since customer demand is a huge driver in merchant acceptance of digital solutions.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#c9213b\" padding_top=\"75\" padding_bottom=\"75\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"CONCLUSION\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\"][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Credit can potentially act as a hook for usage of digital solutions, provided the effective costs are lower compared to credit from informal sources, and access is speedier. Merchants also need to be provided information on the clear pathway on increase in credit as they continue using the digital facilities. Lenders and payment service providers must present a unified front and offer a superior customer experience to the merchants. Lastly, acceptance of new payment solutions requires end customers to be sensitized equally[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #da092b;\">TECHNICAL WRITERS:</span> John Arun and Shubhranka Mondal</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #da092b;\">ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:</span> The authors would like to thank Jayshree Venkatesan for her expert advice, and CATALYST’s Feet on Street team, for their ground support</p>\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_button title=\"Download full report\" href=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/CH-Learning-Note-v2.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" position=\"center\" size=\"lg\" type=\"boxed-icon\" special=\"no\" icon=\"download\" font_size=\"14px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"pkirbtn\" icon_custom_background=\"#d11e3c\" icon_custom_text=\"#ffffff\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=\"footer_area\" text_align=\"center\" type=\"image\" bg_position_horizontal=\"center\" enable_parallax=\"false\" padding_top=\"50px\" padding_bottom=\"50px\" bg_image=\"7886\"][vc_column width=\"1/4\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/2\" offset=\"vc_col-lg-offset-0 vc_col-md-offset-0 vc_col-sm-offset-0\"][vc_single_image image=\"7888\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#ffffff\" font_size=\"14px\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1484826151396{margin-top: 35px !important;margin-bottom: 5px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;}\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">CATALYST is an initiative seeded by an alliance between the Government of India &amp; USAID, to expand digital payments and financial inclusion in India, especially for small merchants and low-income consumers.</p>\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_gap][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1484051069491{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">[email-newsletter-plugin]</p>\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_icon icon=\"facebook\" href=\"https://www.facebook.com/CashlessCatalyst/\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"linkedin\" href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/company/13221050?trk=tyah&amp;trkInfo=clickedVertical%3Acompany%2CclickedEntityId%3A13221050%2Cidx%3A2-1-2%2CtarId%3A1476420479247%2Ctas%3Acashless%20catalyst\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"twitter\" href=\"https://twitter.com/cashlesscatalys\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"youtube-play\" href=\"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChuc38_PfawDOu44IfYS4lw\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/4\"][/vc_column][/vc_row]', 'USING COMIC BOOKS TO INCREASE DIGITAL FINANCIAL CAPABILITIES IN LOW-INCOME CLUSTERS', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '39971-revision-v1', '', '', '2019-01-15 08:05:14', '2019-01-15 08:05:14', '', 39971, 'https://cashlesscatalyst.org/media/39971-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0);
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(39986, 12, '2019-01-15 08:02:27', '2019-01-15 08:02:27', '[vc_row equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\" type=\"image\" enable_parallax=\"false\" parallax_speed=\"0.4\" padding_top=\"110\" padding_bottom=\"0\" bg_image=\"39430\"][vc_column][kleo_gap size=\"100px\"][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"2/3\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"USING COMIC BOOKS TO INCREASE DIGITAL FINANCIAL CAPABILITIES IN LOW-INCOME CLUSTERS\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:48px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:54px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][kleo_gap size=\"140px\"][kleo_gap size=\"50px\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\" padding_bottom=\"0\"][vc_column width=\"1/2\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/2\"][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner width=\"5/12\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/3\" css=\".vc_custom_1488531456733{padding-right: 0px !important;}\"][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"][addtoany][/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\" css=\".vc_custom_1488531444909{padding-left: 0px !important;}\"][kleo_button title=\"Print this page\" href=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/CH-Learning-Note-v2.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"custom\" position=\"left\" size=\"lg\" special=\"no\" border=\"no\" icon=\"print\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"grey-icon\" custom_text=\"#d11e3c\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=\"INTRODUCTION\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:left|color:%23383b3b|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][vc_row_inner css=\".vc_custom_1537456868816{margin-bottom: 35px !important;}\"][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]The 2011 Census of India reports a total of 65.49 million slum inhabitants living in 13.92 million households in India. Although India’s urban population has an estimated total of 33,510 slums, great variability exists in legal status, deprivation, living condition, type of structure, etc. The inhabitants of these slums are the urban poor and remain outside the ambit of formal finance. Conventional finance so far has not been able to serve this last mile, keeping them excluded from the financial system. Uptake of digital payments can greatly benefit these last mile consumers by facilitating faster and simpler financial transactions, thereby connecting them to formal financial channels. Recognizing this potential, CATALYST launched its pilot project in Bhatta Basti, an urban slum located on the outskirts of Jaipur city, Rajasthan. A migrant settlement with a population of 45,000 people and 1,000 households, it is predominantly a Muslim community where most of the population has low educational achievement.\r\n\r\nOur baseline study in 2017 indicated that digital financial capability of slum dwellers in Bhatta Basti was significantly low. Thus, CATALYST experimented with a range of collaterals to promote digital financial inclusion in Bhatta Basti and attempted to understand people’s attitude and perceptions towards each of these media. One such attempt involved using illustrated comic books to spread awareness and encourage adoption of digital payment solutions among people. Past research in the field had indicated that comic books may be a successful medium for sensitization on a range of\r\nissues because they appeal to people from various age groups. A study on digital financial inclusion conducted by Institute for Financial Management and Research -Leveraging Evidence for Access and Development (IFMR LEAD) in Mumbai’s Dharavi slums in 2012 used comic books for disseminating important information. The learnings from this study helped us in establishing important guidelines for designing our comics and their stories.\r\n\r\nA significant learning from the Dharavi study was that it is important to customize the comic books to the target audience. Use of characters and scenarios similar to those seen by the target audience every day is crucial to enable them to form a connection between issues they face and benefits of adopting digital payments. There exists a huge gap in awareness and access to financial services between men and women in low-income clusters and using women as protagonists in the stories may be more effective to reach out and impact women in lowincome clusters.\r\n\r\nUsing this learning as a guideline, we created and distributed three comic books over the course of three months: one on Automated Teller Machine\r\n(ATM) pin generation; one on Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS); and one on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payments. The comic books\r\non ATM pin generation and AEPS had women as the main characters while the one on UPI payments had male protagonists.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_color=\"#c9213b\" enable_parallax=\"false\" padding_top=\"150\" padding_bottom=\"150\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\" bg_image=\"39439\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"MERCHANTS’ PERCEPTION ON THE BUNDLED PRODUCT\r\n\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style \"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Perceived vs. real interest in loan: When offered the bundled product of payment device and credit, 25 merchants showed initial interest solely in accessing the loan during their first interaction with the CATALYST FoS team. However, 24 had changed their minds when the lender’s agent approached them after a week, perhaps because merchants are always interested in understanding options for credit but may not avail of it even if they express an interest initially.\r\n\r\nOne merchant who agreed to try the combination of a PoS device and loan had a fixed cloth store in Shastri Nagar market. He wanted a loan of INR 1-2 lakhs. Unfortunately, the request was denied since his residence was located outside the serviceable area set by the lender. This fact was discovered after the processing was done, and resulted in a poor customer experience for the merchant.\r\n\r\n<strong>Why was there a low uptake? </strong>\r\n\r\nThe experiment shows that while there was individual adoption of the card swipe machines, there was little uptake of the bundled product. Technology did seamlessly bind the products together but the communication to merchants was often unclear and did not explain how payment device usage would help them get a loan of higher amount in the future. The reasons this product could not cater to customer expectations or improve customer experience as expected are:\r\n\r\n<strong>Loan structure:</strong> While the lender assured the merchants of a credit-build-up model, the merchants were keen to understand the exact qualifiers for the build-up process, i.e., number and/or value of transactions required to qualify for the next tranche of loans. Additionally, they wanted to know by what percentage the loan amount could grow through increased usage of digital transactions. None of this information was provided to merchants since the lender had not yet thought it through. The product’s value proposition stated in one line by the lender as ‘enhanced loan size for incremental usage of digital payments’ failed to gain the merchants’ trust.\r\n\r\n<strong>Single interface for credit and digital payments:</strong> During the CATALYST pilot, the lending company and the digital payment solution company used two separate applications to onboard customers. For the merchants who saw the two as a single product, it was important for the digital payment solution provider and the lending partner to integrate their solution into one single application for simplicity and usage. The existing process offered poor customer experience because filling out two applications is a time-consuming process.\r\n\r\n<strong>Large time lags:</strong> Loan disbursal followed a lengthy process, i.e., lead generation by field agents (CATALYST FoS team) from an initial interaction, followed by a calling exercise by the credit assessor and then a site verification. This long time period between initial contact and disbursement was a pain point. Additionally, there were delays in disbursing the card swipe machine. Partnering with an early stage startup for PoS machines led to a resource crunch, which resulted in operational delays. The time lag between initial lead generation and delivery of the machine ranged from 15-20 days which was too long a time to retain interest.\r\n\r\n<strong>High cost of on boarding:</strong> The loan offer had a customer onboarding cost plus GST that hiked up the existing rates of interest by 3 to 4 percent so the lending interest rate worked out to be around 30 percent annually. These nuanced details deterred many of the merchants to finally take up the loan despite having shown an initial interest in the loan product.\r\n\r\n<strong>Short tenure of the pilot:</strong> Lastly, one must note that three or four months is too short a time to launch and iterate on a product bundle that includes a loan repayment timeline of nine to 36 months. To understand access and usage of repeat loans, the pilot experiment should essentially be of a much longer tenure.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/2\"][vc_single_image image=\"39622\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/2\"][vc_single_image image=\"39622\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#373b3c\" padding_top=\"75\" padding_bottom=\"75\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"RECOMMENDATIONS\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\"][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<strong>Need for a local presence: </strong>An implementation challenge that needs to be addressed in order to iterate on the pilot experiment and help it succeed is decreasing the time lags between the first point of contact to in-person onboarding with the card swipe machine and the loan. To avoid such operational delays, it is advisable to work with a local company with a greater field presence than with a well-known company based out of another metropolis but with little field support, as was the case during this pilot. Otherwise, the card swipe company/loan company should partner with a channel partner that should be assigned locally to cover the high customer acquisition cost which must be incurred (by default) for wider reach and larger impact among the segment of merchants who are new to digital payment usage.\r\n\r\n<strong>Lower cost of product:</strong> If such loans could get priority sector lending status, obtaining funds would be easier for an NBFC, making access to credit easier and cheaper.\r\n\r\n<strong>Alternate digital payment solutions:</strong> Current credit products are more inclined towards PoS machine uptake and usage. However, given the rise in use of other digital payment modes such as Unified Payments Interface (UPI), e-wallets and other Aadhaar-based solutions could lead to faster and cheaper adoption among merchants.\r\n\r\n<strong>Simple product structure:</strong> As the pilot results suggest, clearly informing the merchants of the exact qualifying factors for incremental loans will help develop higher trust and better customer relationships for a credit-builder model.\r\n\r\n<strong>Provide digital training and awareness:</strong> Multiple field visits and available data on awareness of credit history or usage of digital payments suggest that small fixed store merchants need substantial handholding, training and awareness to understand fundamental financial concepts, the importance of formal loans, and use of credit history. The experiment results suggest that the small merchants would be better off with expert handholding support and training from their first point of contact, as they would be without operational delays. Further, digital training and awareness building must extend to consumers who shop at these merchant locations, since customer demand is a huge driver in merchant acceptance of digital solutions.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#c9213b\" padding_top=\"75\" padding_bottom=\"75\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"CONCLUSION\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\"][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Credit can potentially act as a hook for usage of digital solutions, provided the effective costs are lower compared to credit from informal sources, and access is speedier. Merchants also need to be provided information on the clear pathway on increase in credit as they continue using the digital facilities. Lenders and payment service providers must present a unified front and offer a superior customer experience to the merchants. Lastly, acceptance of new payment solutions requires end customers to be sensitized equally[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #da092b;\">TECHNICAL WRITERS:</span> John Arun and Shubhranka Mondal</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #da092b;\">ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:</span> The authors would like to thank Jayshree Venkatesan for her expert advice, and CATALYST’s Feet on Street team, for their ground support</p>\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_button title=\"Download full report\" href=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/CH-Learning-Note-v2.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" position=\"center\" size=\"lg\" type=\"boxed-icon\" special=\"no\" icon=\"download\" font_size=\"14px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"pkirbtn\" icon_custom_background=\"#d11e3c\" icon_custom_text=\"#ffffff\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=\"footer_area\" text_align=\"center\" type=\"image\" bg_position_horizontal=\"center\" enable_parallax=\"false\" padding_top=\"50px\" padding_bottom=\"50px\" bg_image=\"7886\"][vc_column width=\"1/4\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/2\" offset=\"vc_col-lg-offset-0 vc_col-md-offset-0 vc_col-sm-offset-0\"][vc_single_image image=\"7888\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#ffffff\" font_size=\"14px\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1484826151396{margin-top: 35px !important;margin-bottom: 5px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;}\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">CATALYST is an initiative seeded by an alliance between the Government of India &amp; USAID, to expand digital payments and financial inclusion in India, especially for small merchants and low-income consumers.</p>\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_gap][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1484051069491{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">[email-newsletter-plugin]</p>\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_icon icon=\"facebook\" href=\"https://www.facebook.com/CashlessCatalyst/\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"linkedin\" href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/company/13221050?trk=tyah&amp;trkInfo=clickedVertical%3Acompany%2CclickedEntityId%3A13221050%2Cidx%3A2-1-2%2CtarId%3A1476420479247%2Ctas%3Acashless%20catalyst\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"twitter\" href=\"https://twitter.com/cashlesscatalys\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"youtube-play\" href=\"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChuc38_PfawDOu44IfYS4lw\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/4\"][/vc_column][/vc_row]', 'USING COMIC BOOKS TO INCREASE DIGITAL FINANCIAL CAPABILITIES IN LOW-INCOME CLUSTERS', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '39971-revision-v1', '', '', '2019-01-15 08:02:27', '2019-01-15 08:02:27', '', 39971, 'https://cashlesscatalyst.org/media/39971-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(39977, 12, '2019-01-15 07:30:29', '2019-01-15 07:30:29', '[vc_row equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\" type=\"image\" enable_parallax=\"false\" parallax_speed=\"0.4\" padding_top=\"110\" padding_bottom=\"0\" bg_image=\"39430\"][vc_column][kleo_gap size=\"100px\"][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"2/3\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"USING COMIC BOOKS TO INCREASE DIGITAL FINANCIAL CAPABILITIES IN LOW-INCOME CLUSTERS\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:48px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:54px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][kleo_gap size=\"140px\"][kleo_gap size=\"50px\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\" padding_bottom=\"0\"][vc_column width=\"1/2\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/2\"][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner width=\"5/12\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/3\" css=\".vc_custom_1488531456733{padding-right: 0px !important;}\"][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"][addtoany][/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\" css=\".vc_custom_1488531444909{padding-left: 0px !important;}\"][kleo_button title=\"Print this page\" href=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/CH-Learning-Note-v2.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"custom\" position=\"left\" size=\"lg\" special=\"no\" border=\"no\" icon=\"print\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"grey-icon\" custom_text=\"#d11e3c\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=\"INTRODUCTION\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:left|color:%23383b3b|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][vc_row_inner css=\".vc_custom_1537456868816{margin-bottom: 35px !important;}\"][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<p>The 2011 Census of India reports a total of 65.49 million slum inhabitants living in 13.92 million households in India. Although India’s urban population has an estimated total of 33,510 slums, great variability exists in legal status, deprivation, living condition, type of structure, etc. The inhabitants of these slums are the urban poor and remain outside the ambit of formal finance. Conventional finance so far has not been able to serve this last mile, keeping them excluded from the financial system. Uptake of digital payments can greatly benefit these last mile consumers by facilitating faster and simpler financial transactions, thereby connecting them to formal financial channels. Recognizing this potential, CATALYST launched its pilot project in Bhatta Basti, an urban slum located on the outskirts of Jaipur city, Rajasthan. A migrant settlement with a population of 45,000 people and 1,000 households, it is predominantly a Muslim community where most of the population has low educational achievement.</p>\r\n<p>Our baseline study in 2017 indicated that digital financial capability of slum dwellers in Bhatta Basti was significantly low. Thus, CATALYST experimented with a range of collaterals to promote digital financial inclusion in Bhatta Basti and attempted to understand people’s attitude and perceptions towards each of these media. One such attempt involved using illustrated comic books to spread awareness and encourage adoption of digital payment solutions among people. Past research in the field had indicated that comic books may be a successful medium for sensitization on a range of\r\nissues because they appeal to people from various age groups. A study on digital financial inclusion conducted by Institute for Financial Management and Research -Leveraging Evidence for Access and Development (IFMR LEAD) in Mumbai’s Dharavi slums in 2012 used comic books for disseminating important information. The learnings from this study helped us in establishing important guidelines for designing our comics and their stories.</p>\r\n<p>A significant learning from the Dharavi study was that it is important to customize the comic books to the target audience. Use of characters and scenarios similar to those seen by the target audience every day is crucial to enable them to form a connection between issues they face and benefits of adopting digital payments. There exists a huge gap in awareness and access to financial services between men and women in low-income clusters and using women as protagonists in the stories may be more effective to reach out and impact women in lowincome clusters.</p>\r\n<p>Using this learning as a guideline, we created and distributed three comic books over the course of three months: one on Automated Teller Machine<br />\r\n(ATM) pin generation; one on Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS); and one on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payments. The comic books<br />\r\non ATM pin generation and AEPS had women as the main characters while the one on UPI payments had male protagonists.</p>\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_position_horizontal=\"center\" enable_parallax=\"false\" parallax_speed=\"0.4\" padding_top=\"150\" padding_bottom=\"150\" bg_image=\"39431\"][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=\"INSIGHTS FROM THE PILOT\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Testing the hypothesis involved bringing together a payment provider and a lender — a role that was played by CATALYST. For the pilot, CATALYST partnered with Nupay, a Point of Sale (PoS) device or card swipe machine provider and an early stage startup, and Capital First, a Non Banking Financial Company (NBFC), which agreed to provide term loans to fixed store merchants in Jaipur. The combination of a payment device and loan was offered as a bundle, with the intention of testing the extent to which credit can act as a ‘hook’ to adopt and use digital payments. This combination was created for the purpose of the pilot alone since lenders are unclear of the risks involved in offering a small amount of credit, no matter how small, before they can establish credit history based on transactions on the device provided. Since the combination of partners was arranged by CATALYST for the pilot, CATALYST also had to provide a set of Feet on Street (FoS) for on-the-ground support to roll out the services. The FoS team, trained by CATALYST, provided support in marketing and customer acquisition.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong>Product bundle: Capital First and Nupay, a term loan with a card swipe machine</strong>\r\n\r\nProduct bundle details: Capital First (the lender) agreed to provide loans of a ticket size of INR 25,000 to INR 5 lakh at an interest rate of 18 percent to 24 percent annually for a tenure of nine months to 36 months, depending on the ticket size and repayment capacity.\r\n\r\nNupay’s card swipe machine had a monthly rental of INR 350 (~ US$5) plus 18 percent Goods and Service Tax (GST), which was also to be paid by merchants. The lender agreed that merchants would be considered for an incremental loan based on their repayment history observed in the first tranche of the loan, and their digital transaction footprint.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong>Project roll-out and findings: digital payment adoption vs. non-adoption</strong>\r\n\r\nDuring the pilot, CATALYST reached out to 409 fixed store merchants across six major markets in Jaipur (Shastri Nagar, Sodala, Durgapura, Khatirpura, Jhotwara and Bani Park).<sup>9</sup> These stores have been in business for an average of 10 years and had a median monthly revenue of INR 45,000. Most stores (99 percent) were owned by men; 87 percent was sole proprietorships while a smaller group (13 percent) was managed jointly with other family members. Sixty-five of them were already using a PoS or a card swipe machine and the remaining 344 merchants were given a demo on using a new PoS machine with the help of CATALYST’s FoS team.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=\"39426\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#757c74\" font_size=\"14px\" letter_spacing=\"\"]<em><sup>9</sup>This data set is separate from the earlier CNAS data. With a time lag of eight months, it is often difficult to work with earlier data sets. So, 490 new fixed stores were chosen from six new markets in Jaipur</em>[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner css=\".vc_custom_1537937440359{padding-top: 30px !important;}\"][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<strong>Key results from the experiment were:</strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>There were eight fixed store merchants who had never used a card swipe machine but eventually adopted digital payment solutions after being trained on card swipe usage by the CATALYST FoS team.</li>\r\n	<li>The primary reason for adoption was that it would allow them to service a broader customer segment that used (debit/credit) cards to make payments. In other words, the ability to serve a specific customer segment that was familiar with digital solutions was a key driver. This would also result in new customer acquisition over a period of time.</li>\r\n	<li>Among the merchants who refused to use or adopt a PoS machine, the dominant reason for nonadoption was the absence of customer demand (62 percent, Figure 1). These merchants were unwilling to act as enablers to train customers in using a new digital solution. If the customers asked for the service, they were happy to provide it.</li>\r\n	<li>The remaining 10 percent (Figure 1) reported the inherent cash stickiness of their business as a major deterrent. Another 2 percent (Figure 1) cited the cost of the machine as a major barrier to accepting digital payments.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=\"39433\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<em>Note: From top right: existing loan usage, source of loan, purpose of loans and awareness about CIBIL scores of 18 merchants who agreed to reveal information about a prior loan.</em>[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]While most merchants who were part of the pilot preferred not to share their current loan practices, those who revealed that they had availed a loan (18 out of 409) had done so from a formal source. Fourteen of the 18 were also aware of their credit score (CIBIL) and its related impact on their credit eligibility.\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>Only 18 fixed store merchants (4 percent) with an average monthly revenue of INR 90,000 (double the population median of INR 45,000) reported that they had availed of a loan in the past.</li>\r\n	<li>The average tenure of the loans was two to three years; 17 merchants sourced the loan from banks and one from a Micro Finance Institution (MFI);</li>\r\n	<li>The purpose for which loans were taken varied from business expansion (10 merchants), household requirements (four merchants) to health emergencies (one merchant). Utility loans such as for two wheelers (three merchants) formed another major category of reasons for taking loans; and</li>\r\n	<li>The ticket size of the loans taken by the merchants varied from INR 40,000 to INR 9 lakhs.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_color=\"#c9213b\" enable_parallax=\"false\" padding_top=\"150\" padding_bottom=\"150\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\" bg_image=\"39439\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"MERCHANTS’ PERCEPTION ON THE BUNDLED PRODUCT\r\n\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style \"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Perceived vs. real interest in loan: When offered the bundled product of payment device and credit, 25 merchants showed initial interest solely in accessing the loan during their first interaction with the CATALYST FoS team. However, 24 had changed their minds when the lender’s agent approached them after a week, perhaps because merchants are always interested in understanding options for credit but may not avail of it even if they express an interest initially.\r\n\r\nOne merchant who agreed to try the combination of a PoS device and loan had a fixed cloth store in Shastri Nagar market. He wanted a loan of INR 1-2 lakhs. Unfortunately, the request was denied since his residence was located outside the serviceable area set by the lender. This fact was discovered after the processing was done, and resulted in a poor customer experience for the merchant.\r\n\r\n<strong>Why was there a low uptake? </strong>\r\n\r\nThe experiment shows that while there was individual adoption of the card swipe machines, there was little uptake of the bundled product. Technology did seamlessly bind the products together but the communication to merchants was often unclear and did not explain how payment device usage would help them get a loan of higher amount in the future. The reasons this product could not cater to customer expectations or improve customer experience as expected are:\r\n\r\n<strong>Loan structure:</strong> While the lender assured the merchants of a credit-build-up model, the merchants were keen to understand the exact qualifiers for the build-up process, i.e., number and/or value of transactions required to qualify for the next tranche of loans. Additionally, they wanted to know by what percentage the loan amount could grow through increased usage of digital transactions. None of this information was provided to merchants since the lender had not yet thought it through. The product’s value proposition stated in one line by the lender as ‘enhanced loan size for incremental usage of digital payments’ failed to gain the merchants’ trust.\r\n\r\n<strong>Single interface for credit and digital payments:</strong> During the CATALYST pilot, the lending company and the digital payment solution company used two separate applications to onboard customers. For the merchants who saw the two as a single product, it was important for the digital payment solution provider and the lending partner to integrate their solution into one single application for simplicity and usage. The existing process offered poor customer experience because filling out two applications is a time-consuming process.\r\n\r\n<strong>Large time lags:</strong> Loan disbursal followed a lengthy process, i.e., lead generation by field agents (CATALYST FoS team) from an initial interaction, followed by a calling exercise by the credit assessor and then a site verification. This long time period between initial contact and disbursement was a pain point. Additionally, there were delays in disbursing the card swipe machine. Partnering with an early stage startup for PoS machines led to a resource crunch, which resulted in operational delays. The time lag between initial lead generation and delivery of the machine ranged from 15-20 days which was too long a time to retain interest.\r\n\r\n<strong>High cost of on boarding:</strong> The loan offer had a customer onboarding cost plus GST that hiked up the existing rates of interest by 3 to 4 percent so the lending interest rate worked out to be around 30 percent annually. These nuanced details deterred many of the merchants to finally take up the loan despite having shown an initial interest in the loan product.\r\n\r\n<strong>Short tenure of the pilot:</strong> Lastly, one must note that three or four months is too short a time to launch and iterate on a product bundle that includes a loan repayment timeline of nine to 36 months. To understand access and usage of repeat loans, the pilot experiment should essentially be of a much longer tenure.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#373b3c\" padding_top=\"75\" padding_bottom=\"75\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"RECOMMENDATIONS\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\"][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<strong>Need for a local presence: </strong>An implementation challenge that needs to be addressed in order to iterate on the pilot experiment and help it succeed is decreasing the time lags between the first point of contact to in-person onboarding with the card swipe machine and the loan. To avoid such operational delays, it is advisable to work with a local company with a greater field presence than with a well-known company based out of another metropolis but with little field support, as was the case during this pilot. Otherwise, the card swipe company/loan company should partner with a channel partner that should be assigned locally to cover the high customer acquisition cost which must be incurred (by default) for wider reach and larger impact among the segment of merchants who are new to digital payment usage.\r\n\r\n<strong>Lower cost of product:</strong> If such loans could get priority sector lending status, obtaining funds would be easier for an NBFC, making access to credit easier and cheaper.\r\n\r\n<strong>Alternate digital payment solutions:</strong> Current credit products are more inclined towards PoS machine uptake and usage. However, given the rise in use of other digital payment modes such as Unified Payments Interface (UPI), e-wallets and other Aadhaar-based solutions could lead to faster and cheaper adoption among merchants.\r\n\r\n<strong>Simple product structure:</strong> As the pilot results suggest, clearly informing the merchants of the exact qualifying factors for incremental loans will help develop higher trust and better customer relationships for a credit-builder model.\r\n\r\n<strong>Provide digital training and awareness:</strong> Multiple field visits and available data on awareness of credit history or usage of digital payments suggest that small fixed store merchants need substantial handholding, training and awareness to understand fundamental financial concepts, the importance of formal loans, and use of credit history. The experiment results suggest that the small merchants would be better off with expert handholding support and training from their first point of contact, as they would be without operational delays. Further, digital training and awareness building must extend to consumers who shop at these merchant locations, since customer demand is a huge driver in merchant acceptance of digital solutions.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#c9213b\" padding_top=\"75\" padding_bottom=\"75\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"CONCLUSION\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\"][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Credit can potentially act as a hook for usage of digital solutions, provided the effective costs are lower compared to credit from informal sources, and access is speedier. Merchants also need to be provided information on the clear pathway on increase in credit as they continue using the digital facilities. Lenders and payment service providers must present a unified front and offer a superior customer experience to the merchants. Lastly, acceptance of new payment solutions requires end customers to be sensitized equally[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #da092b;\">TECHNICAL WRITERS:</span> John Arun and Shubhranka Mondal</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #da092b;\">ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:</span> The authors would like to thank Jayshree Venkatesan for her expert advice, and CATALYST’s Feet on Street team, for their ground support</p>\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_button title=\"Download full report\" href=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/CH-Learning-Note-v2.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" position=\"center\" size=\"lg\" type=\"boxed-icon\" special=\"no\" icon=\"download\" font_size=\"14px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"pkirbtn\" icon_custom_background=\"#d11e3c\" icon_custom_text=\"#ffffff\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=\"footer_area\" text_align=\"center\" type=\"image\" bg_position_horizontal=\"center\" enable_parallax=\"false\" padding_top=\"50px\" padding_bottom=\"50px\" bg_image=\"7886\"][vc_column width=\"1/4\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/2\" offset=\"vc_col-lg-offset-0 vc_col-md-offset-0 vc_col-sm-offset-0\"][vc_single_image image=\"7888\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#ffffff\" font_size=\"14px\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1484826151396{margin-top: 35px !important;margin-bottom: 5px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;}\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">CATALYST is an initiative seeded by an alliance between the Government of India &amp; USAID, to expand digital payments and financial inclusion in India, especially for small merchants and low-income consumers.</p>\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_gap][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1484051069491{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">[email-newsletter-plugin]</p>\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_icon icon=\"facebook\" href=\"https://www.facebook.com/CashlessCatalyst/\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"linkedin\" href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/company/13221050?trk=tyah&amp;trkInfo=clickedVertical%3Acompany%2CclickedEntityId%3A13221050%2Cidx%3A2-1-2%2CtarId%3A1476420479247%2Ctas%3Acashless%20catalyst\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"twitter\" href=\"https://twitter.com/cashlesscatalys\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"youtube-play\" href=\"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChuc38_PfawDOu44IfYS4lw\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/4\"][/vc_column][/vc_row]', 'USING COMIC BOOKS TO INCREASE DIGITAL FINANCIAL CAPABILITIES IN LOW-INCOME CLUSTERS', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '39971-revision-v1', '', '', '2019-01-15 07:30:29', '2019-01-15 07:30:29', '', 39971, 'https://cashlesscatalyst.org/media/39971-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0);
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(39975, 12, '2019-01-15 07:24:22', '2019-01-15 07:24:22', '[vc_row content_placement=\"middle\" inner_container=\"no\" type=\"image\" bg_position_horizontal=\"center\" padding_top=\"96\" padding_bottom=\"96\" bg_image=\"12155\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_repeat=\"repeat\" bg_attachment=\"true\" enable_parallax=\"false\" padding_bottom=\"0\" bg_image=\"10448\"][vc_column][vc_wp_custommenu nav_menu=\"63\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row equal_height=\"yes\" type=\"image\" bg_repeat=\"repeat\" bg_attachment=\"true\" enable_parallax=\"false\" padding_top=\"30\" padding_left=\"0px\"][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=\"Digitizing low income clusters\" font_container=\"tag:h3|font_size:22px|text_align:left|color:%23d11e3c|line_height:30px\" 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font_container=\"tag:h4|font_size:18px|text_align:left|color:%23040707|line_height:24px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:500%20bold%20regular%3A500%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" link=\"url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashlesscatalyst.org%2Fpromoting-digital-payment-solutions-canopy-stores%2F|||\" el_class=\"lnContainerTitle\" css=\".vc_custom_1545213211200{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Dec, 2018\" font_container=\"tag:p|font_size:14px|text_align:left|color:%23a5a5a5|line_height:22px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1545213666529{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-bottom: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\" css=\".vc_custom_1536558918464{margin-bottom: 10px !important;border-bottom-width: 5px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;border-bottom-color: #d11e3c !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;}\"][vc_single_image image=\"25837\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\" onclick=\"custom_link\" link=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/enroute-lakshya-power-savings-meet-unending-possibilities/\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Enroute Lakshya – Power of savings to meet unending possibilities\" font_container=\"tag:h4|font_size:18px|text_align:left|color:%23040707|line_height:24px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:500%20bold%20regular%3A500%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" link=\"url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashlesscatalyst.org%2Fenroute-lakshya-power-savings-meet-unending-possibilities%2F|||\" el_class=\"lnContainerTitle\" css=\".vc_custom_1543956117052{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Nov, 2018\" font_container=\"tag:p|font_size:14px|text_align:left|color:%23a5a5a5|line_height:22px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1542371801874{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-bottom: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\" css=\".vc_custom_1536558925414{margin-bottom: 10px !important;border-bottom-width: 5px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-bottom-color: #d11e3c !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;}\"][vc_single_image image=\"24541\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\" onclick=\"custom_link\" link=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/gen-next-chit-funds-dusty-dabbas-digital-khaatas/\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Gen-Next Chit Funds — From Dusty Dabbas To Digital Khaatas\" font_container=\"tag:h4|font_size:18px|text_align:left|color:%23040707|line_height:24px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:500%20bold%20regular%3A500%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" link=\"url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashlesscatalyst.org%2Fgen-next-chit-funds-dusty-dabbas-digital-khaatas%2F|||\" el_class=\"lnContainerTitle\" css=\".vc_custom_1543956233996{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Nov, 2018\" font_container=\"tag:p|font_size:14px|text_align:left|color:%23a5a5a5|line_height:22px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1542371809798{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-bottom: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\" css=\".vc_custom_1536933593159{margin-bottom: 10px !important;border-bottom-width: 5px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;border-bottom-color: #d11e3c !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;}\"][vc_single_image image=\"26103\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\" onclick=\"custom_link\" link=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/educating-low-income-clusters-benefits-active-banking-digital-payment-solutions/\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Educating the low-income clusters about benefits of active banking and digital payment solutions\" font_container=\"tag:h4|font_size:18px|text_align:left|color:%23040707|line_height:24px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:500%20bold%20regular%3A500%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" link=\"url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashlesscatalyst.org%2Feducating-low-income-clusters-benefits-active-banking-digital-payment-solutions%2F|||\" el_class=\"lnContainerTitle\" css=\".vc_custom_1536930607494{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Aug, 2018\" font_container=\"tag:p|font_size:14px|text_align:left|color:%23a5a5a5|line_height:22px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1536930566724{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-bottom: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator css=\".vc_custom_1523043741148{margin-left: -15px !important;}\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Credit as a hook\" font_container=\"tag:h3|font_size:22px|text_align:left|color:%23d11e3c|line_height:30px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:500%20bold%20regular%3A500%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1536559474462{margin-left: -15px !important;padding-right: 5% !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;padding-left: 0% !important;}\"][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\" gap=\"30\" el_class=\"lnContainer\"][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\" css=\".vc_custom_1542472436180{margin-bottom: 10px !important;border-bottom-width: 5px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;border-bottom-color: #d11e3c !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;}\"][vc_single_image image=\"39391\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\" onclick=\"custom_link\" link=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/can-hunger-growth-lead-early-adoption-digital-payment-solutions/\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Can hunger for growth lead to early adoption of digital payment solutions?\" font_container=\"tag:h4|font_size:18px|text_align:left|color:%23040707|line_height:24px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:500%20bold%20regular%3A500%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" link=\"url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashlesscatalyst.org%2Fcan-hunger-growth-lead-early-adoption-digital-payment-solutions%2F|||\" el_class=\"lnContainerTitle\" css=\".vc_custom_1542472375458{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Aug, 2018\" font_container=\"tag:p|font_size:14px|text_align:left|color:%23a5a5a5|line_height:22px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1536399355023{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-bottom: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\" css=\".vc_custom_1542472472919{margin-bottom: 10px !important;border-bottom-width: 5px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;border-bottom-color: #d11e3c !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;}\"][vc_single_image image=\"39390\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\" onclick=\"custom_link\" link=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/trust-mpos-machines-biggest-concern-among-merchants-jaipur/\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Trust in mPoS machines is the biggest concern among merchants in Jaipur\" font_container=\"tag:h4|font_size:18px|text_align:left|color:%23040707|line_height:24px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:500%20bold%20regular%3A500%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" link=\"url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashlesscatalyst.org%2Ftrust-mpos-machines-biggest-concern-among-merchants-jaipur%2F|||\" el_class=\"lnContainerTitle\" css=\".vc_custom_1542472335381{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Aug, 2018\" font_container=\"tag:p|font_size:14px|text_align:left|color:%23a5a5a5|line_height:22px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1536399355023{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-bottom: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\" css=\".vc_custom_1536558918464{margin-bottom: 10px !important;border-bottom-width: 5px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;border-bottom-color: #d11e3c !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;}\"][vc_single_image image=\"25869\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\" onclick=\"custom_link\" link=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/digital-financial-inclusion-women/\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Digital Financial Inclusion of Women\" font_container=\"tag:h4|font_size:18px|text_align:left|color:%23040707|line_height:24px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:500%20bold%20regular%3A500%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" link=\"url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashlesscatalyst.org%2Fdigital-financial-inclusion-women%2F|||\" el_class=\"lnContainerTitle\" css=\".vc_custom_1536559545656{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Aug, 2018\" font_container=\"tag:p|font_size:14px|text_align:left|color:%23a5a5a5|line_height:22px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1536399355023{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-bottom: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator css=\".vc_custom_1523043741148{margin-left: -15px !important;}\"][vc_row_inner gap=\"30\" el_class=\"lnContainer\"][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"eMitra\" font_container=\"tag:h3|font_size:22px|text_align:left|color:%23d11e3c|line_height:30px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:500%20bold%20regular%3A500%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1523043958090{margin-left: -15px !important;padding-right: 5% !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;padding-left: 0% !important;}\" el_class=\"stories_tab\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\" gap=\"30\" el_class=\"lnContainer\"][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\" css=\".vc_custom_1535623824149{margin-bottom: 10px !important;border-bottom-width: 5px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;border-bottom-color: #d11e3c !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;}\"][vc_single_image image=\"25641\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\" onclick=\"custom_link\" link=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/opportunity-growth-small-merchants-emitras/\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Opportunity and growth for small merchants with eMitras\" font_container=\"tag:h4|font_size:18px|text_align:left|color:%23040707|line_height:24px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:500%20bold%20regular%3A500%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" link=\"url:http%3A%2F%2Fcashlesscatalyst.org%2Fopportunity-growth-small-merchants-emitras%2F|||\" el_class=\"lnContainerTitle\" css=\".vc_custom_1535623575523{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Aug, 2018\" font_container=\"tag:p|font_size:14px|text_align:left|color:%23a5a5a5|line_height:22px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1535623546451{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-bottom: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\" css=\".vc_custom_1521531052200{margin-bottom: 10px !important;border-bottom-width: 5px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-bottom-color: #d11e3c !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;}\"][vc_single_image image=\"12641\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\" onclick=\"custom_link\" link=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/tuning-sound-digital-transactions/\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Tuning into the sound of digital transactions\" font_container=\"tag:h4|font_size:18px|text_align:left|color:%23040707|line_height:24px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:500%20bold%20regular%3A500%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" link=\"url:http%3A%2F%2Fcashlesscatalyst.org%2Ftuning-sound-digital-transactions%2F||target:%20_blank|\" el_class=\"lnContainerTitle\" css=\".vc_custom_1521532474337{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Jan, 2018\" font_container=\"tag:p|font_size:14px|text_align:left|color:%23a5a5a5|line_height:22px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1521209607767{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-bottom: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\" css=\".vc_custom_1520668172942{margin-bottom: 10px !important;border-bottom-width: 5px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-bottom-color: #d11e3c !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;}\"][vc_single_image image=\"12643\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\" onclick=\"custom_link\" link=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/digital-good-business-adds-value-consumers/\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Digital is good for business, adds value for consumers\" font_container=\"tag:h3|font_size:18px|text_align:left|color:%23040707|line_height:24px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:500%20bold%20regular%3A500%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" link=\"url:http%3A%2F%2Fcashlesscatalyst.org%2Fdigital-good-business-adds-value-consumers%2F|||\" el_class=\"lnContainerTitle stories-title\" css=\".vc_custom_1521545162510{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Jan, 2018\" font_container=\"tag:p|font_size:14px|text_align:left|color:%23a5a5a5|line_height:22px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1521209635727{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-bottom: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\" css=\".vc_custom_1535623707278{margin-bottom: 10px !important;border-bottom-width: 5px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-bottom-color: #d11e3c !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;}\"][vc_single_image image=\"12642\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\" onclick=\"custom_link\" link=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/age-just-number-comes-digital-payments/\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Age just a number when it comes to digital payments\" font_container=\"tag:h4|font_size:18px|text_align:left|color:%23040707|line_height:24px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:500%20bold%20regular%3A500%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" link=\"url:http%3A%2F%2Fcashlesscatalyst.org%2Fage-just-number-comes-digital-payments%2F|||\" el_class=\"lnContainerTitle\" css=\".vc_custom_1520668128753{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Jan, 2018\" font_container=\"tag:p|font_size:14px|text_align:left|color:%23a5a5a5|line_height:22px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1521209625065{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-bottom: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator css=\".vc_custom_1523043741148{margin-left: -15px !important;}\"][vc_row_inner gap=\"30\" el_class=\"lnContainer\"][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"Digital Financial Capabilities\" font_container=\"tag:h3|font_size:22px|text_align:left|color:%23d11e3c|line_height:30px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:500%20bold%20regular%3A500%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1547468373472{margin-left: -15px !important;padding-right: 5% !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;padding-left: 0% !important;}\" el_class=\"stories_tab\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\" gap=\"30\" el_class=\"lnContainer\"][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\" css=\".vc_custom_1531488051886{margin-bottom: 10px !important;border-bottom-width: 5px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;border-bottom-color: #d11e3c !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;}\"][vc_single_image image=\"10470\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\" onclick=\"custom_link\" link=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/IVRS_Story-1.pdf\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Testing IVRS as a tool to promote digital payment\r\nadoption among micro and small merchants\" font_container=\"tag:h4|font_size:18px|text_align:left|color:%23040707|line_height:24px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:500%20bold%20regular%3A500%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" link=\"url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashlesscatalyst.org%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2019%2F01%2FIVRS_Story-1.pdf|||\" el_class=\"lnContainerTitle\" css=\".vc_custom_1547537194206{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"January,2019\" font_container=\"tag:p|font_size:14px|text_align:left|color:%23a5a5a5|line_height:22px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1547468750806{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-bottom: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator css=\".vc_custom_1523043741148{margin-left: -15px !important;}\"][vc_separator css=\".vc_custom_1523043741148{margin-left: -15px !important;}\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Digitizing small merchants\" font_container=\"tag:h3|font_size:22px|text_align:left|color:%23d11e3c|line_height:30px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:500%20bold%20regular%3A500%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1523043992655{margin-left: -15px !important;padding-right: 5% !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;padding-left: 0% !important;}\"][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\" gap=\"30\" el_class=\"lnContainer\"][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\" css=\".vc_custom_1531488051886{margin-bottom: 10px !important;border-bottom-width: 5px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;border-bottom-color: #d11e3c !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;}\"][vc_single_image image=\"24540\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\" onclick=\"custom_link\" link=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/unlocking-finance-small-merchants-digital-data-digital-credit/\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Unlocking finance for small merchants — from digital data to digital credit\" font_container=\"tag:h4|font_size:18px|text_align:left|color:%23040707|line_height:24px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:500%20bold%20regular%3A500%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" link=\"url:http%3A%2F%2Fcashlesscatalyst.org%2Funlocking-finance-small-merchants-digital-data-digital-credit%2F|||\" el_class=\"lnContainerTitle\" css=\".vc_custom_1531483887950{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"July, 2018\" font_container=\"tag:p|font_size:14px|text_align:left|color:%23a5a5a5|line_height:22px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1531483516928{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-bottom: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\" css=\".vc_custom_1531487725294{margin-bottom: 10px !important;border-bottom-width: 5px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-bottom-color: #d11e3c !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;}\"][vc_single_image image=\"13293\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\" onclick=\"custom_link\" link=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/in-bhim-we-trust\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"In BHIM we trust\" font_container=\"tag:h4|font_size:18px|text_align:left|color:%23040707|line_height:24px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:500%20bold%20regular%3A500%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" link=\"url:http%3A%2F%2Fcashlesscatalyst.org%2Fin-bhim-we-trust%2F|||\" el_class=\"lnContainerTitle\" css=\".vc_custom_1523024783753{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"April, 2018\" font_container=\"tag:p|font_size:14px|text_align:left|color:%23a5a5a5|line_height:22px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1523024799632{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-bottom: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator css=\".vc_custom_1523043741148{margin-left: -15px !important;}\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Incubator\" font_container=\"tag:h3|font_size:22px|text_align:left|color:%23d11e3c|line_height:30px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:500%20bold%20regular%3A500%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1525830376563{margin-left: -15px !important;padding-right: 5% !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;padding-left: 0% !important;}\"][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\" gap=\"30\" el_class=\"lnContainer\"][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\" css=\".vc_custom_1520668008633{margin-bottom: 10px !important;border-bottom-width: 5px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-bottom-color: #d11e3c !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;}\"][vc_single_image image=\"13755\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\" onclick=\"custom_link\" link=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/kaleidofinadvancing-financial-inclusion-data-analytics/\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Kaleidofin… advancing financial inclusion through data analytics \" font_container=\"tag:h4|font_size:18px|text_align:left|color:%23040707|line_height:24px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:500%20bold%20regular%3A500%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" link=\"url:http%3A%2F%2Fcashlesscatalyst.org%2Fkaleidofinadvancing-financial-inclusion-data-analytics%2F|||\" el_class=\"lnContainerTitle\" css=\".vc_custom_1525831377648{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"May, 2018\" font_container=\"tag:p|font_size:14px|text_align:left|color:%23a5a5a5|line_height:22px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1525830797823{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-bottom: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\" css=\".vc_custom_1527852602192{margin-bottom: 10px !important;border-bottom-width: 5px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-bottom-color: #d11e3c !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;}\"][vc_single_image image=\"13756\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\" onclick=\"custom_link\" link=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/paybee-lets-buzz-payments/\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"PayBee… lets buzz payments \" font_container=\"tag:h4|font_size:18px|text_align:left|color:%23040707|line_height:24px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:500%20bold%20regular%3A500%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" link=\"url:http%3A%2F%2Fcashlesscatalyst.org%2Fpaybee-lets-buzz-payments%2F|||\" el_class=\"lnContainerTitle\" css=\".vc_custom_1525831034922{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"May, 2018\" font_container=\"tag:p|font_size:14px|text_align:left|color:%23a5a5a5|line_height:22px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1525830797823{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-bottom: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\" css=\".vc_custom_1527857875416{margin-bottom: 10px !important;border-bottom-width: 5px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;border-bottom-color: #d11e3c !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;}\"][vc_single_image image=\"14805\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\" onclick=\"custom_link\" link=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/fingpay-fostering-bare-pocket-transactions/\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Fingpay… fostering bare-pocket transactions\" font_container=\"tag:h4|font_size:18px|text_align:left|color:%23040707|line_height:24px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:500%20bold%20regular%3A500%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" link=\"url:http%3A%2F%2Fcashlesscatalyst.org%2Ffingpay-fostering-bare-pocket-transactions%2F|||\" el_class=\"lnContainerTitle\" css=\".vc_custom_1527850904285{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"May, 2018\" font_container=\"tag:p|font_size:14px|text_align:left|color:%23a5a5a5|line_height:22px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1525830797823{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-bottom: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\" css=\".vc_custom_1527857884041{margin-bottom: 10px !important;border-bottom-width: 5px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;border-bottom-color: #d11e3c !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;}\"][vc_single_image image=\"14811\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\" onclick=\"custom_link\" link=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/paynearbytowards-hyperlocal-fintech-network/\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"PayNearby…towards a hyperlocal fintech network\" font_container=\"tag:h4|font_size:18px|text_align:left|color:%23040707|line_height:24px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:500%20bold%20regular%3A500%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" link=\"url:http%3A%2F%2Fcashlesscatalyst.org%2Fpaynearbytowards-hyperlocal-fintech-network%2F|||\" el_class=\"lnContainerTitle\" css=\".vc_custom_1527852445833{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"May, 2018\" font_container=\"tag:p|font_size:14px|text_align:left|color:%23a5a5a5|line_height:22px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1525830797823{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-bottom: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator css=\".vc_custom_1523043741148{margin-left: -15px !important;}\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Dairy\" font_container=\"tag:h3|font_size:22px|text_align:left|color:%23d11e3c|line_height:30px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:500%20bold%20regular%3A500%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1523043969034{margin-left: -15px !important;padding-right: 5% !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;padding-left: 0% !important;}\"][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\" gap=\"30\" el_class=\"lnContainer\"][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\" css=\".vc_custom_1539069399569{margin-bottom: 10px !important;border-bottom-width: 5px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;border-bottom-color: #d11e3c !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;}\"][vc_single_image image=\"31368\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\" onclick=\"custom_link\" link=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/why-i-tried-digital/\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Why I tried digital – a dairy distributor’s story\" font_container=\"tag:h4|font_size:18px|text_align:left|color:%23040707|line_height:24px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:500%20bold%20regular%3A500%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" link=\"url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashlesscatalyst.org%2Fwhy-i-tried-digital%2F|||\" el_class=\"lnContainerTitle\" css=\".vc_custom_1539068936812{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"October, 2018\" font_container=\"tag:p|font_size:14px|text_align:left|color:%23a5a5a5|line_height:22px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1539068902865{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-bottom: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\" css=\".vc_custom_1521531052200{margin-bottom: 10px !important;border-bottom-width: 5px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-bottom-color: #d11e3c !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;}\"][vc_single_image image=\"13297\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\" onclick=\"custom_link\" link=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/dairy_story/\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Milking the benefits of digital payments - A journey towards finding simple solutions\" font_container=\"tag:h4|font_size:18px|text_align:left|color:%23040707|line_height:24px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:500%20bold%20regular%3A500%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" link=\"url:http%3A%2F%2Fcashlesscatalyst.org%2Fdairy_story%2F|||\" el_class=\"lnContainerTitle\" css=\".vc_custom_1521532536721{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"March, 2018\" font_container=\"tag:p|font_size:14px|text_align:left|color:%23a5a5a5|line_height:22px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1521531260119{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-bottom: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator css=\".vc_custom_1523043753078{margin-left: -15px !important;}\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Mera Paper\" font_container=\"tag:h3|font_size:22px|text_align:left|color:%23d11e3c|line_height:30px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:500%20bold%20regular%3A500%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1523043981077{margin-left: -15px !important;padding-right: 5% !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;padding-left: 0% !important;}\"][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\" gap=\"30\" el_class=\"lnContainer\"][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\" css=\".vc_custom_1520668008633{margin-bottom: 10px !important;border-bottom-width: 5px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-bottom-color: #d11e3c !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;}\"][vc_single_image image=\"13295\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\" onclick=\"custom_link\" link=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/merapaper_story/\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Digitising Khatta system - Journey of MeraPaper\" font_container=\"tag:h4|font_size:18px|text_align:left|color:%23040707|line_height:24px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:500%20bold%20regular%3A500%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" link=\"url:http%3A%2F%2Fcashlesscatalyst.org%2Fmerapaper_story%2F|||\" el_class=\"lnContainerTitle\" css=\".vc_custom_1521532184955{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"March, 2018\" font_container=\"tag:p|font_size:14px|text_align:left|color:%23a5a5a5|line_height:22px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1521531260119{padding-right: 5% !important;padding-bottom: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=\"footer_area\" text_align=\"center\" type=\"image\" bg_position_horizontal=\"center\" enable_parallax=\"false\" padding_top=\"50px\" padding_bottom=\"50px\" bg_image=\"9937\"][vc_column width=\"1/4\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/2\" offset=\"vc_col-lg-offset-0 vc_col-md-offset-0 vc_col-sm-offset-0\"][vc_single_image image=\"7888\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#ffffff\" font_size=\"14px\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1526060837057{margin-top: 35px !important;margin-bottom: 5px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;}\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">CATALYST is an initiative funded by USAID under the mSTAR Program, through funding provided to FHI 360. Housed within IFMR LEAD, the initiative aims to expand digital payments and financial inclusion in India, especially for small merchants and low-income consumers.</p>\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_gap][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1484051069491{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">[email-newsletter-plugin]</p>\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_icon icon=\"facebook\" href=\"https://www.facebook.com/CashlessCatalyst/\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"linkedin\" href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/company/13221050?trk=tyah&amp;trkInfo=clickedVertical%3Acompany%2CclickedEntityId%3A13221050%2Cidx%3A2-1-2%2CtarId%3A1476420479247%2Ctas%3Acashless%20catalyst\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"twitter\" href=\"https://twitter.com/cashlesscatalys\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"youtube-play\" href=\"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChuc38_PfawDOu44IfYS4lw\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/4\"][/vc_column][/vc_row]', 'User Stories', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '12173-revision-v1', '', '', '2019-01-15 07:24:22', '2019-01-15 07:24:22', '', 12173, 'https://cashlesscatalyst.org/media/12173-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0);
INSERT INTO `in_posts` (`ID`, `post_author`, `post_date`, `post_date_gmt`, `post_content`, `post_title`, `post_excerpt`, `post_status`, `comment_status`, `ping_status`, `post_password`, `post_name`, `to_ping`, `pinged`, `post_modified`, `post_modified_gmt`, `post_content_filtered`, `post_parent`, `guid`, `menu_order`, `post_type`, `post_mime_type`, `comment_count`) VALUES
(39978, 12, '2019-01-15 07:43:24', '2019-01-15 07:43:24', '[vc_row full_height=\"yes\" equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\" text_align=\"center\" type=\"image\" enable_parallax=\"false\" parallax_speed=\"0.4\" padding_top=\"110\" padding_bottom=\"0\" bg_image=\"39982\"][vc_column][kleo_gap size=\"100px\"][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner el_class=\"uppercase\" width=\"2/3\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Testing IVRS as a tool to promote digital payment adoption among microand small merchants\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:48px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:54px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][kleo_gap size=\"130px\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\" type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\" padding_top=\"10\" padding_bottom=\"0\"][vc_column width=\"1/2\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/2\"][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner width=\"5/12\" css=\".vc_custom_1504265033147{padding-right: 0px !important;}\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/3\" css=\".vc_custom_1504265063058{padding-left: 0px !important;}\"][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"][addtoany][/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\" css=\".vc_custom_1504265782417{padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;}\"][kleo_button title=\"Print this page\" href=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/IVRS_Story-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"custom\" position=\"left\" size=\"lg\" special=\"no\" border=\"no\" icon=\"print\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"grey-icon\" custom_text=\"#d11e3c\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_image=\"7841\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\"]<em>Digital financial services in India have the potential to deliver timely and relevant products to low-income unbanked and underbanked populations. The uptake in mobile phone ownership, along with rapid advances in digital payment systems, is creating opportunities to connect poor households to affordable and reliable financial tools through mobile phones, and other digital interfaces. However, there are numerous hurdles – regulatory, geographic, sociocultural, infrastructural – for cashless interventions and, as a result, reaching the last mile user has always been a challenge.</em>\r\n\r\nCATALYST has been working to promote adoption and usage of digital payment solutions by micro merchant communities including government to people (G2P) services, dairy booths, kirana stores, and others. One of the major barriers to adoption and usage of digital payments is the lack of proper knowledge associated with the payment solutions. In a recent study conducted by CATALYST in partnership with PRICE, 42 percent of the fixed store merchants interviewed cited lack of awareness of digital payments as a barrier to adoption. Digital payments in India are complex in terms of understanding of the technology, which has undergone significant flux as well as regulatory changes (e.g., pricing, customer protection). It is therefore important to dispel doubts and fears that merchants and customers have on digital money and the security of their transactions.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_position_horizontal=\"center\" enable_parallax=\"false\" parallax_speed=\"0.4\" padding_top=\"100\" padding_bottom=\"100\" el_class=\"uppercase\" bg_image=\"39987\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_image=\"7841\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\"]In pursuit of a sustainable and scalable model to spread awareness on digital payments and to equip merchants to make informed choices, CATALYST tested a dedicated Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) platform for small merchants. The objective was to build a financial literacy platform that seamlessly overcomes the constraints of literacy, regional differences, and the needs and costs of in-person counsel and training.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_position_horizontal=\"center\" enable_parallax=\"false\" parallax_speed=\"0.4\" padding_top=\"100\" padding_bottom=\"100\" el_class=\"uppercase\" bg_image=\"40011\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner][vc_single_image image=\"39991\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Evolution from IVRS 1.0 to IVRS 2.0 \" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1547552662465{margin-bottom: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\"]Initially, CATALYST partnered with a vendor to build an IVRS to provide information on digital payment methods to small merchants. IVRS 1.0 covered multiple payment types which included mobile-based payment options such as Wallets, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) as well card-based payment solutions such as Point of Sale (PoS) devices, mobile PoS (m-PoS) and Bharat QR. The IVRS featured information such as the onboarding process, cost of ownership and payment completion process for\r\neach of the payment types. The goal of developing the IVRS was to provide an alternative channel for small merchants who do not typically use a smartphones to access information on digital payments.\r\n\r\nThirty-five merchant interviews were conducted in targeted areas across Jaipur, Delhi and Gurugram. In this phase, a mixed sample of 15 fixed store merchants, 10 roving merchants, four home-based business owners, and six merchants from federated networks such as eMitra and dairy were interviewed.\r\n\r\n<strong>While the value of the platform as a tool was revealed to be high, its usability was low. Some of the learnings from beta testing of IVRS 1.0 were: </strong>\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Learnings from the testing of IVRS 1.0:\" font_container=\"tag:h5|font_size:18px|text_align:left\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/2\"][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]<strong>Technical challenges with IVRS 1.0</strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>\r\nSeveral merchants were unable to place the call; some due to general reluctance and distrust, others due to no call balance or network. However, most merchants faced technical problems with the IVRS platform which would either be unavailable or not respond to the missed call placed by merchants</li>\r\n	<li>\r\nTesting was conducted in Delhi/NCR and Jaipur. However, the call received on giving a missed call was from a number from Ahmedabad (as the platform was set up by an agency based in Ahmedabad) and, in conjunction with the unfamiliar-looking number, it gave the impression of being a spam/fraud call.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n<strong>Merchants felt that they required more in-depth information than merely on requisite digital payment solution options and registration steps to make informed decisions. For example, they would welcome information on money workflow, payment settlement terms, comparison between different payment types, additional layers on bank account set up and linkages, and advice on how to choose between different digital payment options.</strong>\r\n\r\n<strong>Also evident was that the IVRS\' usability needed to be improved through simpler navigation, and options to repeat information rather than an abrupt end to the call. Based on the learnings from IVRS 1.0, it was evident that the IVRS needed a script/content overhaul, basic on-ground marketing support, and a new navigation to highlight content branches as stand-alone repositories of information on various digital payment types. It required modifications to create a more holistic information dissemination platform to aid the decision making process for the listener.</strong>\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/2\"][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]<p><strong>The information framework for building IVRS 2.0 was divided into three layers:</strong></p>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li><strong>First layer:</strong> Information on payment types based on form, i.e., mobile-based payment solutions (Wallets/UPI/USSD), card-based payment solutions (PoS/m-PoS/Bharat QR) as well as new-age solutions such as Aadhaar Pay and aggregator solutions which accept  payments from all payment options, whether card- or mobile- or Aadhaar-based.</li>\r\n<li><strong>Second layer:</strong> Highlighting the similarities and key differences between payment solution types within the pool of mobile-based and card-based payment solutions.</li>\r\n<li><strong>Third layer: </strong>Important technical information such as onboarding steps, how to accept payment from customers, payment settlement and payment confirmation. This layer also had a provision for merchants to express their interest in the digital payment solution of their choice to get connected with relevant service providers.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n<p><strong>The deployment was an additional opportunity to test the efficacy of the value provision and delivery of the IVRS to all targeted merchant segments. The study sought to measure the following:</strong></p>\r\n<ol>\r\n<li>The level of interest or curiosity regarding digital payments and digital payment solutionsper segment on a platform such as IVRS.</li>\r\n<li>The value/benefit acquired (post-call) by the merchants.</li>\r\n<li>Opinions and feedback on delivery of information (appropriate coverage of solution types),delivery medium, information structure (SMS link or follow-up email/call).</li>\r\n<li>Any key points of interest or knowledge to explore and add to the platform, for example,new payment solutions.</li>\r\n</ol>\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_position_horizontal=\"center\" enable_parallax=\"false\" parallax_speed=\"0.4\" padding_top=\"100\" padding_bottom=\"100\" el_class=\"uppercase\" bg_image=\"40012\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner][vc_single_image image=\"40007\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Target merchant segments\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1547552696927{margin-bottom: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_image=\"7841\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\"]<strong>As phase 2, CATALYST developed a dedicated IVRS platform with a different vendor in partnership with the Government of Rajasthan to incorporate learnings from the testing of IVRS 1.0. The major objectives of the new IVRS platform were to:</strong>\r\n<ol>\r\n	<li> <strong>Improve awareness/literacy:</strong> disseminate awareness about the benefits of digital payments; and familiarize merchants with different types of payment options, ways to sign up as well as the pros and cons of each.</li>\r\n	<li><strong>Generate leads:</strong> identify interest from merchants about different solution types and generate leads for solution providers (such as wallet companies, banks, fintech players, etc.).</li>\r\n</ol>\r\n<strong>IVRS 2.0 was deployed in partner ecosystems where CATALYST is functioning in Jaipur, namely:</strong>\r\n<ol>\r\n	<li>Top 500 eMitra entrepreneurs based in Jaipur</li>\r\n	<li>Dairy retailer network of the onboarded distributor(s) of the dairy digitization project; and</li>\r\n	<li>Retailer network of the onboarded pharma distributors of the pharma digitization project</li>\r\n<ol>\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_color=\"#323232\" bg_position_horizontal=\"center\" enable_parallax=\"false\" parallax_speed=\"0.4\" padding_top=\"100\" padding_bottom=\"100\" el_class=\"uppercase\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner][vc_single_image image=\"40066\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Learnings from the field (themes and learnings)\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1547553343106{margin-bottom: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_image=\"7841\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\"]<strong>1. Low trust in automated mechanisms (vs. human interventions)</strong>\r\n\r\nDuring interactions, merchants emphasized that they receive information on digital payment from bank representatives. Merchants frequently talk to these representatives and, as a result, place a certain degree of trust in them. Merchants also unequivocally stated that a customer support team on the back-end could make IVRS more useful so that they could get their doubts cleared and queries answered by the customer support team. Currently IVRS 2.0 does not have this feature.\r\n\r\n<strong>2. Complexity of digital payment solutions</strong>\r\n\r\nMerchants felt that the length and breadth of information on IVRS 2.0 covers all the requisite nuances that govern the choices to be made by them before adopting a digital payment option. However, they felt that they did not have the bandwidth to listen to such as lengthy call; that there would be information drop-offs, given the volume of information. They would be happier with a hardcopy or a visual aid or webpage which can compare various solutions for ease of access and understanding.\r\n\r\n<strong>3. Closing the ‘Awareness to Adoption’ loop</strong>\r\n\r\nConverting awareness on digital payments to action (exploring payment modes for adoption, and so on) is one of the most important levers for expanding the reach of digital payments into the low-income merchant community. Merchants felt that lead generation could prove to be beneficial, as there was no other such service available. It helps them to act on the information and adopt a solution of their choice at their own convenience, which is a huge advantage. Merchants further emphasized that they listen to such information and then forget it when there is no actionable at the end. However, with the lead generation layer, the knowledge they acquire can be put to use instantaneously and thus was of interest to merchants.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_color=\"#323232\" bg_position_horizontal=\"center\" enable_parallax=\"false\" parallax_speed=\"0.4\" padding_top=\"100\" padding_bottom=\"100\" el_class=\"uppercase\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner][vc_single_image image=\"40006\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Conclusion\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1547553318954{margin-bottom: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]During the focus group discussions with merchants, it was revealed that that the IVRS platform as a tool covers digital payments in great detail and captures all the requisite information on important decision making variables when it comes to adoption of digital payments. Merchants perceive the missed call mechanism as advantageous as it enables them to access the platform at their convenience, and find it compelling. However, given the length of the call and complexity of the information, merchants felt that they would be better served if this information was in front of them on a sheet of paper or a webpage which makes it easier to comprehend it.\r\n\r\nBased on these interviews, while the use of IVRS during the intervention was low owing to the length and complexity of information in the calls, the efficacy of IVRS as medium – to create awareness and close the awareness to adoption loop – may be considered significant. With more tailored messaging for different merchant groups in a more crisp format that caters to relevant groups, IVRS could prove to be an effective medium.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][kleo_button title=\"Download\" href=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/IVRS_Story-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" position=\"center\" size=\"lg\" type=\"boxed-icon\" special=\"no\" icon=\"download\" font_size=\"14\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"pkirbtn\" icon_custom_background=\"#d11e3c\" icon_custom_text=\"#ffffff\"][/vc_column][/vc_row]', 'IVRS-story', '', 'publish', 'closed', 'closed', '', 'ivrs-story', '', '', '2019-01-15 13:58:27', '2019-01-15 13:58:27', '', 0, 'https://cashlesscatalyst.org/?page_id=39978', 0, 'page', '', 0),
(39979, 12, '2019-01-15 07:43:24', '2019-01-15 07:43:24', '[vc_row full_height=\"yes\" equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\" text_align=\"center\" type=\"image\" enable_parallax=\"false\" parallax_speed=\"0.4\" padding_top=\"110\" padding_bottom=\"0\" bg_image=\"24295\"][vc_column][kleo_gap size=\"100px\"][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner el_class=\"uppercase\" width=\"2/3\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"UNLOCKING FINANCE FOR SMALL MERCHANTS - FROM DIGITAL DATA TO DIGITAL CREDIT\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:48px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:54px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][kleo_gap size=\"130px\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\" type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\" padding_top=\"10\" padding_bottom=\"0\"][vc_column width=\"1/2\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/2\"][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner width=\"5/12\" css=\".vc_custom_1504265033147{padding-right: 0px !important;}\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/3\" css=\".vc_custom_1504265063058{padding-left: 0px !important;}\"][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"][addtoany][/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\" css=\".vc_custom_1504265782417{padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;}\"][kleo_button title=\"Print this page\" href=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/unlocking-finance-small-merchants.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"custom\" position=\"left\" size=\"lg\" special=\"no\" border=\"no\" icon=\"print\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"grey-icon\" custom_text=\"#d11e3c\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_image=\"7841\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\"][vc_single_image image=\"24312\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\" css=\".vc_custom_1531318139818{padding-top: 17px !important;}\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"3/4\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\"]Kamal Singh, a 40-year-old tea vendor in the walled city area of Jaipur has been running his family’s tea shop for two generations. As we arrive, Kamal is busy serving tea and biscuits to office-goers who are sitting on a row in a small iron bench outside the shop. Rakesh Singh, his 70-year-old father, is mixing milk and tea in a burning aluminum vessel in a corner in the shop.\r\n\r\nThe visible inventory in the shop is scant – a couple of big glass jars filled with biscuits, a few packets of plastic tea cups and some freshly bought sachets of milk from the local diary. Early on in our conversation, Kamal tells us that he needs around one lakh rupees to expand his business. While he did apply for a loan from a formal financial institution, his application was rejected.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_position_horizontal=\"center\" enable_parallax=\"false\" parallax_speed=\"0.4\" padding_top=\"100\" padding_bottom=\"100\" el_class=\"uppercase\" bg_image=\"24303\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner][vc_single_image image=\"24296\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"FINANCING THE ‘MISSING MIDDLE’ \" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:36px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:46px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1533035782314{margin-bottom: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_image=\"7841\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\"]Millions of microentrepreneurs such as Kamal are unable to access working capital loans from banks and financial institutions due to lack of formal financial histories. In such a scenario, digitizing merchant payments generate data trails that can be used by a financial service provider to assess the credit worthiness of small merchants and extend loans.\r\n\r\nAs part of a pilot initiative to test this hypothesis, Catalyst has partnered with a financial service provider to provide a sample of small merchants with a Point of Sale (PoS) machine to digitize payments by customers. During the onboarding process for the pilot, we demonstrate the PoS machine to Kamal and help him with instructions on how to operate it. We also tell him that if he encourages his customers to pay by card even for small transactions – a lending agency will be able to see his monthly transaction data, and offer him a formal loan. Once a small ticket size loan is disbursed by the lender, the daily interest payment due on the loan can be deducted directly from the payments received from the card swipes at the POS. Kamal is intrigued by the proposition and seems convinced that using the POS machine can help him get a loan.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\"][vc_column][vc_single_image image=\"24305\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"HIGH COSTS - A BARRIER TO GOING DIGITAL \" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:36px|text_align:center|color:%23000000|line_height:46px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1533035845782{margin-bottom: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}\"][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\"]Following the onboarding to the machine, we explain to Kamal the upfront cost and the rental cost of buying and maintaining a PoS machine. At this stage, we see a hesitation on Kamal’s face. The upfront cost of buying the machine is upwards of Rs. 2000 and he needs to pay an additional rental fee of Rs. 250 per month to maintain this machine. These costs are over and above the daily interest on the loan amount that he wishes to borrow.\r\n\r\n“The cost of buying and renting the machine is quite high for me. It is also challenging to convince my customers to pay digitally for small transactions.”\r\n\r\nHearing about the various indirect costs associated with acquiring and using the PoS machine, Kamal’s interest in the loan product has visibly dwindled. Moreover, his customers undertake transactions of small ticket sizes and he is doubtful about nudging them to pay him digitally.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_position_horizontal=\"center\" enable_parallax=\"false\" parallax_speed=\"0.4\" padding_top=\"100\" padding_bottom=\"100\" el_class=\"uppercase\" bg_image=\"24297\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner][vc_single_image image=\"24308\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"LEARNING BY ITERATING\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:36px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:46px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1533035881798{margin-bottom: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_image=\"7841\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\"]\r\nOur conversations with Kamal gives us important insights into the operational challenges related to testing our hypotheses of bundling digital payments with credit propositions. We are back to the drawing board and are working on an iteration of the pilot.\r\n\r\nIn the next phase, we will introduce a no/low cost payment alternative for small merchants such as Unified Payments Interface (UPI) to help them overcome the cost barriers associated with purchasing and renting a PoS machine. Using our iterative design and learning process, we will also continue to gather deeper insights into the factors that influence merchants and the customer’s willingness to adopt digital payments for small transactions at retail shops such as the one run by Kamal and his family.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][kleo_button title=\"Download\" href=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/unlocking-finance-small-merchants.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" position=\"center\" size=\"lg\" type=\"boxed-icon\" special=\"no\" icon=\"download\" font_size=\"14\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"pkirbtn\" icon_custom_background=\"#d11e3c\" icon_custom_text=\"#ffffff\"][/vc_column][/vc_row]', 'IVRS-story', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '39978-revision-v1', '', '', '2019-01-15 07:43:24', '2019-01-15 07:43:24', '', 39978, 'https://cashlesscatalyst.org/media/39978-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0);
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(39980, 12, '2019-01-15 07:44:48', '2019-01-15 07:44:48', '[vc_row equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\" type=\"image\" enable_parallax=\"false\" parallax_speed=\"0.4\" padding_top=\"110\" padding_bottom=\"0\" bg_image=\"39430\"][vc_column][kleo_gap size=\"100px\"][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"2/3\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"USING COMIC BOOKS TO INCREASE DIGITAL FINANCIAL CAPABILITIES IN LOW-INCOME CLUSTERS\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:48px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:54px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][kleo_gap size=\"140px\"][kleo_gap size=\"50px\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\" padding_bottom=\"0\"][vc_column width=\"1/2\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/2\"][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner width=\"5/12\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/3\" css=\".vc_custom_1488531456733{padding-right: 0px !important;}\"][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"][addtoany][/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\" css=\".vc_custom_1488531444909{padding-left: 0px !important;}\"][kleo_button title=\"Print this page\" href=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/CH-Learning-Note-v2.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"custom\" position=\"left\" size=\"lg\" special=\"no\" border=\"no\" icon=\"print\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"grey-icon\" custom_text=\"#d11e3c\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=\"INTRODUCTION\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:left|color:%23383b3b|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][vc_row_inner css=\".vc_custom_1537456868816{margin-bottom: 35px !important;}\"][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]The 2011 Census of India reports a total of 65.49 million slum inhabitants living in 13.92 million households in India. Although India’s urban population has an estimated total of 33,510 slums, great variability exists in legal status, deprivation, living condition, type of structure, etc. The inhabitants of these slums are the urban poor and remain outside the ambit of formal finance. Conventional finance so far has not been able to serve this last mile, keeping them excluded from the financial system. Uptake of digital payments can greatly benefit these last mile consumers by facilitating faster and simpler financial transactions, thereby connecting them to formal financial channels. Recognizing this potential, CATALYST launched its pilot project in Bhatta Basti, an urban slum located on the outskirts of Jaipur city, Rajasthan. A migrant settlement with a population of 45,000 people and 1,000 households, it is predominantly a Muslim community where most of the population has low educational achievement.\r\n\r\nOur baseline study in 2017 indicated that digital financial capability of slum dwellers in Bhatta Basti was significantly low. Thus, CATALYST experimented with a range of collaterals to promote digital financial inclusion in Bhatta Basti and attempted to understand people’s attitude and perceptions towards each of these media. One such attempt involved using illustrated comic books to spread awareness and encourage adoption of digital payment solutions among people. Past research in the field had indicated that comic books may be a successful medium for sensitization on a range of\r\nissues because they appeal to people from various age groups. A study on digital financial inclusion conducted by Institute for Financial Management and Research -Leveraging Evidence for Access and Development (IFMR LEAD) in Mumbai’s Dharavi slums in 2012 used comic books for disseminating important information. The learnings from this study helped us in establishing important guidelines for designing our comics and their stories.\r\n\r\nA significant learning from the Dharavi study was that it is important to customize the comic books to the target audience. Use of characters and scenarios similar to those seen by the target audience every day is crucial to enable them to form a connection between issues they face and benefits of adopting digital payments. There exists a huge gap in awareness and access to financial services between men and women in low-income clusters and using women as protagonists in the stories may be more effective to reach out and impact women in lowincome clusters.\r\n\r\nUsing this learning as a guideline, we created and distributed three comic books over the course of three months: one on Automated Teller Machine\r\n(ATM) pin generation; one on Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS); and one on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payments. The comic books\r\non ATM pin generation and AEPS had women as the main characters while the one on UPI payments had male protagonists.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_position_horizontal=\"center\" enable_parallax=\"false\" parallax_speed=\"0.4\" padding_top=\"150\" padding_bottom=\"150\" bg_image=\"39431\"][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=\"1. ATM PIN GENERATION\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Testing the hypothesis involved bringing together a payment provider and a lender — a role that was played by CATALYST. For the pilot, CATALYST partnered with Nupay, a Point of Sale (PoS) device or card swipe machine provider and an early stage startup, and Capital First, a Non Banking Financial Company (NBFC), which agreed to provide term loans to fixed store merchants in Jaipur. The combination of a payment device and loan was offered as a bundle, with the intention of testing the extent to which credit can act as a ‘hook’ to adopt and use digital payments. This combination was created for the purpose of the pilot alone since lenders are unclear of the risks involved in offering a small amount of credit, no matter how small, before they can establish credit history based on transactions on the device provided. Since the combination of partners was arranged by CATALYST for the pilot, CATALYST also had to provide a set of Feet on Street (FoS) for on-the-ground support to roll out the services. The FoS team, trained by CATALYST, provided support in marketing and customer acquisition.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong>Product bundle: Capital First and Nupay, a term loan with a card swipe machine</strong>\r\n\r\nProduct bundle details: Capital First (the lender) agreed to provide loans of a ticket size of INR 25,000 to INR 5 lakh at an interest rate of 18 percent to 24 percent annually for a tenure of nine months to 36 months, depending on the ticket size and repayment capacity.\r\n\r\nNupay’s card swipe machine had a monthly rental of INR 350 (~ US$5) plus 18 percent Goods and Service Tax (GST), which was also to be paid by merchants. The lender agreed that merchants would be considered for an incremental loan based on their repayment history observed in the first tranche of the loan, and their digital transaction footprint.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong>Project roll-out and findings: digital payment adoption vs. non-adoption</strong>\r\n\r\nDuring the pilot, CATALYST reached out to 409 fixed store merchants across six major markets in Jaipur (Shastri Nagar, Sodala, Durgapura, Khatirpura, Jhotwara and Bani Park).<sup>9</sup> These stores have been in business for an average of 10 years and had a median monthly revenue of INR 45,000. Most stores (99 percent) were owned by men; 87 percent was sole proprietorships while a smaller group (13 percent) was managed jointly with other family members. Sixty-five of them were already using a PoS or a card swipe machine and the remaining 344 merchants were given a demo on using a new PoS machine with the help of CATALYST’s FoS team.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=\"39426\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#757c74\" font_size=\"14px\" letter_spacing=\"\"]<em><sup>9</sup>This data set is separate from the earlier CNAS data. With a time lag of eight months, it is often difficult to work with earlier data sets. So, 490 new fixed stores were chosen from six new markets in Jaipur</em>[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner css=\".vc_custom_1537937440359{padding-top: 30px !important;}\"][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<strong>Key results from the experiment were:</strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>There were eight fixed store merchants who had never used a card swipe machine but eventually adopted digital payment solutions after being trained on card swipe usage by the CATALYST FoS team.</li>\r\n	<li>The primary reason for adoption was that it would allow them to service a broader customer segment that used (debit/credit) cards to make payments. In other words, the ability to serve a specific customer segment that was familiar with digital solutions was a key driver. This would also result in new customer acquisition over a period of time.</li>\r\n	<li>Among the merchants who refused to use or adopt a PoS machine, the dominant reason for nonadoption was the absence of customer demand (62 percent, Figure 1). These merchants were unwilling to act as enablers to train customers in using a new digital solution. If the customers asked for the service, they were happy to provide it.</li>\r\n	<li>The remaining 10 percent (Figure 1) reported the inherent cash stickiness of their business as a major deterrent. Another 2 percent (Figure 1) cited the cost of the machine as a major barrier to accepting digital payments.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=\"39433\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<em>Note: From top right: existing loan usage, source of loan, purpose of loans and awareness about CIBIL scores of 18 merchants who agreed to reveal information about a prior loan.</em>[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]While most merchants who were part of the pilot preferred not to share their current loan practices, those who revealed that they had availed a loan (18 out of 409) had done so from a formal source. Fourteen of the 18 were also aware of their credit score (CIBIL) and its related impact on their credit eligibility.\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>Only 18 fixed store merchants (4 percent) with an average monthly revenue of INR 90,000 (double the population median of INR 45,000) reported that they had availed of a loan in the past.</li>\r\n	<li>The average tenure of the loans was two to three years; 17 merchants sourced the loan from banks and one from a Micro Finance Institution (MFI);</li>\r\n	<li>The purpose for which loans were taken varied from business expansion (10 merchants), household requirements (four merchants) to health emergencies (one merchant). Utility loans such as for two wheelers (three merchants) formed another major category of reasons for taking loans; and</li>\r\n	<li>The ticket size of the loans taken by the merchants varied from INR 40,000 to INR 9 lakhs.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_color=\"#c9213b\" enable_parallax=\"false\" padding_top=\"150\" padding_bottom=\"150\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\" bg_image=\"39439\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"MERCHANTS’ PERCEPTION ON THE BUNDLED PRODUCT\r\n\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style \"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Perceived vs. real interest in loan: When offered the bundled product of payment device and credit, 25 merchants showed initial interest solely in accessing the loan during their first interaction with the CATALYST FoS team. However, 24 had changed their minds when the lender’s agent approached them after a week, perhaps because merchants are always interested in understanding options for credit but may not avail of it even if they express an interest initially.\r\n\r\nOne merchant who agreed to try the combination of a PoS device and loan had a fixed cloth store in Shastri Nagar market. He wanted a loan of INR 1-2 lakhs. Unfortunately, the request was denied since his residence was located outside the serviceable area set by the lender. This fact was discovered after the processing was done, and resulted in a poor customer experience for the merchant.\r\n\r\n<strong>Why was there a low uptake? </strong>\r\n\r\nThe experiment shows that while there was individual adoption of the card swipe machines, there was little uptake of the bundled product. Technology did seamlessly bind the products together but the communication to merchants was often unclear and did not explain how payment device usage would help them get a loan of higher amount in the future. The reasons this product could not cater to customer expectations or improve customer experience as expected are:\r\n\r\n<strong>Loan structure:</strong> While the lender assured the merchants of a credit-build-up model, the merchants were keen to understand the exact qualifiers for the build-up process, i.e., number and/or value of transactions required to qualify for the next tranche of loans. Additionally, they wanted to know by what percentage the loan amount could grow through increased usage of digital transactions. None of this information was provided to merchants since the lender had not yet thought it through. The product’s value proposition stated in one line by the lender as ‘enhanced loan size for incremental usage of digital payments’ failed to gain the merchants’ trust.\r\n\r\n<strong>Single interface for credit and digital payments:</strong> During the CATALYST pilot, the lending company and the digital payment solution company used two separate applications to onboard customers. For the merchants who saw the two as a single product, it was important for the digital payment solution provider and the lending partner to integrate their solution into one single application for simplicity and usage. The existing process offered poor customer experience because filling out two applications is a time-consuming process.\r\n\r\n<strong>Large time lags:</strong> Loan disbursal followed a lengthy process, i.e., lead generation by field agents (CATALYST FoS team) from an initial interaction, followed by a calling exercise by the credit assessor and then a site verification. This long time period between initial contact and disbursement was a pain point. Additionally, there were delays in disbursing the card swipe machine. Partnering with an early stage startup for PoS machines led to a resource crunch, which resulted in operational delays. The time lag between initial lead generation and delivery of the machine ranged from 15-20 days which was too long a time to retain interest.\r\n\r\n<strong>High cost of on boarding:</strong> The loan offer had a customer onboarding cost plus GST that hiked up the existing rates of interest by 3 to 4 percent so the lending interest rate worked out to be around 30 percent annually. These nuanced details deterred many of the merchants to finally take up the loan despite having shown an initial interest in the loan product.\r\n\r\n<strong>Short tenure of the pilot:</strong> Lastly, one must note that three or four months is too short a time to launch and iterate on a product bundle that includes a loan repayment timeline of nine to 36 months. To understand access and usage of repeat loans, the pilot experiment should essentially be of a much longer tenure.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#373b3c\" padding_top=\"75\" padding_bottom=\"75\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"RECOMMENDATIONS\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\"][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<strong>Need for a local presence: </strong>An implementation challenge that needs to be addressed in order to iterate on the pilot experiment and help it succeed is decreasing the time lags between the first point of contact to in-person onboarding with the card swipe machine and the loan. To avoid such operational delays, it is advisable to work with a local company with a greater field presence than with a well-known company based out of another metropolis but with little field support, as was the case during this pilot. Otherwise, the card swipe company/loan company should partner with a channel partner that should be assigned locally to cover the high customer acquisition cost which must be incurred (by default) for wider reach and larger impact among the segment of merchants who are new to digital payment usage.\r\n\r\n<strong>Lower cost of product:</strong> If such loans could get priority sector lending status, obtaining funds would be easier for an NBFC, making access to credit easier and cheaper.\r\n\r\n<strong>Alternate digital payment solutions:</strong> Current credit products are more inclined towards PoS machine uptake and usage. However, given the rise in use of other digital payment modes such as Unified Payments Interface (UPI), e-wallets and other Aadhaar-based solutions could lead to faster and cheaper adoption among merchants.\r\n\r\n<strong>Simple product structure:</strong> As the pilot results suggest, clearly informing the merchants of the exact qualifying factors for incremental loans will help develop higher trust and better customer relationships for a credit-builder model.\r\n\r\n<strong>Provide digital training and awareness:</strong> Multiple field visits and available data on awareness of credit history or usage of digital payments suggest that small fixed store merchants need substantial handholding, training and awareness to understand fundamental financial concepts, the importance of formal loans, and use of credit history. The experiment results suggest that the small merchants would be better off with expert handholding support and training from their first point of contact, as they would be without operational delays. Further, digital training and awareness building must extend to consumers who shop at these merchant locations, since customer demand is a huge driver in merchant acceptance of digital solutions.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#c9213b\" padding_top=\"75\" padding_bottom=\"75\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"CONCLUSION\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\"][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Credit can potentially act as a hook for usage of digital solutions, provided the effective costs are lower compared to credit from informal sources, and access is speedier. Merchants also need to be provided information on the clear pathway on increase in credit as they continue using the digital facilities. Lenders and payment service providers must present a unified front and offer a superior customer experience to the merchants. Lastly, acceptance of new payment solutions requires end customers to be sensitized equally[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #da092b;\">TECHNICAL WRITERS:</span> John Arun and Shubhranka Mondal</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #da092b;\">ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:</span> The authors would like to thank Jayshree Venkatesan for her expert advice, and CATALYST’s Feet on Street team, for their ground support</p>\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_button title=\"Download full report\" href=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/CH-Learning-Note-v2.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" position=\"center\" size=\"lg\" type=\"boxed-icon\" special=\"no\" icon=\"download\" font_size=\"14px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"pkirbtn\" icon_custom_background=\"#d11e3c\" icon_custom_text=\"#ffffff\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=\"footer_area\" text_align=\"center\" type=\"image\" bg_position_horizontal=\"center\" enable_parallax=\"false\" padding_top=\"50px\" padding_bottom=\"50px\" bg_image=\"7886\"][vc_column width=\"1/4\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/2\" offset=\"vc_col-lg-offset-0 vc_col-md-offset-0 vc_col-sm-offset-0\"][vc_single_image image=\"7888\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#ffffff\" font_size=\"14px\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1484826151396{margin-top: 35px !important;margin-bottom: 5px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;}\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">CATALYST is an initiative seeded by an alliance between the Government of India &amp; USAID, to expand digital payments and financial inclusion in India, especially for small merchants and low-income consumers.</p>\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_gap][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1484051069491{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">[email-newsletter-plugin]</p>\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_icon icon=\"facebook\" href=\"https://www.facebook.com/CashlessCatalyst/\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"linkedin\" href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/company/13221050?trk=tyah&amp;trkInfo=clickedVertical%3Acompany%2CclickedEntityId%3A13221050%2Cidx%3A2-1-2%2CtarId%3A1476420479247%2Ctas%3Acashless%20catalyst\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"twitter\" href=\"https://twitter.com/cashlesscatalys\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"youtube-play\" href=\"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChuc38_PfawDOu44IfYS4lw\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/4\"][/vc_column][/vc_row]', 'USING COMIC BOOKS TO INCREASE DIGITAL FINANCIAL CAPABILITIES IN LOW-INCOME CLUSTERS', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '39971-revision-v1', '', '', '2019-01-15 07:44:48', '2019-01-15 07:44:48', '', 39971, 'https://cashlesscatalyst.org/media/39971-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(39981, 12, '2019-01-15 13:53:05', '2019-01-15 13:53:05', '[vc_row full_height=\"yes\" equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\" text_align=\"center\" type=\"image\" enable_parallax=\"false\" parallax_speed=\"0.4\" padding_top=\"110\" padding_bottom=\"0\" bg_image=\"39982\"][vc_column][kleo_gap size=\"100px\"][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner el_class=\"uppercase\" width=\"2/3\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Testing IVRS as a tool to promote digital payment adoption among microand small merchants\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:48px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:54px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][kleo_gap size=\"130px\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\" type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\" padding_top=\"10\" padding_bottom=\"0\"][vc_column width=\"1/2\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/2\"][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner width=\"5/12\" css=\".vc_custom_1504265033147{padding-right: 0px !important;}\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/3\" css=\".vc_custom_1504265063058{padding-left: 0px !important;}\"][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"][addtoany][/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\" css=\".vc_custom_1504265782417{padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;}\"][kleo_button title=\"Print this page\" href=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/IVRS_Story-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"custom\" position=\"left\" size=\"lg\" special=\"no\" border=\"no\" icon=\"print\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"grey-icon\" custom_text=\"#d11e3c\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_image=\"7841\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\"]<em>Digital financial services in India have the potential to deliver timely and relevant products to low-income unbanked and underbanked populations. The uptake in mobile phone ownership, along with rapid advances in digital payment systems, is creating opportunities to connect poor households to affordable and reliable financial tools through mobile phones, and other digital interfaces. However, there are numerous hurdles – regulatory, geographic, sociocultural, infrastructural – for cashless interventions and, as a result, reaching the last mile user has always been a challenge.</em>\n\nCATALYST has been working to promote adoption and usage of digital payment solutions by micro merchant communities including government to people (G2P) services, dairy booths, kirana stores, and others. One of the major barriers to adoption and usage of digital payments is the lack of proper knowledge associated with the payment solutions. In a recent study conducted by CATALYST in partnership with PRICE, 42 percent of the fixed store merchants interviewed cited lack of awareness of digital payments as a barrier to adoption. Digital payments in India are complex in terms of understanding of the technology, which has undergone significant flux as well as regulatory changes (e.g., pricing, customer protection). It is therefore important to dispel doubts and fears that merchants and customers have on digital money and the security of their transactions.\n\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_position_horizontal=\"center\" enable_parallax=\"false\" parallax_speed=\"0.4\" padding_top=\"100\" padding_bottom=\"100\" el_class=\"uppercase\" bg_image=\"39987\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_image=\"7841\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\"]In pursuit of a sustainable and scalable model to spread awareness on digital payments and to equip merchants to make informed choices, CATALYST tested a dedicated Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) platform for small merchants. The objective was to build a financial literacy platform that seamlessly overcomes the constraints of literacy, regional differences, and the needs and costs of in-person counsel and training.\n\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_position_horizontal=\"center\" enable_parallax=\"false\" parallax_speed=\"0.4\" padding_top=\"100\" padding_bottom=\"100\" el_class=\"uppercase\" bg_image=\"40011\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner][vc_single_image image=\"39991\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Evolution from IVRS 1.0 to IVRS 2.0 \" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1547552662465{margin-bottom: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\"]Initially, CATALYST partnered with a vendor to build an IVRS to provide information on digital payment methods to small merchants. IVRS 1.0 covered multiple payment types which included mobile-based payment options such as Wallets, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) as well card-based payment solutions such as Point of Sale (PoS) devices, mobile PoS (m-PoS) and Bharat QR. The IVRS featured information such as the onboarding process, cost of ownership and payment completion process for\neach of the payment types. The goal of developing the IVRS was to provide an alternative channel for small merchants who do not typically use a smartphones to access information on digital payments.\n\nThirty-five merchant interviews were conducted in targeted areas across Jaipur, Delhi and Gurugram. In this phase, a mixed sample of 15 fixed store merchants, 10 roving merchants, four home-based business owners, and six merchants from federated networks such as eMitra and dairy were interviewed.\n\n<strong>While the value of the platform as a tool was revealed to be high, its usability was low. Some of the learnings from beta testing of IVRS 1.0 were: </strong>\n\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Learnings from the testing of IVRS 1.0:\" font_container=\"tag:h5|font_size:18px|text_align:left\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/2\"][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]<strong>Technical challenges with IVRS 1.0</strong>\n<ul>\n	<li>\nSeveral merchants were unable to place the call; some due to general reluctance and distrust, others due to no call balance or network. However, most merchants faced technical problems with the IVRS platform which would either be unavailable or not respond to the missed call placed by merchants</li>\n	<li>\nTesting was conducted in Delhi/NCR and Jaipur. However, the call received on giving a missed call was from a number from Ahmedabad (as the platform was set up by an agency based in Ahmedabad) and, in conjunction with the unfamiliar-looking number, it gave the impression of being a spam/fraud call.</li>\n</ul>\n<strong>Merchants felt that they required more in-depth information than merely on requisite digital payment solution options and registration steps to make informed decisions. For example, they would welcome information on money workflow, payment settlement terms, comparison between different payment types, additional layers on bank account set up and linkages, and advice on how to choose between different digital payment options.</strong>\n\n<strong>Also evident was that the IVRS\' usability needed to be improved through simpler navigation, and options to repeat information rather than an abrupt end to the call. Based on the learnings from IVRS 1.0, it was evident that the IVRS needed a script/content overhaul, basic on-ground marketing support, and a new navigation to highlight content branches as stand-alone repositories of information on various digital payment types. It required modifications to create a more holistic information dissemination platform to aid the decision making process for the listener.</strong>\n\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/2\"][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]<strong>The information framework for building IVRS 2.0 was divided into three layers:</strong>\n<ul>\n	<li>First layer: Information on payment types based on form, i.e., mobile-based payment solutions (Wallets/UPI/USSD), card-based payment solutions (PoS/m-PoS/Bharat QR) as well as new-age solutions such as Aadhaar Pay and aggregator solutions which accept  payments from all payment options, whether card- or mobile- or Aadhaar-based.</li>\n	<li>Second layer: Highlighting the similarities and key differences between payment solution types within the pool of mobile-based and card-based payment solutions.</li>\n	<li>Third layer: Important technical information such as onboarding steps, how to accept payment from customers, payment settlement and payment confirmation. This layer also had a provision for merchants to express their interest in the digital payment solution of their choice to get connected with relevant service providers.</li>\n</ul>\n<strong>The deployment was an additional opportunity to test the efficacy of the value provision and delivery of the IVRS to all targeted merchant segments. The study sought to measure the following:</strong>\n<ol>\n	<li>The level of interest or curiosity regarding digital payments and digital payment solutionsper segment on a platform such as IVRS.</li>\n	<li>The value/benefit acquired (post-call) by the merchants.</li>\n	<li>Opinions and feedback on delivery of information (appropriate coverage of solution types),delivery medium, information structure (SMS link or follow-up email/call).</li>\n	<li>Any key points of interest or knowledge to explore and add to the platform, for example,new payment solutions.</li>\n</ol>\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_position_horizontal=\"center\" enable_parallax=\"false\" parallax_speed=\"0.4\" padding_top=\"100\" padding_bottom=\"100\" el_class=\"uppercase\" bg_image=\"40012\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner][vc_single_image image=\"40007\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Target merchant segments\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1547552696927{margin-bottom: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_image=\"7841\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\"]<strong>As phase 2, CATALYST developed a dedicated IVRS platform with a different vendor in partnership with the Government of Rajasthan to incorporate learnings from the testing of IVRS 1.0. The major objectives of the new IVRS platform were to:</strong>\n<ol>\n	<li> <strong>Improve awareness/literacy:</strong> disseminate awareness about the benefits of digital payments; and familiarize merchants with different types of payment options, ways to sign up as well as the pros and cons of each.</li>\n	<li><strong>Generate leads:</strong> identify interest from merchants about different solution types and generate leads for solution providers (such as wallet companies, banks, fintech players, etc.).</li>\n</ol>\n<strong>IVRS 2.0 was deployed in partner ecosystems where CATALYST is functioning in Jaipur, namely:</strong>\n<ol>\n	<li>Top 500 eMitra entrepreneurs based in Jaipur</li>\n	<li>Dairy retailer network of the onboarded distributor(s) of the dairy digitization project; and</li>\n	<li>Retailer network of the onboarded pharma distributors of the pharma digitization project</li>\n<ol>\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_color=\"#323232\" bg_position_horizontal=\"center\" enable_parallax=\"false\" parallax_speed=\"0.4\" padding_top=\"100\" padding_bottom=\"100\" el_class=\"uppercase\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner][vc_single_image image=\"40066\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Learnings from the field (themes and learnings)\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1547553343106{margin-bottom: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_image=\"7841\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\"]<strong>1. Low trust in automated mechanisms (vs. human interventions)</strong>\n\nDuring interactions, merchants emphasized that they receive information on digital payment from bank representatives. Merchants frequently talk to these representatives and, as a result, place a certain degree of trust in them. Merchants also unequivocally stated that a customer support team on the back-end could make IVRS more useful so that they could get their doubts cleared and queries answered by the customer support team. Currently IVRS 2.0 does not have this feature.\n\n<strong>2. Complexity of digital payment solutions</strong>\n\nMerchants felt that the length and breadth of information on IVRS 2.0 covers all the requisite nuances that govern the choices to be made by them before adopting a digital payment option. However, they felt that they did not have the bandwidth to listen to such as lengthy call; that there would be information drop-offs, given the volume of information. They would be happier with a hardcopy or a visual aid or webpage which can compare various solutions for ease of access and understanding.\n\n<strong>3. Closing the ‘Awareness to Adoption’ loop</strong>\n\nConverting awareness on digital payments to action (exploring payment modes for adoption, and so on) is one of the most important levers for expanding the reach of digital payments into the low-income merchant community. Merchants felt that lead generation could prove to be beneficial, as there was no other such service available. It helps them to act on the information and adopt a solution of their choice at their own convenience, which is a huge advantage. Merchants further emphasized that they listen to such information and then forget it when there is no actionable at the end. However, with the lead generation layer, the knowledge they acquire can be put to use instantaneously and thus was of interest to merchants.\n\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_color=\"#323232\" bg_position_horizontal=\"center\" enable_parallax=\"false\" parallax_speed=\"0.4\" padding_top=\"100\" padding_bottom=\"100\" el_class=\"uppercase\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner][vc_single_image image=\"40006\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Conclusion\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1547553318954{margin-bottom: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]During the focus group discussions with merchants, it was revealed that that the IVRS platform as a tool covers digital payments in great detail and captures all the requisite information on important decision making variables when it comes to adoption of digital payments. Merchants perceive the missed call mechanism as advantageous as it enables them to access the platform at their convenience, and find it compelling. However, given the length of the call and complexity of the information, merchants felt that they would be better served if this information was in front of them on a sheet of paper or a webpage which makes it easier to comprehend it.\n\nBased on these interviews, while the use of IVRS during the intervention was low owing to the length and complexity of information in the calls, the efficacy of IVRS as medium – to create awareness and close the awareness to adoption loop – may be considered significant. With more tailored messaging for different merchant groups in a more crisp format that caters to relevant groups, IVRS could prove to be an effective medium.\n\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][kleo_button title=\"Download\" href=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/IVRS_Story-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" position=\"center\" size=\"lg\" type=\"boxed-icon\" special=\"no\" icon=\"download\" font_size=\"14\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"pkirbtn\" icon_custom_background=\"#d11e3c\" icon_custom_text=\"#ffffff\"][/vc_column][/vc_row]', 'IVRS-story', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '39978-autosave-v1', '', '', '2019-01-15 13:53:05', '2019-01-15 13:53:05', '', 39978, 'https://cashlesscatalyst.org/media/39978-autosave-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(39982, 12, '2019-01-15 07:45:54', '2019-01-15 07:45:54', '', '01', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '01-11', '', '', '2019-01-15 07:45:54', '2019-01-15 07:45:54', '', 39978, 'https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/01.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(39987, 12, '2019-01-15 08:02:35', '2019-01-15 08:02:35', '', '01', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '01-12', '', '', '2019-01-15 08:02:35', '2019-01-15 08:02:35', '', 39978, 'https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/01-1.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0);
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(39990, 12, '2019-01-15 08:10:16', '2019-01-15 08:10:16', '[vc_row equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\" type=\"image\" enable_parallax=\"false\" parallax_speed=\"0.4\" padding_top=\"110\" padding_bottom=\"0\" bg_image=\"39430\"][vc_column][kleo_gap size=\"100px\"][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"2/3\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"USING COMIC BOOKS TO INCREASE DIGITAL FINANCIAL CAPABILITIES IN LOW-INCOME CLUSTERS\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:48px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:54px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][kleo_gap size=\"140px\"][kleo_gap size=\"50px\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\" padding_bottom=\"0\"][vc_column width=\"1/2\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/2\"][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner width=\"5/12\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/3\" css=\".vc_custom_1488531456733{padding-right: 0px !important;}\"][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"][addtoany][/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\" css=\".vc_custom_1488531444909{padding-left: 0px !important;}\"][kleo_button title=\"Print this page\" href=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/CH-Learning-Note-v2.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"custom\" position=\"left\" size=\"lg\" special=\"no\" border=\"no\" icon=\"print\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"grey-icon\" custom_text=\"#d11e3c\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=\"INTRODUCTION\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:left|color:%23383b3b|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][vc_row_inner css=\".vc_custom_1537456868816{margin-bottom: 35px !important;}\"][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]The 2011 Census of India reports a total of 65.49 million slum inhabitants living in 13.92 million households in India. Although India’s urban population has an estimated total of 33,510 slums, great variability exists in legal status, deprivation, living condition, type of structure, etc. The inhabitants of these slums are the urban poor and remain outside the ambit of formal finance. Conventional finance so far has not been able to serve this last mile, keeping them excluded from the financial system. Uptake of digital payments can greatly benefit these last mile consumers by facilitating faster and simpler financial transactions, thereby connecting them to formal financial channels. Recognizing this potential, CATALYST launched its pilot project in Bhatta Basti, an urban slum located on the outskirts of Jaipur city, Rajasthan. A migrant settlement with a population of 45,000 people and 1,000 households, it is predominantly a Muslim community where most of the population has low educational achievement.\r\n\r\nOur baseline study in 2017 indicated that digital financial capability of slum dwellers in Bhatta Basti was significantly low. Thus, CATALYST experimented with a range of collaterals to promote digital financial inclusion in Bhatta Basti and attempted to understand people’s attitude and perceptions towards each of these media. One such attempt involved using illustrated comic books to spread awareness and encourage adoption of digital payment solutions among people. Past research in the field had indicated that comic books may be a successful medium for sensitization on a range of\r\nissues because they appeal to people from various age groups. A study on digital financial inclusion conducted by Institute for Financial Management and Research -Leveraging Evidence for Access and Development (IFMR LEAD) in Mumbai’s Dharavi slums in 2012 used comic books for disseminating important information. The learnings from this study helped us in establishing important guidelines for designing our comics and their stories.\r\n\r\nA significant learning from the Dharavi study was that it is important to customize the comic books to the target audience. Use of characters and scenarios similar to those seen by the target audience every day is crucial to enable them to form a connection between issues they face and benefits of adopting digital payments. There exists a huge gap in awareness and access to financial services between men and women in low-income clusters and using women as protagonists in the stories may be more effective to reach out and impact women in lowincome clusters.\r\n\r\nUsing this learning as a guideline, we created and distributed three comic books over the course of three months: one on Automated Teller Machine\r\n(ATM) pin generation; one on Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS); and one on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payments. The comic books\r\non ATM pin generation and AEPS had women as the main characters while the one on UPI payments had male protagonists.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_color=\"#c9213b\" enable_parallax=\"false\" padding_top=\"150\" padding_bottom=\"150\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\" bg_image=\"39439\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"1. ATM PIN GENERATION\r\n\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style \"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Our primary research in Bhatta Basti indicated that there existed a huge information gap related to the importance and correct usage of ATM cards. Many\r\npeople who had received ATM cards from the banks were unaware of how to generate an ATM pin and how to use the card to withdraw money. Further, people in this community had various misconceptions regarding the safety of ATM cards; they had been victims of various frauds due to which they lacked trust in digital payment platforms. Thus, we decided to provide a detailed explanation on how to generate an ATM pin and keep the account safe in our first comic book. We created two versions: one for men and one for women. Insights from the Dharavi study indicated that women tend to relate more to a story when female protagonists are used. Since women were a major section of our target audience, we decided to create two versions. A sample of what the “ATM Pin Generation” comic looked like is provided below:\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/2\"][vc_single_image image=\"39622\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/2\"][vc_single_image image=\"39622\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#373b3c\" padding_top=\"75\" padding_bottom=\"75\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"2. AADHAAR ENABLED PAYMENT SYSTEM (AEPS)\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\"][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<p>Another mode of digital payments that we promoted through comic books was AEPS. Since many people in Bhatta Basti faced problems related to access and usage of ATM cards, AEPS acted as a good alternative for enabling usage of digital payment solutions. AEPS allowed customers to pay by just scanning their fingerprint and thus was an easy solution for many people in Bhatta Basti who did not have access to ATM cards. One of our incubatees, Fingpay, worked on providing biometric devices to vegetable vendors and other small merchants and we distributed the comic books to the target audience to create awareness about these services. Since women formed a larger percentage of customers for these vendors, we decided to use female characters for our comics.</p>[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#c9213b\" padding_top=\"75\" padding_bottom=\"75\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"CONCLUSION\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\"][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Credit can potentially act as a hook for usage of digital solutions, provided the effective costs are lower compared to credit from informal sources, and access is speedier. Merchants also need to be provided information on the clear pathway on increase in credit as they continue using the digital facilities. Lenders and payment service providers must present a unified front and offer a superior customer experience to the merchants. Lastly, acceptance of new payment solutions requires end customers to be sensitized equally[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #da092b;\">TECHNICAL WRITERS:</span> John Arun and Shubhranka Mondal</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #da092b;\">ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:</span> The authors would like to thank Jayshree Venkatesan for her expert advice, and CATALYST’s Feet on Street team, for their ground support</p>\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_button title=\"Download full report\" href=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/CH-Learning-Note-v2.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" position=\"center\" size=\"lg\" type=\"boxed-icon\" special=\"no\" icon=\"download\" font_size=\"14px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"pkirbtn\" icon_custom_background=\"#d11e3c\" icon_custom_text=\"#ffffff\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=\"footer_area\" text_align=\"center\" type=\"image\" bg_position_horizontal=\"center\" enable_parallax=\"false\" padding_top=\"50px\" padding_bottom=\"50px\" bg_image=\"7886\"][vc_column width=\"1/4\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/2\" offset=\"vc_col-lg-offset-0 vc_col-md-offset-0 vc_col-sm-offset-0\"][vc_single_image image=\"7888\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#ffffff\" font_size=\"14px\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1484826151396{margin-top: 35px !important;margin-bottom: 5px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;}\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">CATALYST is an initiative seeded by an alliance between the Government of India &amp; USAID, to expand digital payments and financial inclusion in India, especially for small merchants and low-income consumers.</p>\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_gap][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1484051069491{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">[email-newsletter-plugin]</p>\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_icon icon=\"facebook\" href=\"https://www.facebook.com/CashlessCatalyst/\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"linkedin\" href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/company/13221050?trk=tyah&amp;trkInfo=clickedVertical%3Acompany%2CclickedEntityId%3A13221050%2Cidx%3A2-1-2%2CtarId%3A1476420479247%2Ctas%3Acashless%20catalyst\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"twitter\" href=\"https://twitter.com/cashlesscatalys\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"youtube-play\" href=\"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChuc38_PfawDOu44IfYS4lw\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/4\"][/vc_column][/vc_row]', 'USING COMIC BOOKS TO INCREASE DIGITAL FINANCIAL CAPABILITIES IN LOW-INCOME CLUSTERS', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '39971-revision-v1', '', '', '2019-01-15 08:10:16', '2019-01-15 08:10:16', '', 39971, 'https://cashlesscatalyst.org/media/39971-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(39989, 12, '2019-01-15 08:07:16', '2019-01-15 08:07:16', '[vc_row equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\" type=\"image\" enable_parallax=\"false\" parallax_speed=\"0.4\" padding_top=\"110\" padding_bottom=\"0\" bg_image=\"39430\"][vc_column][kleo_gap size=\"100px\"][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"2/3\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"USING COMIC BOOKS TO INCREASE DIGITAL FINANCIAL CAPABILITIES IN LOW-INCOME CLUSTERS\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:48px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:54px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][kleo_gap size=\"140px\"][kleo_gap size=\"50px\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\" padding_bottom=\"0\"][vc_column width=\"1/2\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/2\"][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner width=\"5/12\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/3\" css=\".vc_custom_1488531456733{padding-right: 0px !important;}\"][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"][addtoany][/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\" css=\".vc_custom_1488531444909{padding-left: 0px !important;}\"][kleo_button title=\"Print this page\" href=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/CH-Learning-Note-v2.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"custom\" position=\"left\" size=\"lg\" special=\"no\" border=\"no\" icon=\"print\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"grey-icon\" custom_text=\"#d11e3c\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=\"INTRODUCTION\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:left|color:%23383b3b|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][vc_row_inner css=\".vc_custom_1537456868816{margin-bottom: 35px !important;}\"][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]The 2011 Census of India reports a total of 65.49 million slum inhabitants living in 13.92 million households in India. Although India’s urban population has an estimated total of 33,510 slums, great variability exists in legal status, deprivation, living condition, type of structure, etc. The inhabitants of these slums are the urban poor and remain outside the ambit of formal finance. Conventional finance so far has not been able to serve this last mile, keeping them excluded from the financial system. Uptake of digital payments can greatly benefit these last mile consumers by facilitating faster and simpler financial transactions, thereby connecting them to formal financial channels. Recognizing this potential, CATALYST launched its pilot project in Bhatta Basti, an urban slum located on the outskirts of Jaipur city, Rajasthan. A migrant settlement with a population of 45,000 people and 1,000 households, it is predominantly a Muslim community where most of the population has low educational achievement.\r\n\r\nOur baseline study in 2017 indicated that digital financial capability of slum dwellers in Bhatta Basti was significantly low. Thus, CATALYST experimented with a range of collaterals to promote digital financial inclusion in Bhatta Basti and attempted to understand people’s attitude and perceptions towards each of these media. One such attempt involved using illustrated comic books to spread awareness and encourage adoption of digital payment solutions among people. Past research in the field had indicated that comic books may be a successful medium for sensitization on a range of\r\nissues because they appeal to people from various age groups. A study on digital financial inclusion conducted by Institute for Financial Management and Research -Leveraging Evidence for Access and Development (IFMR LEAD) in Mumbai’s Dharavi slums in 2012 used comic books for disseminating important information. The learnings from this study helped us in establishing important guidelines for designing our comics and their stories.\r\n\r\nA significant learning from the Dharavi study was that it is important to customize the comic books to the target audience. Use of characters and scenarios similar to those seen by the target audience every day is crucial to enable them to form a connection between issues they face and benefits of adopting digital payments. There exists a huge gap in awareness and access to financial services between men and women in low-income clusters and using women as protagonists in the stories may be more effective to reach out and impact women in lowincome clusters.\r\n\r\nUsing this learning as a guideline, we created and distributed three comic books over the course of three months: one on Automated Teller Machine\r\n(ATM) pin generation; one on Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS); and one on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payments. The comic books\r\non ATM pin generation and AEPS had women as the main characters while the one on UPI payments had male protagonists.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_color=\"#c9213b\" enable_parallax=\"false\" padding_top=\"150\" padding_bottom=\"150\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\" bg_image=\"39439\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"1. ATM PIN GENERATION\r\n\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style \"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Our primary research in Bhatta Basti indicated that there existed a huge information gap related to the importance and correct usage of ATM cards. Many\r\npeople who had received ATM cards from the banks were unaware of how to generate an ATM pin and how to use the card to withdraw money. Further, people in this community had various misconceptions regarding the safety of ATM cards; they had been victims of various frauds due to which they lacked trust in digital payment platforms. Thus, we decided to provide a detailed explanation on how to generate an ATM pin and keep the account safe in our first comic book. We created two versions: one for men and one for women. Insights from the Dharavi study indicated that women tend to relate more to a story when female protagonists are used. Since women were a major section of our target audience, we decided to create two versions. A sample of what the “ATM Pin Generation” comic looked like is provided below:\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/2\"][vc_single_image image=\"39622\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/2\"][vc_single_image image=\"39622\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#373b3c\" padding_top=\"75\" padding_bottom=\"75\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"2. AADHAAR ENABLED PAYMENT SYSTEM (AEPS)\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\"][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<strong>Need for a local presence: </strong>An implementation challenge that needs to be addressed in order to iterate on the pilot experiment and help it succeed is decreasing the time lags between the first point of contact to in-person onboarding with the card swipe machine and the loan. To avoid such operational delays, it is advisable to work with a local company with a greater field presence than with a well-known company based out of another metropolis but with little field support, as was the case during this pilot. Otherwise, the card swipe company/loan company should partner with a channel partner that should be assigned locally to cover the high customer acquisition cost which must be incurred (by default) for wider reach and larger impact among the segment of merchants who are new to digital payment usage.\r\n\r\n<strong>Lower cost of product:</strong> If such loans could get priority sector lending status, obtaining funds would be easier for an NBFC, making access to credit easier and cheaper.\r\n\r\n<strong>Alternate digital payment solutions:</strong> Current credit products are more inclined towards PoS machine uptake and usage. However, given the rise in use of other digital payment modes such as Unified Payments Interface (UPI), e-wallets and other Aadhaar-based solutions could lead to faster and cheaper adoption among merchants.\r\n\r\n<strong>Simple product structure:</strong> As the pilot results suggest, clearly informing the merchants of the exact qualifying factors for incremental loans will help develop higher trust and better customer relationships for a credit-builder model.\r\n\r\n<strong>Provide digital training and awareness:</strong> Multiple field visits and available data on awareness of credit history or usage of digital payments suggest that small fixed store merchants need substantial handholding, training and awareness to understand fundamental financial concepts, the importance of formal loans, and use of credit history. The experiment results suggest that the small merchants would be better off with expert handholding support and training from their first point of contact, as they would be without operational delays. Further, digital training and awareness building must extend to consumers who shop at these merchant locations, since customer demand is a huge driver in merchant acceptance of digital solutions.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#c9213b\" padding_top=\"75\" padding_bottom=\"75\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"CONCLUSION\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"normal-style \"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\"][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Credit can potentially act as a hook for usage of digital solutions, provided the effective costs are lower compared to credit from informal sources, and access is speedier. Merchants also need to be provided information on the clear pathway on increase in credit as they continue using the digital facilities. Lenders and payment service providers must present a unified front and offer a superior customer experience to the merchants. Lastly, acceptance of new payment solutions requires end customers to be sensitized equally[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\"][vc_column][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #da092b;\">TECHNICAL WRITERS:</span> John Arun and Shubhranka Mondal</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #da092b;\">ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:</span> The authors would like to thank Jayshree Venkatesan for her expert advice, and CATALYST’s Feet on Street team, for their ground support</p>\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_button title=\"Download full report\" href=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/CH-Learning-Note-v2.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" position=\"center\" size=\"lg\" type=\"boxed-icon\" special=\"no\" icon=\"download\" font_size=\"14px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"pkirbtn\" icon_custom_background=\"#d11e3c\" icon_custom_text=\"#ffffff\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=\"footer_area\" text_align=\"center\" type=\"image\" bg_position_horizontal=\"center\" enable_parallax=\"false\" padding_top=\"50px\" padding_bottom=\"50px\" bg_image=\"7886\"][vc_column width=\"1/4\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/2\" offset=\"vc_col-lg-offset-0 vc_col-md-offset-0 vc_col-sm-offset-0\"][vc_single_image image=\"7888\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_column_text text_color=\"#ffffff\" font_size=\"14px\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1484826151396{margin-top: 35px !important;margin-bottom: 5px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;}\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">CATALYST is an initiative seeded by an alliance between the Government of India &amp; USAID, to expand digital payments and financial inclusion in India, especially for small merchants and low-income consumers.</p>\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_gap][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1484051069491{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">[email-newsletter-plugin]</p>\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_icon icon=\"facebook\" href=\"https://www.facebook.com/CashlessCatalyst/\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"linkedin\" href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/company/13221050?trk=tyah&amp;trkInfo=clickedVertical%3Acompany%2CclickedEntityId%3A13221050%2Cidx%3A2-1-2%2CtarId%3A1476420479247%2Ctas%3Acashless%20catalyst\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"twitter\" href=\"https://twitter.com/cashlesscatalys\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][kleo_icon icon=\"youtube-play\" href=\"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChuc38_PfawDOu44IfYS4lw\" target=\"_blank\" padding=\"15px\" icon_color=\"#ffffff\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/4\"][/vc_column][/vc_row]', 'USING COMIC BOOKS TO INCREASE DIGITAL FINANCIAL CAPABILITIES IN LOW-INCOME CLUSTERS', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '39971-revision-v1', '', '', '2019-01-15 08:07:16', '2019-01-15 08:07:16', '', 39971, 'https://cashlesscatalyst.org/media/39971-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(39991, 12, '2019-01-15 08:10:52', '2019-01-15 08:10:52', '', '01', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '01-13', '', '', '2019-01-15 08:10:52', '2019-01-15 08:10:52', '', 39978, 'https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/01.png', 0, 'attachment', 'image/png', 0),
(39992, 12, '2019-01-15 09:51:41', '2019-01-15 09:51:41', '[vc_row full_height=\"yes\" equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\" text_align=\"center\" type=\"image\" enable_parallax=\"false\" parallax_speed=\"0.4\" padding_top=\"110\" padding_bottom=\"0\" bg_image=\"39982\"][vc_column][kleo_gap size=\"100px\"][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner el_class=\"uppercase\" width=\"2/3\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Testing IVRS as a tool to promote digital payment adoption among microand small merchants\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:48px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:54px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][kleo_gap size=\"130px\"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\" type=\"color\" bg_color=\"#ffffff\" padding_top=\"10\" padding_bottom=\"0\"][vc_column width=\"1/2\"][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/2\"][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner width=\"5/12\" css=\".vc_custom_1504265033147{padding-right: 0px !important;}\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/3\" css=\".vc_custom_1504265063058{padding-left: 0px !important;}\"][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"][addtoany][/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/4\" css=\".vc_custom_1504265782417{padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;}\"][kleo_button title=\"Print this page\" href=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/IVRS_Story-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"custom\" position=\"left\" size=\"lg\" special=\"no\" border=\"no\" icon=\"print\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"grey-icon\" custom_text=\"#d11e3c\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_image=\"7841\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\"]<p><em>Digital financial services in India have the potential to deliver timely and relevant products to low-income unbanked and underbanked populations. The uptake in mobile phone ownership, along with rapid advances in digital payment systems, is creating opportunities to connect poor households to affordable and reliable financial tools through mobile phones, and other digital interfaces. However, there are numerous hurdles – regulatory, geographic, sociocultural, infrastructural – for cashless interventions and, as a result, reaching the last mile user has always been a challenge.</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p>CATALYST has been working to promote adoption and usage of digital payment solutions by micro merchant communities including government to people (G2P) services, dairy booths, kirana stores, and others. One of the major barriers to adoption and usage of digital payments is the lack of proper knowledge associated with the payment solutions. In a recent study conducted by CATALYST in partnership with PRICE, 42 percent of the fixed store merchants interviewed cited lack of awareness of digital payments as a barrier to adoption. Digital payments in India are complex in terms of understanding of the technology, which has undergone significant flux as well as regulatory changes (e.g., pricing, customer protection). It is therefore important to dispel doubts and fears that merchants and customers have on digital money and the security of their transactions. </p>\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_image=\"7841\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\"]<p><em>Digital financial services in India have the potential to deliver timely and relevant products to low-income unbanked and underbanked populations. The uptake in mobile phone ownership, along with rapid advances in digital payment systems, is creating opportunities to connect poor households to affordable and reliable financial tools through mobile phones, and other digital interfaces. However, there are numerous hurdles – regulatory, geographic, sociocultural, infrastructural – for cashless interventions and, as a result, reaching the last mile user has always been a challenge.</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p>CATALYST has been working to promote adoption and usage of digital payment solutions by micro merchant communities including government to people (G2P) services, dairy booths, kirana stores, and others. One of the major barriers to adoption and usage of digital payments is the lack of proper knowledge associated with the payment solutions. In a recent study conducted by CATALYST in partnership with PRICE, 42 percent of the fixed store merchants interviewed cited lack of awareness of digital payments as a barrier to adoption. Digital payments in India are complex in terms of understanding of the technology, which has undergone significant flux as well as regulatory changes (e.g., pricing, customer protection). It is therefore important to dispel doubts and fears that merchants and customers have on digital money and the security of their transactions. </p>\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_position_horizontal=\"center\" enable_parallax=\"false\" parallax_speed=\"0.4\" padding_top=\"100\" padding_bottom=\"100\" el_class=\"uppercase\" bg_image=\"39987\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_image=\"7841\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\"]<p>In pursuit of a sustainable and scalable model to spread awareness on digital payments and to equip merchants to make informed choices, CATALYST tested a dedicated Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) platform for small merchants. The objective was to build a financial literacy platform that seamlessly overcomes the constraints of literacy, regional differences, and the needs and costs of in-person counsel and training.</p>\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\"][vc_column][vc_single_image image=\"39991\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"Evolution from IVRS 1.0 to IVRS 2.0 \" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:36px|text_align:center|color:%23000000|line_height:46px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1547540019277{margin-bottom: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}\"][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\" content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\"]<p>Initially, CATALYST partnered with a vendor to build an IVRS to provide information on digital payment methods to small merchants. IVRS 1.0 covered multiple payment types which included mobile-based payment options such as Wallets, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) as well card-based payment solutions such as Point of Sale (PoS) devices, mobile PoS (m-PoS) and Bharat QR. The IVRS featured information such as the onboarding process, cost of ownership and payment completion process for<br />\r\neach of the payment types. The goal of developing the IVRS was to provide an alternative channel for small merchants who do not typically use a smartphones to access information on digital payments.</p>\r\n<p>Thirty-five merchant interviews were conducted in targeted areas across Jaipur, Delhi and Gurugram. In this phase, a mixed sample of 15 fixed store merchants, 10 roving merchants, four home-based business owners, and six merchants from federated networks such as eMitra and dairy were interviewed.</p>\r\n\r\n<p><strong>While the value of the platform as a tool was revealed to be high, its usability was low. Some of the learnings from beta testing of IVRS 1.0 were: </strong> </p>\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_position_horizontal=\"center\" enable_parallax=\"false\" parallax_speed=\"0.4\" padding_top=\"100\" padding_bottom=\"100\" el_class=\"uppercase\" bg_image=\"24297\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner][vc_single_image image=\"24308\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"LEARNING BY ITERATING\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:36px|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:46px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal\" letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1533035881798{margin-bottom: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_image=\"7841\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\"]\r\nOur conversations with Kamal gives us important insights into the operational challenges related to testing our hypotheses of bundling digital payments with credit propositions. We are back to the drawing board and are working on an iteration of the pilot.\r\n\r\nIn the next phase, we will introduce a no/low cost payment alternative for small merchants such as Unified Payments Interface (UPI) to help them overcome the cost barriers associated with purchasing and renting a PoS machine. Using our iterative design and learning process, we will also continue to gather deeper insights into the factors that influence merchants and the customer’s willingness to adopt digital payments for small transactions at retail shops such as the one run by Kamal and his family.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][kleo_button title=\"Download\" href=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/unlocking-finance-small-merchants.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" position=\"center\" size=\"lg\" type=\"boxed-icon\" special=\"no\" icon=\"download\" font_size=\"14\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"pkirbtn\" icon_custom_background=\"#d11e3c\" icon_custom_text=\"#ffffff\"][/vc_column][/vc_row]', 'IVRS-story', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '39978-revision-v1', '', '', '2019-01-15 09:51:41', '2019-01-15 09:51:41', '', 39978, 'https://cashlesscatalyst.org/media/39978-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(39993, 12, '2019-01-15 10:24:18', '2019-01-15 10:24:18', '', 'sc1', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', 'sc1', '', '', '2019-01-15 10:24:18', '2019-01-15 10:24:18', '', 39971, 'https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/sc1.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0);
