[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="40136"][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 behavioral insights to improve digital financial capability (DFC) of customers: Key learnings from our experiments across different ecosystems" 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/MoT-Learning-Note.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="About CATALYST" font_container="tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:left|color:%23da4a62|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"]CATALYST is a user-centric ‘digital financial inclusion innovation platform’ for the underserved last mile. The initiative is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the mSTAR Program, through funding provided to FHI 360. Housed within the Institute for Financial Management and Research, Leveraging Evidence for Access and Development (IFMR LEAD), the initiative aims to expand digital payments and financial inclusion in India.CATALYST identifies, develops and validates solution frameworks and business models in collaboration with facilitating government agencies and participating industry solution providers to responsibly transition small business ecosystems (i.e., merchants, consumers, suppliers) from an inefficient cash economy to digital payment platforms, and further onto broader digital finance solutions. CATALYST has also launched a new business incubator, ‘Fintech for the Last Mile,’ to promote entrepreneurs focused on developing innovative digital finance solutions for traditionally underserved segments.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_custom_heading text="Acknowledgements" font_container="tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:left|color:%23da4a62|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"]
<div>The authors thank and acknowledge the support of Arbind Vishwakarma,</div>
<div>Deepti KC, Tunisha Kapoor and John Arun for the insights from their respective projects. Thanks also to Harsh Pandey (FHI 360), Jayshree Venkatesan, Ankur Gautam and Preethi Rao for editorial reviews and feedback, and to Badal Malick and Sharon Buteau for their consistent support and encouragement.</div>
[/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="40098"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text="Executive Summary" 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"]

Evidence suggests that the use of digital financial services can offer benefits such as increased financial transparency, accountability and inclusion. ¹For customers to adopt these solutions, however, it is very important that they see value in these solutions and have the ability and willingness to change their existing habit. This paper elaborates our learnings from experiments deployed by us to improve the uptake of digital payments and promote digital financial inclusion of the population. Some key insights from our field work and interactions with stakeholders include:
<ol>
 	<li>Both the end-consumers and the merchants aren’t proactively looking for digital financial solutions, so the hook to adopt these will have to be very strong. It must be a solution that meets a specific personal need for it to be relevant.</li>
 	<li>Digital financial services are seen as a ‘double-edged sword’ - While majority agree that digital payments and services are convenient and helpful, there is a perceived risk to one’s money due to mistrust in using technology for finances and lack of confidence in their data being kept private. It is very important for the solutions, communication channels and influencers to be trust-worthy to drive adoption.</li>
 	<li>Another aspect that is critical to build customers’ trust is seamless alignment of solutions with emerging technologies. Currently, there are many teething problems with some of the nascent technologies that use UPI or AEPS. If solution providers cannot fix these issues, these liabilities should be clearly defined and communicated to the customers – so that there is no lack of trust later.</li>
 	<li>Adoption of digital financial services is directly proportional to a customer’s familiarity with technology and his/her state of financial inclusion. Taking a low-income individuals on the route to digital financial inclusion, who may or may not have bank accounts to begin with, is a long-drawn process requiring sustained interventions. It is therefore important to first identify the early adopters - example someone who is actively banking and has a smartphone -as they will be more open to change. Once onboarded, they can be the change-agents in networks where they are trusted.</li>
 	<li>Merchants are ready and willing to offer any digital payment solution that the consumers ask for, but the push must be driven by consumers’ demand for it so that it improves their business. Therefore, the initial capability focus for the solution providers should be end-consumers as it is their interest and intent that will decide the merchants’ interest.</li>
 	<li>Taking financial decisions is, in general, perceived to be a complex task – especially by women where they pass on the task to men of the household. There could be various societal norms at play here, but it is very important to take out the complexity from matters related to money. Simple digital solutions can help boost confidence of women and others who might be finding financial decisions complex, in general, and address this need for simplicity in finance.</li>
 	<li>Once people convert to digital payments, they sustain this behavior easily. It requires substantial time and effort to communicate benefits and handhold a consumer to onboard a new digital payments platform. However, once they are onboarded and have personally experienced the convenience of digital payment solutions, people continue to use them.</li>
 	<li>Integrated digital financial inclusion programs should focus on the entire cycle from awareness to sustained change with a specific solution at every step.</li>
 	<li>Finally, to communicate various value propositions and build digital financial capabilities of customers, CATALYST used different channels to reach out to them. We found that a mix of social media and interpersonal channels is important to reach different profiles of people (youth, working men, self-employed women, housewives) who would be at different stages of the adoption curve. For merchants, since they have little active interest in digital payments currently, the format needs to be trusted, easy, engaging and, most importantly, backed by support.</li>
</ol>
<a href="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/332881525873182837/The-Global-Findex-Database-2017-Measuring-Financial-Inclusion-and-the-Fintech-Revolution">http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/332881525873182837/The-Global-Findex-Database-2017-Measuring-Financial-Inclusion-and-the-Fintech-Revolution</a>
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<div style="text-align: center;">Figure 1: The adoption continuum and learnings</div>
[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image="40152" img_size="full" alignment="center"][kleo_gap][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type="image" bg_color="#373b3c" padding_top="150" padding_bottom="150" inline_style="font-style: normal;" bg_image="40100"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text="2. What is digital financial capability and why is it important?" 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"]
<div>Financial capability is defined as ‘the combination of knowledge,</div>
<div>skills, attitudes, and behaviors a person needs to make sound financial decisions. ³We defined digital financial capability as the ability and willingness of the customers to use digital financial services. The key levers that we tried to impact through our work were awareness and knowledge of various options available, how to use the service, attitude towards the service (i.e. willingness), using the service and finally repeated use (sustained behavior and advocacy).</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">Figure 2: Levers of DFC</div>
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<div>In isolation, while digital financial literacy shifts the responsibility onto consumers to decide for themselves and to act on the available options, DFC handholds consumers to the last mile by building their capacity to act as well as providing clear opportunities to do so. With the DFC approach, our intent was to convert people’s knowledge into action.  It is not just about making them aware; it is about filling the huge gap between awareness and action by providing specific end-to-end solutions throughout the adoption journey.</div>
<div>To change the sticky behavior of using cash, people do not just need to be educated about alternative solutions but also need clear answers to ‘why they should change’ and ‘how they should change,’ i.e., they need to have a value proposition or a nudge that will propel them to drop a habit. While ‘why’ will drive their willingness, the ‘how’ will increase their ability to transact.</div>
[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text letter_spacing=""]<a href="http://³ http://content.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/wp content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/CFI_Brief_005_Banking_Sector_Approaches_05-29-2018.pdf">³ http://content.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/wp content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/CFI_Brief_005_Banking_Sector_Approaches_05-29-2018.pdf</a>[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type="image" bg_color="#c9213b" padding_top="150" padding_bottom="150" inline_style="font-style: normal;" bg_image="40101"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text="3. Ecosystems where we deployed digital financial capability experiments" 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 first identified the ecosystems wherein digitization could solve the existing problems by bringing about behavior change.

<strong>Dairy: </strong> A small-value daily purchase such as milk – which involves a number of stakeholders in the supply chain to finally bring milk to the end-consumer – presented a great opportunity for large-scale behavior change. There were four key players we could influence for behavior change across the dairy supply chain: Jaipur Dairy (supplying dairy products under the brand name Saras); dairy distributors; retailers at the booths; and end-consumers. Jaipur Dairy was already accepting payments digitally from distributors, allowing settlement only through bank transfers or checks. This meant that the distributor had to digitize the cash that s/he collected from the retailer; her/his cash collection agent would collect cash from all the retailers and then the distributor would visit banks multiple times to deposit it. There was also the problem of loose change during point-of-sales transactions and the risk of theft from cash collection agents. Digitization of payments along this supply chain from Jaipur Dairy to the end-consumer could resolve all these problems. Details of our work in the dairy ecosystem are presented in Annex 1b.

<strong>EMitra: </strong> eMitra is an e-governance platform offered by the Government of Rajasthan that provides 387 government to customer (G2C) and customer to business (C2B) services such as electricity or water bill payments to its citizens. Rajasthan has over 52,000 physical eMitra centers across the state of which approximately 5,000 operate in Jaipur. Any eMitra entrepreneur must deposit an upfront amount of INR 1 lakh with the government to start providing these services to customers. Given that 98 percent of these transactions are made in cash by end-consumers means that the eMitra entrepreneurs face the burden of high initial working capital and loss of business when they are busy with bank visits to digitize their cash. Once we identified these challenges, we wanted to create an enabling environment for end-consumers to pay digitally for eMitra services. Details of our work in the eMitra ecosystem are presented in Annex 1c.

<strong>Bhatta Basti: </strong> In this migrant slum cluster, to understand the target population and assess their financial needs, CATALYST conducted a survey with randomly selected 442 low-income households in August 2017.⁴ The study indicated useful statistics such as the majority of the bank account holders in Bhatta Basti were male heads of the family; only about 39 percent of the primary earners had any kind of savings; people largely relied on cash-based payments; and a mere 6 percent of the households had any information on digital payments. This highlighted the need for a step-wise approach to first educate consumers about the basic tenets of account opening, help open accounts for use, and then introduce them to the concept of digital financial payments and solutions. Details of our work in the Bhatta Basti ecosystem are presented in Annex 1a.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text letter_spacing=""]
<div style="text-align: center;">Figure 3: Key demographics from Bhatta Basti</div>
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<div>For each of these ecosystems, we first mapped the journeys of our customers from awareness to adoption and identified triggers and barriers to then design value propositions and channels to influence their behavior.</div>
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<div>For more on the survey, check  <a href="https://cashlesscatalyst.org/how-digitally-ready-are-the-urban-ultra-poor/">https://cashlesscatalyst.org/how-digitally-ready-are-the-urban-ultra-poor/</a></div>
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type="image" bg_color="#c9213b" padding_top="150" padding_bottom="150" inline_style="font-style: normal;" bg_image="40101"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text="4. Understanding our customers’ needs, triggers and barriers to adoption of digital financial services" 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"]Catalyst conducted a survey⁵ in Jaipur that revealed that over two-fifths of the merchants surveyed had tried some form of digital payments. However, only a third reported sustained use, a fraction of the overall volumes. The most popular payment service was closed loop wallets, chosen by nearly three-fourths of those surveyed. A little less than a third used cards, and about 25 percent used internet banking. Only 8 percent of overall customer transactions by value were executed digitally. Merchants stated a low customer demand as the biggest reason for not using digital payment solutions, followed by a lack of awareness and the fear of being cheated in that order.⁶[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text letter_spacing=""]
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div>These survey findings were in line with common knowledge in this domain that</div>
<div>barriers to adoption of digital financial services are in abundance, more so among the poor in India. Use of cash for payments is a particularly sticky habit, one that has witnessed resurgence after seeing a slight dip in the demonetization aftermath. Several situational and behavioral factors play a role here. Through extensive desk research and our work across various use-cases, we identified the following key barriers to adoption of digital financial services -</div>
<div>
<ol>
 	<li>habit of using cash and inertia towards non-cash methods</li>
 	<li>lack of compelling value propositions to change</li>
 	<li>limited access to mobile phones and the internet coupled with infrastructural barriers such as poor network connectivity and irregular electricity</li>
 	<li>low levels of digital literacy and perceived complexity of using digital platforms</li>
 	<li>lack of trust in digital services, with fears of fraud and hidden charges;</li>
 	<li>limited acceptance of digital infrastructure by local merchants is both an access and usage barrier. This is often common with new consumers, especially when the interface is cumbersome, or the transaction experience is not smooth owing to poor connectivity or confusing instructions. During the initial trial phase, trust placed in the platform is quickly revoked and the customer reverts to cash.</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
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<div>
<div>
<div>Active field work and continuous monitoring of data enabled identification of key focus areas, and factors that were working and non working in improving DFC in each of the ecosystems. For illustrative purposes, we have listed in Table 1 the key triggers and barriers at every step of the journey that led to the DFC nudges in Bhatta Basti. More details of our work in Bhatta Basti can be found in Annex 1a.</div>
</div>
</div>
[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text letter_spacing=""]⁵See: Mapping the Merchant’s Mind: An analysis of digital payments behaviors by fixed store merchants in Jaipur, Malick, Badal and Rajesh Shukla, PRICE-Catalyst report 2018 &lt;<a href="https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Price-Report-Short-20-June-edited-min.pdf">https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Price-Report-Short-20-June-edited-min.pdf</a>&gt;⁶ Price-CATALYST report 2018, Malick, B. and R. Shukla, ibid.
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<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">Table 1: Illustrative box on triggers and barriers identified for digital financial inclusion journey in Bhatta Basti</div>
</div>
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<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>
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