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
(40133, 12, '2019-01-18 13:30:40', '2019-01-18 13:30:40', '[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=\"40177\"][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=\"IMPLEMENTING INNOVATION THROUGH AN ECOSYSTEM “LEARNING AND SOLVING BY DOING” APPROACH\" 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/Learnin-by-doing-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_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 aims to significantly expand the use of digital payments between low-income consumers and merchants. Achieving this vision requires the identification, development, testing and implementation of innovative business models that are also scalable and sustainable. It also requires a conducive policy environment and a significant behavior change from consumers. Given the numerous stakeholders in the payments value chain, scaling new digital solutions requires that multiple coordination problems be addressed. Through this, the need arises for a context-specific approach, and a rigorous well-defined “learning and solving by doing” methodology. Such a methodology captures the adaptive process of innovation in real world settings where intractable challenges are being addressed. This note outlines the method that is specific to such a setting and underlines CATALYST’s learning process comprising rapid, data-driven, test-learn-and-build cycles with the aim to validate various innovative business models around digital payments that can further be scaled.\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=\"150\" padding_bottom=\"150\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\" bg_image=\"40179\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"AN ECOSYSTEM APPROACH\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\"]CATALYST, through its multiple partnerships, serves as an incubator of innovative business models built around digital payments as well as policy field experiments in real-world settings. This ecosystem approach is core to its ability to achieve sustainable impact on the longer-term and catalyze systematic change.\n\nComplex problems, such as digital payments, often remain unresolved, despite the will to address them. This is because the challenges in resolving them result from interconnectedness and complexities of different actors and aspects. Such challenges need to be studied through the lens of the ecosystem in which they exist. Many actors and factors can influence uptake of digital payments between merchants (supply) and low-income households (demand), or within supply chains. Failure to take into aspects such as the regulatory environment, technology innovation, customer need and constraints, as well as available infrastructure, among other aspects, into consideration would yield very limited impact. Central to the philosophy is blending an entrepreneurial innovative way of thinking with a grass root level approach to doing, to infuse transformative change.\n\n[/vc_column_text][/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=\"40180\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"``LEARNING AND SOLVING`` BY DOING MODEL\" 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\"]Addressing issues in real-word ecosystem settings through innovation requires an exploratory as well as an action-oriented method. This allows potential solutions to emerge and their iterative testing until evolution into an optimal solution. Key to the success of this process is a well-defined learning plan and testing in the intended use environment. It is characterized by incremental knowledge production and collaborative learning among various experts (researchers, practitioners, government, technology experts, etc.).\n\nThe process features the following broad steps:\n\n1. <strong>Identification:</strong> Focus on identifying persistent painpoints from multiple stakeholders’ perspectives.\n\n2. <strong>Solution Design:</strong> Collaborative approach to designing a solution and a commitment to an iterative process that allows continuous refinement of the solution. The solution design is based on developing assumptions from theory, practice as well as ensuring a well-defined plan for learning.\n\n3. <strong>Testing and Systematic Inquiry:</strong> Implementing and testing the solution with the relevant partners and in the environment in which it is intended to be further replicated. This step involves systematic inquiry as learnings are derived and iterated accordingly. Clearly defined metrics are put in place to systematically evaluate, implement and improve the digital payment landscape. Information regarding the methods, tools and metrics used in this exercise are detailed in Appendix. A wide range of methods such as pre-post analysis, information triangulation, A/B testing, experimental and participatory research techniques. Research tools such as surveys, interviews, focus group discussion, etc., are used to gather context-rich information and data that are backed by evidence.\n\n4. <strong>Scaling and Replicating:</strong> Devising a plan for scaling and replicating the optimal solution outcome and catalyzing a systematic and sustaining change in systems.\n\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner css=\".vc_custom_1547795402510{padding-top: 25px !important;}\"][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"2/3\"][vc_single_image image=\"40138\" 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=\"image\" bg_color=\"#c9213b\" padding_top=\"150\" padding_bottom=\"150\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\" bg_image=\"40181\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"MERAPAPER: SUBSCRIPTION MODEL FOR DIGITAL PAYMENTS CASE STUDY\" 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_custom_heading text=\"Background and context\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Merapaper (now Bix42) is a micro Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution, a mobile application that provides digital invoicing and payment service to micro vendors. It focuses on attracting micro vendors whose business has a subscription model of payment. As the first step in this endeavor, it worked towards digitizing billing and invoicing for newspaper vendors, a prominent use case in any geographical area. The solution allowed vendors to keep a track of their consumer base and their respective balances. It generated automatic bills at the end of each month, which reduced the manual labor of maintaining ledgers. In addition, it enabled vendors to send bills to customers via multiple channels of communication such as WhatsApp, email and Short Message Service (SMS). The sections below described the learning by doing process followed by Catalyst.\n\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Identification\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]A digital solution such as the Merapaper application that enables remote payment can ease out the pain in payment collection and accounts reconciliation in a subscription business model. The belief is that, through such a systemized digital subscriptionbased payment mechanism, distributors can realize the value proposition of adopting digital payment mechanisms, thereby eventually growing their business and consumers’ sustain usage as well as adopting digital payment mechanisms for other expenses as well.\n\nNewspaper distribution is a laborious manual process including daily distribution, invoicing and payment collection. While doorstep newspaper distribution is a streamlined process with a low error rate, the billing for it is largely a paper-driven process, one that is onerous and labor-intensive and can take-up to 10-12 hours every month. The monthly collection of payments is equally cumbersome and requires at least three or four repeat visits to each household. In reality, it takes 20-22 days for a newspaper vendor to recover the revenue for a given month. This also includes manual reconciliation and cash accounting for bookkeeping. A newspaper vendor works on moderate margins and relies heavily on timely consumer payments to maintain business cash flow. There is also an overhead spillage of up to 5 percent due to transportation charges and wages of staff engaged in invoice distribution and payments collection. Lack of awareness about the availability of digital payment options was a major reason for such a low percentage of digitally paying customers.\n\nMerapaper’s business model targets small vendors who generally belong to low- to middle-income households, and work more than 16 hours every day. Such vendors maintain a daily product purchase cycle. However, the subscription-based customer payment happens once every month or at longer intervals. Hence, these vendors continue to service consumers while extending a minimum of one month’s credit period. It is critical for these vendors to generate enough cash on a daily basis to run their business, make supplier payments and remain afloat.\n\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"The business case for newspaper distributor to go digital\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]The newspaper business is an ideal sector for payment and invoice digitization. The following section highlights the challenges faced by newspaper distributors that could be resolved with a solution such as the Merapaper app:\n\n1.<strong> Manual process of invoice generation and payment collection:</strong> Newspaper vendors deliver newspapers on a daily basis to consumer households. They must visit each consumer household in person to collect the payments. Payment collection takes about 20-22 days from the date of invoice generation. And a distributor must allocate three to six hours daily and make two to three repeat visits to successfully complete payment collection for the month. Only 2-3 percent of the consumer base pays digitally.\n\n2. <strong>Manual recording of receipts and reconciliation:</strong> Newspaper vendors maintain ledgers with details regarding bill payments and due amount. This task is a challenge due to its time-intensive nature and has the potential to disrupt a vendor’s working capital if mistakes are made.\n\n3. <strong>Resource allocation and overhead cost:</strong> Big newspaper distributors hire temporary employees to complete the monthly payment collection. Along with employee salary, transportation costs chip away at the thin margins of a newspaper business.\n\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Solution design\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]CATALYST worked with Merapaper to test the possibility of digitizing subscription-based payments. In addition to pilot testing the Merapaper application, we also aimed to test if the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) platform was appropriate to digitize newspaper subscription payments.\n\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Theory of change\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Collecting payments from consumers is a time- and resource-consuming activity. Distributors struggle with several inconveniences due to cash collection. For example, costumers are sometimes unavailable or low-income subscribers may not have the payment amount available with them.\n\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner css=\".vc_custom_1547558084322{padding-top: 25px !important;}\"][vc_column_inner][vc_single_image image=\"40141\" img_size=\"728*520\" alignment=\"center\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space][vc_custom_heading text=\"Objective\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]In the wake of the given opportunity to digitize payments to newspaper vendors, the objective was to:\n\ni. Test whether UPI-based remote digital payments are an effective solution for newspaper payments;\n\nii. Test whether consumers adopt the UPI payment mechanism for newspaper payments;\n\niii. Understand the impact of UPI-based remote payment mechanism in creating value for distributor and consumer;\n\niv. Build a process workflow for the newspaper bill payment use case, which can help Merapaper to build a sustained business model; and\n\nv. Validate if Merapaper’s business model provides value to its distributors as an effective and user-friendly solution with a proposition to scale.\n\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Focus areas\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]The pilot was focused on peri-urban communities with household incomes in the range of INR 15,000 to 20,000 per annum with most of the residents employed as daily wage laborers, taxi drivers, and household helps. Four locations with this category of consumer base were suggested to provide a vendor connect in the given location. Of the three vendors engaged, two dropped out half way through the pilot due to a lack of availability. The pilot was finally executed in the Kanakpura locality of Jaipur.\n\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Stakeholder engagement\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Within the subscription-based digital payment ecosystem for newspapers, we engaged with the following key stakeholders.\n\ni. <strong>Newspaper vendors:</strong> To introduce digital payment option through the Merapaper mobile application and promote incentives and other pilot levers to the consumer base across the identified low-income communities. In addition, vendors also evaluate payment solution during the pilot and adopt a commercial/sustainable business model based on pilot success, during as well as post pilot.\n\nii. <strong>Solution provider (Merapaper):</strong> To train vendors on application usability; provide a single channel for troubleshooting and grievance redressal; carry out periodic review of progress; and evaluate the need for any iterative change to the process. Finally, based on pilot learnings, the solution provider must develop scalable and sustainable models for large-scale roll out.\n\niii. <strong>Consumer:</strong> To interact with the vendor to evaluate the need for the solution and to provide feedback on solution features, value-added services and ease of use.\n\n[/vc_column_text][/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=\"TESTING AND SYSTEMIC INQUIRY\" 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\"]An iterative process of learning was followed where field implementation and data-driven decision making was efficiently combined for optimal impact. The focus of this approach was to identify means of instilling a behavior shift from cash to digital payments among consumers and small vendors. Presented here is the phase-wise description of the experiment designed for the pilot.\n\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Phase 1: Merchant identification and onboarding\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Phase 1 was initiated with the one-time set up of the process for UPI payment flow, vendor onboarding and registration of the selected distributor. CATALYST had an active role in this phase involving training of the distributor on the usability of UPI apps and onboarding activities.\n\n<strong>Methods:</strong> Pre-post analysis backed by triangulation of information for validation.\n\n<strong>Tools:</strong> In-depth interviews with vendors, distributors, etc. Surveys were conducted to gather preliminary information.\n\n<strong>Metrics:</strong> Merchant information, business information, consumer base, payment collection data, etc.\n\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Phase 2: Sampling and consumer onboarding:\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]To enhance the pilot’s focus and efficiency, CATALYST, along with the distributors identified a few colonies with a high concentration of the customer base where we could engage with a sample of 300 households.\n\n<strong>Payment collection through UPI:</strong> The distributor then shared his Virtual Payment Address (VPA) along with the monthly invoice to collect payment from the consumer.\n\n<strong>Consumer onboarding and activation:</strong> The distributor along with a CATALYST agent, conducted his daily payment collection beat, where he introduced the agent to his customers after which the agent briefed these consumers about the benefits of the UPI app and helped them onboard the apps.\n\n<strong>Methods:</strong> A participatory research technique was employed to gain context-rich insights from the vendor for the solution design. Information collected through the surveys was incorporated into the pre-post analysis.\n\n<strong>Tools:</strong> Consumers were introduced to enumerators for the preliminary survey and awareness creation; in-depth interviews and non-participatory observation were also carried out to understand motivation and perception.\n\n<strong>Metrics:</strong> Consumer household data, vendor consumer-base information, payment practices, etc.\n\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Phase 3: Handholding and triability\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Upon successful registration on UPI, consumers were nudged by the vendor to make their current month’s payment using UPI apps.\n\n<strong>Payment reconciliation:</strong> Merapaper used consumer details (name and VPA) recorded during onboarding to manually reconcile the UPI payments daily and then reflect and update the same information on the distributor’s MeraPaper balance sheet (dashboard).\n\n<strong>Methods:</strong> A/B testing was incorporated to understand adoptability and usability of the mobile application and UPI payment triangulation\nof data to understand digital payment viability for subscription-based payments.\n\n<strong>Tools:</strong> Focus group discussions with the vendor and consumers were conducted; participatory and non-participatory observation of payment and collection behaviour was conducted.\n\n<strong>Metrics:</strong> Transactional data; payment practices; mobile application and UPI adoption and usage, etc.\n\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Phase 4: Behavioral shift and monitoring\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<strong>Sending out bulk automated invoices:</strong> The vendor generates automated invoices for all 200 consumers in the sample and sends them to the consumers using WhatsApp/SMS.\n\n<strong>Sending out bulk automated invoices:</strong>\n\na. Distributor 1: In order to test if incentives increase solution usage and uptake, the distributor shall provide incentives to consumers through discounts on the next month’s billing cycle, for payments made through UPI. Subject to uptake of the solution based on the incentive trigger, the incentive amount shall be incremented, if required.\n\nb. Distributor 2: To test the most effective way to trigger remote digital payments to send a collect request using UPI apps or to rely on self-initiated transactions to facilitate payments through the UPI apps, consumers will be divided in batches of 100.\n\n<strong>Methods:</strong> Experimental research techniques used to test responses to the mobile app, UPI payments as well as incentives introduced to encourage adoption; pre-post analysis by comparing pre-implementation data with postimplementation data.\n\n<strong>Tools:</strong> Surveys, interviews, observations and focus group discussion.\n\n<strong>Metrics:</strong> Transaction data; information regarding sustained usage; incentive impact\n\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Conversion funnel\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Figure 3 represents the consumer conversion funnel, i.e., the proportion of consumers engaged with through vendors who were successfully onboarded and sustained digital payments for newspapers.\n\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_single_image image=\"40155\" 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=\"SCALING AND REPLICATION\" 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=\"Key findings\" 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\"]\n<ul>\n	<li>During the three-month long door-to-door campaign, we engaged approximately 300 consumer households in the experiment; 30 percent of these households adopted either a mobile-wallet or an UPI application.</li>\n	<li>The revenue from digital payments for the partner vendor increased 10-fold in the months following this active field engagement.</li>\n	<li>We saw 2 percent payment digitization in September 2017 which increased to 20 percent in January 2018. As of April 2018, i.e., close of experiment, approximately 60 percent of the vendor’s payments had been digitized.</li>\n</ul>\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"Key challenges\" 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\"]\n<ul>\n	<li><strong>Vendor and consumer onboarding difficulties:</strong>Onboarding vendors onto the Merapaper application was a cumbersome and labor-intensive process. At the time of the experiment, the vendor needed to make a one-time effort of manually add all his/her consumer contact and other details on the application to start their subscription payment services. This lowered the speed at which the solution could achieve scale.</li>\n	<li><strong>Business model niche:</strong> A typical newspaper vendor serves to 500-2,000 customers and a tier II city like Jaipur has, on average, 2,000-3,500 vendors. The newspaper vertical is a small niche use case that is fit for this solution. As the Merapaper model is specifically aimed at subscriptions and charges a small fee per transaction, operating in such a niche raises the risk of Merapaper’s financial sustainability. It opens up the potential to expand into subscription-based business such as milk, cable television and tiffin services.</li>\n	<li><strong>Challenges with generic name:</strong> The name “Merapaper” made it difficult for the solution provider to scale to other verticals as the name literally translates to ‘my newspaper’.</li>\n	<li><strong>Language barrier:</strong> During the experiment period, Merapaper supported three major Indic languages apart from English. It is crucial for solution providers to develop apps in local languages and dialects because of the low literacy rate among adults.</li>\n</ul>\n[/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=\"SUMMING UP\" 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 Merapaper experience thus becomes an illustrative example of the learning-by-doing approach where the key challenges become the identified problems in the next iteration. The solution design incorporates changes based on the identification of the challenges. While it was part of CATALYST’s “Fintech for the Last Mile” incubation program, Merapaper rebranded itself as Bix42 to incorporate a range of other subscriptionbased services such as cable television and water cans, among others. It also continued to test its application’s User Interface (UI) to check if it was appropriately suited to the various services that were added to the platform.\n\nThe rebranding and UI overhaul tackled the business model niche, the generic name and the language barrier challenges for Merapaper. At the same time, this started the next round of iteration where, under CATALYST’s incubation program, the team’s innovation strategies met an exploratory actionoriented method. CATALYST facilitated the emergence of potential solutions to counter challenges at every stage of product development to arrive at a nearoptimal solution. A well-defined learning plan as well as a testing and feedback mechanism facilitated by CATALYST were instrumental in not just improving the solution but also ensuring that the experiment had considerable intended impact – that of promotion of digital payments and digital financial inclusion of micro entrepreneurs.\n\nThe experiment demonstrated how incremental knowledge production can result from collaborative learning among various stakeholders such as researchers, practitioners, technology experts and ultimately benefit the end-user.\n\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"Annex 1\" 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\"]The Annex features different research methodologies and tools that can be used to gather informed insights backed by evidence and data.\n\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"Learning methodologies\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:left|color:%23d11e3c|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][vc_column_inner][vc_raw_html][encoded data, 4896 characters][/vc_raw_html][vc_custom_heading text=\"Learning tools\" font_container=\"tag:h2|font_size:26px|text_align:left|color:%23d11e3c|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_raw_html][encoded data, 6028 characters][/vc_raw_html][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]<sup>5</sup><a href=\"http://www.pewresearch.org/methodology/u-s-survey-research/collecting-survey-data\">http://www.pewresearch.org/methodology/u-s-survey-research/collecting-survey-data</a>/\n\n<em>\n\n<em><sup>6</sup><a href=\"https://www.betterevaluation.org/en/evaluation-options/key_informant_interviews\">https://www.betterevaluation.org/en/evaluation-options/key_informant_interviews</a></em>\n\n<em><sup>7</sup><a href=\"http://www.qualres.org/HomeObse-3594.html\">http://www.qualres.org/HomeObse-3594.html</a></em>\n\n<em><sup>8</sup><a href=\"https://www.spotless.co.uk/insights/ethnography-when-and-how/\">https://www.spotless.co.uk/insights/ethnography-when-and-how/</a></em>\n\n<em><sup>9</sup><a href=\"https://www.odi.org/publications/5695-focus-group-discussion\">https://www.odi.org/publications/5695-focus-group-discussion</a></em>\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/Learnin-by-doing-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]', 'IMPLEMENTING INNOVATION THROUGH AN ECOSYSTEM “LEARNING AND SOLVING BY DOING” APPROACH', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '40130-autosave-v1', '', '', '2019-01-18 13:30:40', '2019-01-18 13:30:40', '', 40130, 'https://cashlesscatalyst.org/media/40130-autosave-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0);
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(40135, 12, '2019-01-18 07:02:59', '2019-01-18 07:02:59', '[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=\"IMPLEMENTING INNOVATION THROUGH AN ECOSYSTEM “LEARNING AND SOLVING BY DOING” APPROACH\" 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\"]<p>CATALYST aims to significantly expand the use of digital payments between low-income consumers and merchants. Achieving this vision requires the identification, development, testing and implementation of innovative business models that are also scalable and sustainable. It also requires a conducive policy environment and a significant behavior change from consumers. Given the numerous stakeholders in the payments value chain, scaling new digital solutions requires that multiple coordination problems be addressed. Through this, the need arises for a context-specific approach, and a rigorous well-defined “learning and solving by doing” methodology. Such a methodology captures the adaptive process of innovation in real world settings where intractable challenges are being addressed. This note outlines the method that is specific to such a setting and underlines CATALYST’s learning process comprising rapid, data-driven, test-learn-and-build cycles with the aim to validate various innovative business models around digital payments that can further be scaled.</p>[/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=\"AN ECOSYSTEM APPROACH\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>CATALYST, through its multiple partnerships, serves as an incubator of innovative business models built around digital payments as well as policy field experiments in real-world settings. This ecosystem approach is core to its ability to achieve sustainable impact on the longer-term and catalyze systematic change.</p>\r\n<p>Complex problems, such as digital payments, often remain unresolved, despite the will to address them. This is because the challenges in resolving them result from interconnectedness and complexities of different actors and aspects. Such challenges need to be studied through the lens of the ecosystem in which they exist. Many actors and factors can influence uptake of digital payments between merchants (supply) and low-income households (demand), or within supply chains. Failure to take into aspects such as the regulatory environment, technology innovation, customer need and constraints, as well as available infrastructure, among other aspects, into consideration would yield very limited impact. Central to the philosophy is blending an entrepreneurial innovative way of thinking with a grass root level approach to doing, to infuse transformative change.</p>\r\n[/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=\"``LEARNING AND SOLVING`` BY DOING MODEL\" 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>Addressing issues in real-word ecosystem settings through innovation requires an exploratory as well as an action-oriented method. This allows potential solutions to emerge and their iterative testing until evolution into an optimal solution. Key to the success of this process is a well-defined learning plan and testing in the intended use environment. It is characterized by incremental knowledge production and collaborative learning among various experts (researchers, practitioners, government, technology experts, etc.).</p>\r\n<p>The process features the following broad steps:</p>\r\n<p>1. <strong>Identification:</strong> Focus on identifying persistent painpoints from multiple stakeholders’ perspectives.</p>\r\n<p>2. <strong>Solution Design:</strong> Collaborative approach to designing a solution and a commitment to an iterative process that allows continuous refinement of the solution. The solution design is based on developing assumptions from theory, practice as well as ensuring a well-defined plan for learning.</p>\r\n<p>3. <strong>Testing and Systematic Inquiry:</strong> Implementing and testing the solution with the relevant partners and in the environment in which it is intended to be further replicated. This step involves systematic inquiry as learnings are derived and iterated accordingly. Clearly defined metrics are put in place to systematically evaluate, implement and improve the digital payment landscape. Information regarding the methods, tools and metrics used in this exercise are detailed in Appendix. A wide range of methods such as pre-post analysis, information triangulation, A/B testing, experimental and participatory research techniques. Research tools such as surveys, interviews, focus group discussion, etc., are used to gather context-rich information and data that are backed by evidence.</p>\r\n<p>4. <strong>Scaling and Replicating:</strong> Devising a plan for scaling and replicating the optimal solution outcome and catalyzing a systematic and sustaining change in systems.</p>[/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_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]', 'IMPLEMENTING INNOVATION THROUGH AN ECOSYSTEM “LEARNING AND SOLVING BY DOING” APPROACH', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '40130-revision-v1', '', '', '2019-01-18 07:02:59', '2019-01-18 07:02:59', '', 40130, 'https://cashlesscatalyst.org/media/40130-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(40134, 12, '2019-01-18 06:04:24', '2019-01-18 06:04:24', '[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=\"IMPLEMENTING INNOVATION THROUGH AN ECOSYSTEM “LEARNING AND SOLVING BY DOING” APPROACH\" 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_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]', 'IMPLEMENTING INNOVATION THROUGH AN ECOSYSTEM “LEARNING AND SOLVING BY DOING” APPROACH', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '40130-revision-v1', '', '', '2019-01-18 06:04:24', '2019-01-18 06:04:24', '', 40130, 'https://cashlesscatalyst.org/media/40130-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
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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
(40137, 23, '2019-01-22 09:50:37', '2019-01-22 09:50:37', '[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=\"40276\"][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:%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\"]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:%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 authors thank and acknowledge the support of Arbind Vishwakarma, 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.\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=\"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:\n<ol>\n 	<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>\n 	<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>\n 	<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>\n 	<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>\n 	<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>\n 	<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>\n 	<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>\n 	<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>\n 	<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>\n</ol>\n<em><a style=\"font-style: italic;\" 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></em>[/vc_column_text][kleo_gap][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][kleo_gap][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">Figure 1: The adoption continuum and learnings</div>\n[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=\"40265\" 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=\"40277\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"1. OVERVIEW\" 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][vc_column][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]There are numerous examples from different countries that show how digital finance helped unpack different benefits and had a positive impact on important indicators like increased financial resilience or gender equality. In Kenya, for instance, access to Kenyan mobile money system M-Pesa extended financial services to the unbanked population at a very low cost. It provided them with a more affordable payments system, improved their financial behavior and increased the financial resilience of the households. It lifted 194,000 households out of poverty and especially worked for women, who moved out of agriculture and into other businesses.² Similarly, in Mexico, digital financial inclusion and the increased transparency that came with it allowed KuboFinanciero to offer peer-to-peer lending platforms. The middle class and wealthier borrowers could connect with small businesses and households and offer them credit post assessing their profiles and risks. Therefore, the benefits of digital finance, in the long term go beyond just increasing convenience of transactions or driving down costs.\n\nHowever, adoption of digital financial services requires a change in existing behavior – of consumers and of merchants. It requires people to change their existing habit of using cash and hence it is important for any solution provider to first understand the barriers to change and next work out the nudges that result in behavior change. To come up with targeted solutions for customers, it is important to first understand how they think, make decisions and behave. Better understanding of human behavior and reasons behind their actions can lead to better design solutions. “The ability to understand what products and how they can be used to inculcate habit-forming behaviors in your target customer base can lead to the design of a sustaining product,” says Nir Eyal, author of How to Build Habitforming Products.\n\nAt CATALYST, we realized that to bring about a behavioral shift from cash to digital payments and to ensure integrated financial inclusion, we would first need to understand our target audience (merchants and end-consumers), their triggers and barriers towards digital financial services and then influence their behavior by improving their digital financial capability (DFC).\n\n² Suri, T. and William Jack <a style=\"font-style: italic;\" href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27940873\">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27940873</a> December 9, 2016[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" bg_color=\"#373b3c\" padding_top=\"150\" padding_bottom=\"150\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\" bg_image=\"40278\"][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\"]Financial capability is defined as ‘the combination of knowledge, 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).\n\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_gap][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">Figure 2: Levers of DFC</div>\n[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"2/3\"][vc_single_image image=\"40266\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]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.\n\nTo 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.\n\n[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]<a style=\"font-style: italic;\" 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=\"40279\"][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][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=\"yes\"][vc_column_inner el_class=\"normal-style\"][/vc_column_inner][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.\n\n<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.\n\n<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.\n\n<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_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"2/3\"][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Figure 3: Key demographics from Bhatta Basti</p>\n[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=\"40267\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\n<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>\n[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\n\n<sup>4</sup>For more on the survey, check  <a style=\"font-style: italic;\" href=\"https://cashlesscatalyst.org/how-digitally-ready-are-the-urban-ultra-poor/\">https://cashlesscatalyst.org/how-digitally-ready-are-the-urban-ultra-poor/</a>\n\n[/vc_column_text][/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=\"40280\"][vc_column][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][/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=\"\"]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\n\nThese survey findings were in line with common knowledge in this domain that 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 -\n\n1. habit of using cash and inertia towards non-cash methods\n\n2. lack of compelling value propositions to change\n\n3. limited access to mobile phones and the internet coupled with infrastructural barriers such as poor network connectivity and irregular electricity\n\n4. low levels of digital literacy and perceived complexity of using digital platforms\n\n5. lack of trust in digital services, with fears of fraud and hidden charges;\n\n6. 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.\n\n[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\n<div>\n<div>\n<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>\n</div>\n</div>\n[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]<sup>5</sup>See: 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 style=\"font-style: italic;\" 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;\n<sup>6</sup> Price-CATALYST report 2018, Malick, B. and R. Shukla, ibid.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][kleo_gap][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\n<div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">Table 1: Illustrative box on triggers and barriers identified for digital financial inclusion journey in Bhatta Basti</div>\n</div>\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_gap][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\n\n<style>\ntable {border-collapse: collapse;}table, td, th {border: 1px solid black;} .red {color:#E83355; text-align:center;} th{text-align:center;} td {padding:1rem;}<br />\n</style>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Stages of adoption</th>\n<th>Triggers</th>\n<th>Barriers</th>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"red\">Awareness and Consideration (Bank Accounts)</td>\n<td>Value propositions of benefits and advantages of savings and banking</td>\n<td>Little awareness about benefits of savings and bank accounts</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"red\">Adoption of bank accounts</td>\n<td>Improved awareness and financial capability - how to use financial sources, whom to trust and what information must not be shared</td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n 	<li>Lack of trust - refusal to open bank accounts due to prior experience with the cases of fraud</li>\n 	<li>Documentation issues - Documents unavailable in case of migrant members, problems associated with Aadhaar card</li>\n</ul>\n</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"red\">Active Banking</td>\n<td>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Connecting financial inclusion to education inclusion, health inclusion etc. For example. many families wanted to avail of scholarships for their children upon opening bank accounts</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Youth /educated member in the family were often consulted for advice on financial matters. Thus, increased efficacy towards digital financial capability among youth would have a positive influence</td>\n</tr>\n</tbody>\n</table>\n</td>\n<td>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Lack of clear value proposition for financial inclusion</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<ul>\n 	<li>Lack of trust, particularly amongst women in Bhatta Basti, about the safety of money in bank accounts</li>\n 	<li>Low confidence in safekeeping of debit cards and making digital payments</li>\n</ul>\n</td>\n</tr>\n</tbody>\n</table>\n</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"red\">Awareness and Consideration (Digital Payments)</td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n 	<li>Awareness about usage and how to keep accounts secure,</li>\n 	<li>Incentive</li>\n</ul>\n</td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n 	<li>Most did not have smartphones</li>\n 	<li>Little awareness, exposure or familiarity with banking and mobile payment operations/ instruments and its perceived complexity</li>\n 	<li>Lack of trust in safety associated with digital transactions</li>\n 	<li>No interest or motivation in using non-cash modes of payment</li>\n</ul>\n</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"red\">Adoption of digital payments</td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n 	<li>Aspirational imagery of being with the times (mostly youth)</li>\n 	<li>Convenience (mostly working men)</li>\n</ul>\n</td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n 	<li>Network issues - lack of access to internet in many parts of Bhatta Basti</li>\n 	<li>Time and distance factor for the process of on-boarding</li>\n 	<li>Varied technical glitches and problems</li>\n</ul>\n</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"red\">Active usage of digital payments</td>\n<td>Adoption of digital payment solutions such as AEPS, UPI etc. by merchants, e-mitras and vendors in Bhatta Basti</td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n 	<li>Lack of reliable and consistent network</li>\n 	<li>No clear benefit seen over cash payments</li>\n 	<li>Absence of regular and trusted merchants and vendors on these platforms</li>\n</ul>\n</td>\n</tr>\n</tbody>\n</table>\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_gap][/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=\"40281\"][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=\"5. DESIGNING BEHAVIORAL NUDGES AND CHANNELS TO COMMUNICATE\" 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][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" enable_parallax=\"false\" padding_top=\"50\" padding_bottom=\"150\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]Once the gaps and opportunities within each user segment were identified, our efforts were directed towards answering two critical questions: where should the digital financial solutions operate (in the user journey) and what is the value gap that they will address? This is the step at which targeted solutions to address the gaps and the relevant behavioral nudges emerged.\n<div>While designing the DFC nudges and choosing various channels for its delivery, we ensured a mix of value propositions for both the merchants as well as the end-consumers – that addressed various stages of adoption. The decision on the channels and the value propositions we communicated were based on –</div>\n<div><strong>a. Profile of the target group–</strong> We based our decisions of channels on the knowledge about smartphone ownership and social media usage of the merchants and end-consumers. A majority of the merchants owned a smartphone and had a presence on social media. In Bhatta Basti, less than half of the population owned smartphones.</div>\n<div><strong>b. Stage of adoption and triggers/barriers–</strong> Both merchants and end-consumers are at different stages of adoption. While some were open and willing to transact digitally, they did not have the ability; others were not even aware of digital payment options. Therefore, in some cases, the solution needed to increase awareness and invoke interest while, in others, the solutions needed to begin with getting the end-consumer onboarded onto the platform and then take them forward. Further, our communication through these channels was based on the triggers and barriers identified through our field work. An illustration of the triggers and barriers across the dairy merchants’ adoption journey is provided in Table 2.</div>\n[/vc_column_text][vc_column_inner][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Table 2: Illustrative information on triggers and barriers identified for adoption of digital payment solutions by dairy merchants</p>\n[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><style>\ntable {border-collapse: collapse;}table, td, th {border: 1px solid black;} .red {color:#E83355; text-align:center;} th{text-align:center;} td {padding:1rem;}<br />\n</style></p>\n\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Stages of adoption</th>\n<th>Triggers</th>\n<th>Barriers</th>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"red\">Engaged but not adopted</td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n 	<li>Value proposition of direct money transfer to bank account increases security and eases services like bill payment, account-to-account money transfer.</li>\n 	<li>Perception of digital payments to be an inevitable future.</li>\n</ul>\n</td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n 	<li>Technical difficulties of using correct phone version, bank account type, etc.</li>\n 	<li>Perceived time and complexity of a digital transaction.</li>\n 	<li>Lack incentive to undertake extra effort in terms of daily bank visit to digitize income and opportunity cost of time, fuel and business loss.</li>\n</ul>\n</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"red\">Engaged and adopted</td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n 	<li>Direct money transfer and increased security.</li>\n 	<li>Helped retailers in credit building.</li>\n</ul>\n</td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n 	<li>Lack of customer interest in digital payments.</li>\n 	<li>90% of the non-cash customers use wallets, and show resistance to UPI adoption.</li>\n 	<li>Lack incentive and opportunity cost of bank visit.</li>\n</ul>\n</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"red\">Active user</td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n 	<li>Allow retailers to pay at convenience with no dependency on distributor’s cash collector.</li>\n 	<li>Hassle-free accounting.</li>\n 	<li>Direct money transfer.</li>\n</ul>\n</td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n 	<li>Network connectivity issues.</li>\n 	<li>Commission charges of digital payment service providers diminish the already thin dairy margins.</li>\n</ul>\n</td>\n</tr>\n</tbody>\n</table>\n[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\n<div>\n<div>c. Familiarity and trust with channel: It is very important to select a channel that the customers are familiar with and trust completely. This is also true of the change agents or influencers who introduce them to the solutions.</div>\n<div></div>\n<div>Based on the above, the various channels that CATALYST used to communicate value propositions and improve DFC of the customers across ecosystems are presented in the matrix in Figure 4.</div>\n</div>\n[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Table 3: Channels used to present DFC value proposition</p>\n\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th></th>\n<th>eMitras</th>\n<th>Dairy</th>\n<th>Bhatta Basti</th>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"red\">Merchant-facing</td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n 	<li>Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) for knowledge dissemination</li>\n 	<li>WhatsApp group for peer-to-peer influence and nudge</li>\n 	<li>Capacity building of eMitra agents</li>\n</ul>\n</td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n 	<li>IVRS for knowledge dissemination</li>\n 	<li>WhatsApp group for peer-to-peer influence and nudge</li>\n 	<li>Capacity building of dairy merchants</li>\n</ul>\n</td>\n<td></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"red\">Consumer-facing</td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n 	<li>Flyers at points of sale</li>\n 	<li>Incentives</li>\n 	<li>Personal handholding for onboarding</li>\n</ul>\n</td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n 	<li>Flyers at points of sale</li>\n 	<li>Personal handholding for onboarding</li>\n</ul>\n</td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n 	<li>Facebook awareness video</li>\n 	<li>Digital mela for awareness and onboarding (with distribution of visual collaterals like comic books, flyers)</li>\n 	<li>WhatsApp group moderated by change agents of the community</li>\n 	<li>Personal handholding for onboarding</li>\n</ul>\n</td>\n</tr>\n</tbody>\n</table>\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"FOR MERCHANTS (DAIRY AND EMITRA)\" 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_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]<strong>Toll-free IVRS: </strong>\n\nTo bring merchants onboard digital solutions and prompt them advocate them to their customers, we felt that the first step was to increase their knowledge about the different options available. Towards this end, an IVRS was set up to provide information to merchants over phone about various payment options and how to use them. The merchants could call in at the number at any time, free of cost, and get information on any digital payment solution they were interested in. We had spread awareness about the IVRS number within the top 500 eMitra entrepreneurs based in Jaipur as well as the dairy retailer network of the onboarded distributors of the dairy digitization project.\n\n<strong>a. What worked?</strong>\nAnybody could call at the toll-free number (it did not have to be a smartphone user) at their own convenience to acquire knowledge about any solution that they were interested in. The purpose of the IVRS was clear to the merchants and it successfully assuaged trust issues by establishing association with the Government of Rajasthan; the voice quality was appreciated; the information flow and navigation were considered easy.\n\n<strong>b. What didn’t work?</strong>\nIt is too early a stage for merchants to call proactively. The precursor to evoking merchants’ interest in a solution like this is to first increase consumer uptake for digital payment solutions which would act as the push. Furthermore, merchants who accessed the IVRS felt that there was information overload and, due to their other work, they could not give so much time to the IVRS.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\n<div>\n<div>Since merchants have very little active interest in digital payments right now, channels such as IVRS where they need to call by themselves might not work unless there is a clear incentive or direct link with increase in business. Even at a stage where merchants are ready and willing to access IVRS, the format needs to be trusted, easy, engaging and, most importantly, backed by support, with a follow up SMS or WhatsApp message This will serve as a ready reckoner and have the link to a customer support number to pose further queries to.</div>\n</div>\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"WhatsApp group of merchants:\n\" 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_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\n<div>\n<div>We created and moderated a WhatsApp group of 20 merchants with the idea of offering the merchants a platform to share their experiences and challenges with others like them. We used WhatsApp as all the merchants were familiar with and already using the app. It also allowed easy sharing of multimedia such as images, videos, etc. We shared information on the benefits of digital payments such as convenience of instant bank-to-bank transfers, no need for loose change, etc. The idea was to inspire them to go digital and then leave them with a channel that does not require moderation from a third party but is sustainable through their own information sharing. WhatsApp was the merchants’ preferred mode to receive information on digital payments as they use it extensively and find it non-intrusive.</div>\n</div>\n[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]<strong>a. What worked?</strong>\nWhatsApp was the merchants’ preferred mode to receive information on digital payments as they use it extensively and find it non-intrusive.\n\n<strong>b. What didn’t work?</strong>\nLow interest in digital payments from consumers meant low interest among merchants and hence the WhatsApp group did not show much proactive engagement. The merchants informed us that they preferred videos over texts.\n\nTherefore, a merchants’ WhatsApp group has the potential to act as a redressal mechanism as merchants can share their experiences and learn from each other, but it may work only at a later stage of digital payments adoption.\n\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Interpersonal communication and capacity building of merchants:\n\" 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_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]This was done to ensure that the merchants themselves spread awareness about digital payments, explain their benefits and onboard potential users. They were educated on how it would benefit them as well as their consumers and how it was to be done. Merchants were also given collaterals that taught them about the benefits of various payment methods.\n\n<strong>a. What worked?</strong>\nThis was an easy method of conveying the benefits and advantages of adopting digital payments and banking. It also helped address the merchants’ needs to understand the process of onboarding their customers.\n\n<strong>b. What didn’t work?</strong>\nPersonal handholding for every merchant involves a very intensive effort and heavy investment. There is a lot of dependability on the solution providers’ agent and his/her training to be able to make a difference.\n\nOne of the key learnings was that not all end-consumers view merchants as a trusted source for financial information so merchants might not be the right catalyst for improving DFC of end-consumers.\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"FOR CONSUMERS (DAIRY AND EMITRA)\" 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_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]<strong>Flyers and interpersonal communication at the point of sales:</strong>\n\nTo spread awareness about digital payment solutions and their benefits, we placed collaterals on the key value propositions of digital payments at eMitra centers and dairy booths. These were targeted at the digitally-ready audience which would be interested in using digital payments due to the problems of loose change at the dairy booth or the benefit of convenience, in general. They were expected to find the value propositions relevant and ask the merchant for more information. We also provided personal handholding at the dairy booths and eMitra centers to those interested in onboarding onto digital payment solutions. The handholding exercise was undertaken to assist customers with UPI onboarding and to observe and learn from the uptake behavior.\n\n<strong>Example of a consumer-facing dairy collateral that gives the reasons of using digital payments</strong>\n[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=\"40268\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]<strong>a. What worked</strong>\nFlyers are a subtle and non-intrusive way of making consumers aware of the presence of digital payment solutions with the merchant. It encouraged digitally-ready consumers to seek more information through the merchant. Personal handholding worked better to onboard people onto the platform as there are still many technological challenges that people face when accessing the solutions on their own, due to which they give up easily.\n<strong>b. What didn\'t work</strong>\nThose who are not already positively inclined towards digital payments do not pay much attention to flyers, but personal talk makes a difference in convincing them. The majority told us they would be motivated by cash backs and rewards to use digital payments, else they were comfortable with cash and saw no reason to shift.[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"For consumers (Bhatta Basti)\" 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_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]<strong>Facebook awareness videos: </strong>\n\nTo generate initial interest amongst the early adopters of digital payments, we implemented a geo-targeted Facebook campaign in Bhatta Basti to let smartphone users know about digital payments being used in their area and achievements of other people in their communities. These were targeted at youth ambassadors who can influence others in the community and relied on the “network effect” to attract other account holders.\n\n<strong>a. What worked</strong>\nFacebook as a medium turned out to be very cost-effective and targeted, with our campaign reaching over a lakh Facebook users (early adopters of technology) in and around Bhatta Basti.\n<strong>b. What didn\'t work</strong>\nThe profile of smartphone users became the profile of our campaign; 91 percent of the people reached through the Facebook campaign were men and only 9 percent were women.\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Digital mela for consumers across different stages of adoption: \" 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_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\n<div>\n<div>Our research indicated that, in an ultra-poor locality such as Bhatta Basti, onboarding customers onto digital payment platforms required the highest degree of in-person handholding, particularly for the initial set of transactions. Hence, it was important to find economical ways of deploying this handholding and our digital mela in Bhatta Basti (in October 2018) was such an attempt. At the mela, we provided two main kinds of services:</div>\n</div>\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_gap][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\n<div>\n<div>i. Information about Automated Teller Machine (ATM) PIN generation; and</div>\n<div>ii. Handholding support for UPI onboarding (downloading and registering).</div>\n</div>\n[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\n<div>\n<div>For spreading awareness about the mela, we identified those youngsters who were already making digital payments and recruited them for our work. We called them ‘Digital Champions’ and they were supposed to encourage and get their peers to the mela. The mela helped build customer capability in an interesting manner through role plays and comic books, etc. We distributed various comic books on ATM pin generation, AEPS and advantages and usage of UPI among people of different ages and with varying levels of digital and financial awareness in Bhatta Basti. (An example of a comic book on UPI is shown below).</div>\n</div>\n[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=\"40269\" img_size=\"full\"][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]Link to full comic book: UPI full comic book\n<div></div>\n[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]<strong>a. What worked?</strong>\nThe \'Digital Champions’ helped us reach out to their peers in their communities in a very targeted and effective way. The digital mela proved to be a good mode of creating awareness and spreading knowledge on UPI services. Sixty-two percent of the attendees said they learnt about the advantages of using UPI and 46 percent said they started transacting using UPI. Comic books were seen as fun and they cut through demographics and gender in their appeal.\n<strong>b. What didn\'t work?</strong>\nFootfall was male dominated (92 percent) possibly due to the mela being in central market. In order to reach out to more women, a more central location could be chosen. Many felt that the language used in the comic books should have been simpler and easy to understand, and there should have been more pictures and illustrations.[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"WhatsApp group for individuals: \" 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_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\n<div>\n<div>Over the course of four months, we created and moderated two WhatsApp groups in Bhatta Basti to spread digital financial awareness: one for men and one for women. We realized that we could not have both men and women in the same group due to the cultural context of Bhatta Basti. The WhatsApp group of male members comprised young, early adopters of UPI (whom we called ‘Digital Champions’) while that for females consisted of women in the community (who were at different points in the digital user journey). The Digital Champions were identified as change agents of their community and helped us spread awareness about digital financial inclusion in their community. The WhatsApp group of community women was to encourage the general population of women to discuss their experiences with digital financial services and learn from each other.</div>\n</div>\n[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]<strong>a. What worked?</strong>\nWhatsApp can be successfully used as a redressal mechanism platform and can be a good channel for early adopters.\n<strong>b. What didn\'t work?</strong>\nBuilding DFC of people at earlier parts of the user journey may require other forms such as personal handholding rather than WhatsApp. One of the most important takeaways for us was that it was crucial to have a moderator for each group who ensured regularity and quality of the content that is being shared. Further, it was crucial to have an incentive structure (value proposition) for the moderator to ensure active participation of all members. One of the problems we faced was sharing of unrelated information and fake news forwards. Having the moderator put together a set of rules and regulations is very important.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\n<div>\n<div>The specific DFC nudges and channels devised by us are detailed under the respective ecosystem sections in this paper.</div>\n</div>\n[/vc_column_text][/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=\"40282\"][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=\"6. KEY INSIGHTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FROM CATALYST’S PILOTS BY STAGES OF ADOPTION\" 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][/vc_row][vc_row type=\"image\" enable_parallax=\"false\" padding_top=\"150\" padding_bottom=\"150\" inline_style=\"font-style: normal;\"][vc_column][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]<strong>Initial stage to make customer interested in digital payments – improving customers’ awareness and consideration for digital solutions</strong>[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\n\n<strong>a.</strong> A major problem that we faced during our experiments was communicating a clear value proposition on digital financial inclusion.\n\nIn-depth interviews with our customers during pilots suggested that the convenience or speed of making or receiving digital payments is not a big pull for the low- to middle-income class to make a shift from cash to digital. Unless a strong value proposition exists, expecting consumers to make the journey from being aware to actively seeking knowledge and adopting will not happen.\n\nFor digital financial inclusion to resonate with customers, its “benefits to self” need to be strongly linked with people’s personal aspirations – both merchants’ as well as consumers In the same light, for encouraging digital payments, it is very important for the incentives to be clear and attention-catching, for example, the eMitra incentivization model was found to be too complex to be able to motivate the merchants.\n\n<strong>b.</strong> One of the biggest barriers to adoption is that there is a perceived risk to one’s money due to mistrust in using technology for finances. There is also a lack of confidence in the privacy of personal data. Coupled with this is the problem of frauds in urban slum clusters, as we found out in Bhatta Basti where a few people posing as solution providers had robbed people of their money. Similar experiments aimed at improving financial capability of women from low-income segments, such as with the Grameen Foundation,⁷ have shown that the use of a trust-worthy person (a front-line worker in this case), who happens to be an influencer in financial solutions, goes a long way in making women act positively.\n\nQualitative insights suggest that trust plays a very big factor in financial decisions of any kind including decisions on using digital financial payments. Hence, network analysis, i.e., following one’s friends and family, emerged as one of the most important triggers for digital financial inclusion.\n\n<sup>7</sup> http://www.grameenfoundation.in/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/JPM-Project-evaluation-Report_-Scaling-Digital-FinancialServices_FINAL.pdf\n\n[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\n\nLack of trust in digital payments is also a result of initial teething problems with nascent technologies. Many times, during our experiments, we observed problems of a slow network and consumers dropping off during the process of onboarding. It is important for the technology solution to offer the user a seamless experience as initial teething problems with UPI or AEPS platforms often compels consumers to question the proposition of convenience in digital.\n\nBuilding trust with the platform at the initial stage can go a long way in getting more customers on board. This can be done in various ways:\n\n<strong>i.</strong> By reaching out to the customers through their trusted channels, i.e., friends and family who are more familiar with financial inclusion;\n\n<strong>ii.</strong> At the same time it is important to ensure the presence of a trusted authority such as a bank representative at the time of onboarding or during awareness camps; and\n\n<strong>iii.</strong>Financial service providers should be transparent about problems that a user might face in the adoption journey, so that there is no lack of confidence in the solution later.\n\n<strong>c.</strong> Consumers are not just at different stages of adoption of digital financial solutions but also at different stages of financial inclusion and technology familiarity. Taking a low-income individual, who may or may not have bank accounts to begin with, on the route to digital financial inclusion is a long-drawn process requiring sustained interventions. It is, therefore, very important to identify the early adopters of digital payments, i.e., those who are comfortable with technology and actively banking or maybe have a debit card and shift them first to digital payment platforms. They can then become the change agents for their families and communities. This also ensures that communication to the majority takes place through their trusted sources.\n\n<strong>c(i).</strong> Across ecosystems, it was noticed that customers who were more familiar with technology in general were more open to digital payments and did not have trust issues.\n\nThese were mostly middle-aged working men who had bank accounts linked to Aadhaar cards or the younger people in the family with smartphones for whom making digital payments was aspirational.\n\n<strong>c(ii).</strong> Once these early adopters start using digital payments, they can help build financial capability within their families and peers. It is this positively inclined subset that can act as catalyst for digital payments within their networks; and\n\n<strong>c(iii).</strong> We found in our pilots that these people in the family are also more active on social media (WhatsApp and Facebook) and can be targeted through these channels.\n\n<strong>Next stage to improve knowledge and shift attitudes toward digital solutions</strong>\n\n<strong>d.</strong> Currently, merchants see no reason for asking consumers to change their habit of using cash. The benefits for merchants, such as a smaller number of trips to banks, or convenience for both parties are not enough for changing a sticky habit. Both dairy retailers as well as eMitra entrepreneurs from our pilots suggested that they were willing to invest time in learning more about a digital payments solution provided consumers ask for it and it improves their business/ sales. In our survey with merchants, 55 percent of fixed store merchants cited ‘low consumer demand’ among the top reasons for non-adoption of digital payments at their shop. A case in point: a lack of intent from end-consumers resulted in little encouragement for merchants to dig deep about various solutions and this was evident in the poor uptake of the IVRS, set up as an information bank for merchants.\n\nCATALYST conducted a merchant survey⁸ in Jaipur in which 64 percent of fixed store merchants and 57 percent of home-based businesses mentioned that the biggest trigger for them to go digital would be an increase in sales or footfalls, and not easier and faster modes to get paid or for recording transactions. Improvement in efficiency of payments and recoding of transactions is not as important for them to make the shift. The merchants are hungry for growth and unless the benefits of advocating digital payments to their consumers are linked to their aspirations, they do not see much value in going digital at present.\n\n<sup>8</sup> See: Mapping the Merchant’s Mind: An analysis of digital payments behaviors by fixed store merchants in Jaipur, Malick Badal and Rajesh\n\nShukla, PRICE-Catalyst report 2018 <a href=\"http://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Price-Report-Short-20-June-edited-min.pdf\">http://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Price-Report-Short-20-June-edited-min.pdf</a>\n\n[/vc_column_text][/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][kleo_gap][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"ANNEX 1: DETAILS OF OUR WORK FROM EACH ECOSYSTEM\" 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][kleo_gap][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=\"1a. Bhatta Basti\" 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_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\n<div>\n<div>Our research study in Bhatta Basti indicated that low-income households of Bhatta Basti largely relied on cash-based payments and depended on their social network for financial advice and borrowing/saving activities. Despite being prominent in the urban city of Jaipur, Bhatta Basti lacked adequate internet network, smartphones, Point of Sale (PoS)/mobile PoS machines that limited the adoption of digital payment solutions by households.</div>\n<div>This highlighted the need for a step-wise approach of first educating consumers about the basic tenets of account opening, helping open accounts for use, and then introducing them to the concept of digital financial payments and solutions. Given the diversity in financial behaviors, attitudes and adoption of financial services, we realized that customized interventions had to be designed for people at different stages of the user journey.</div>\n<div>The user journey in Bhatta Basti was broadly categorized in the following stages to design nudges:</div>\n</div>\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_gap][vc_single_image image=\"40272\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][kleo_gap][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\n<div>\n<div>Our understanding of the target group, their triggers and barriers towards financial inclusion led to the development of the following DFC levers and initiatives.</div>\n</div>\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"DFC NUDGES TO ENABLE UPTAKE OF DIGITAL PAYMENT SOLUTIONS\" 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_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\n<div>\n<div>Based on the above barriers and triggers, we devised behavioral nudges that could be used to increase DFC of people at each of these stages.</div>\n</div>\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"STAGES 1, 2 and 3, i.e., awareness of bank accounts to active banking\" font_container=\"tag:h4|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_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\n\nWe collaborated with SEWA Bharat⁹ and FIA[2] which helped us in community mobilization and implementation, respectively. We set up financial literacy camps where we used official collateral to disseminate information about the importance of savings and informed the audience about how the creation of bank accounts can help in the process. Besides this, we also conducted door-to-door lead generation campaigns and encouraged people to open bank accounts while simultaneously informing them about the associated benefits. Further, FIA helped us set up Customer Service Points (CSPs) to help bring bank facilities closer to their doorsteps. We also distributed collaterals and conducted camps to aid people in the task of opening bank accounts.\n\n<a href=\"http://sewabharat.org/\">http://sewabharat.org/</a>\n\n<a href=\"https://fiaglobal.com/\">https://fiaglobal.com/</a>\n\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"STAGES 4, 5 and 6, i.e., awareness of digital payments to active usage of digital payments\" font_container=\"tag:h4|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_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]Our initial research indicated that the task of onboarding people onto digital platforms to make payments required a great degree of handholding in Bhatta Basti. To constantly build people’s DFC, we undertook various approaches ranging from interpersonal communication such as door-to-door handholding, camps at common places to mass communication in Bhatta Basti through Facebook. We planned to generate initial interest amongst the early adopters through Facebook and community youth ambassadors and relied on the “network effect” to attract other account holders.\nWhile the Facebook campaign geo-targeted the whole of Bhatta Basti and included digitally-savvy merchants and representatives from SEWA talking about benefits of digital payments, we separately personally targeted our 619 new account holders. These account holders were divided in tiers based on their self-efficacy and stage of adoption and we customized our nudges according to these tiers:\n<strong>I. Tier 1:</strong> those who had taken the initiative to generate an ATM PIN on their own. This segment had the highest self-efficacy and was identified as the early adopters of digital payments. For this segment, we conducted individual handholding sessions as well as distributed collaterals and comic books to promote UPI, AEPS and digital saving platforms. We created a WhatsApp group for some of these on which we shared collaterals and information videos.\nLink to full comic book: AEPS Comic book full\n<strong>I. Tier 2:</strong> those with accounts but needed help to generate the ATM PIN. We set up ATM PIN generation camps for these individuals.\n<strong>II. Tier 3:</strong> those who did not have an ATM card. Here, we worked with CSPs to track the ATM cards and ensured that we got these to the account holders. This segment was also given education on uses and benefits of digital payment solutions.\n<strong>III. Tier 4:</strong> the rest whom we could not reach[/vc_column_text][kleo_gap][vc_single_image image=\"40270\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][kleo_gap][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\n<div>\n<div>Besides the above, we also actively used social media for increasing people’s DFC. We implemented an ecosystem wide geo-targeted Facebook campaign to let people know about our work and to inform them about the behaviors and achievements of other people in their communities. This campaign was aimed at increasing awareness of the target population and encouraging them to become users of digital payment solutions.</div>\n</div>\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_gap][vc_custom_heading text=\"1b. Dairy\" font_container=\"tag:h4|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_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\n<div>\n<div>Dairy, a sector that has high frequency, small-value purchases and is facing the problem of loose change during PoS transactions, emerged as a good target point to influence merchant-consumers interaction on digital payments. The idea was that once the retailers and end-consumers understand the benefits of digitization and adopt it, it would complete the cycle of dairy digitization. We first undertook research to understand the stages of adoption across retailers and consumers, and the triggers and barriers at each stage. Our communication solutions had to address these barriers and use the value propositions that hit a chord with the early adopters.</div>\n<div>Triggers and barriers in digital payment solutions’ adoption for dairy retailers -</div>\n<div>Refer to Table No. 2 in the report.</div>\n</div>\n[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Table 4: Triggers and barriers in digital payment solutions’ adoption for dairy consumers</p>\n[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><style>\nul{  list-style: disc}<br />\n</style></p>\nNot Aware\n<ul>\n 	<li>Little awareness, exposure or familiarity with banking and mobile payment.</li>\n 	<li>operations/instruments and their perceived complexity.</li>\n 	<li>Purchase of food/daily grocery items is led by women, most of whom did not have smartphones.</li>\n 	<li>No habit of carrying cards while shopping, especially for small purchases, resulting in low possibility of handholding them in the use of an app or a digital payment service.</li>\n 	<li>Perception of mobile applications being too complicated.</li>\n</ul>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Stages of adoption</th>\n<th>Triggers</th>\n<th>Barriers</th>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"red\">Aware but not adopted</td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n 	<li>Working population comparably more familiar with banking operations/instruments and mobile applications owing to exposure at the work place.</li>\n 	<li>Acknowledge that biometric payment method is suitable for those without smartphone access or those who find use of mobile-based applications too complicated.</li>\n</ul>\n</td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n 	<li>No habit of carrying cards while shopping, especially for small purchases, resulting in low possibility of handholding them in the use of an app or a digital payment service.</li>\n 	<li>Customers had not seen any indication that the merchant accepts digital payments, and had come prepared to pay in cash.</li>\n 	<li>Perception of mobile applications being too complicated.</li>\n</ul>\n</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"red\">Engaged but not adopted/adopted</td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n 	<li>Acknowledge that digital payments will help tackle the problem of carrying loose change for the small purchases.</li>\n 	<li>Acknowledge that the biometric payment method is suitable for those without smartphone access or those who find use of mobile-based applications too complicated.</li>\n</ul>\n</td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n 	<li>No interest or motivation in using non-cash modes of payment, at least for these smaller ticket sizes. Consumers felt that the proposition of having digital financial transactions makes better sense at supermarkets and relatively bigger stores than dairies</li>\n 	<li>The lengthy onboarding process to get a UPI ID seen as a deterrent since it was compared with the ability to pay in cash instantly</li>\n 	<li>Lack of trust on the merchant, given low awareness and knowledge and consequent dependency on the merchant for making digital transactions</li>\n</ul>\n</td>\n</tr>\n</tbody>\n</table>\n[/vc_column_text][/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][kleo_gap][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"DFC NUDGES TO ENABLE UPTAKE OF DIGITAL PAYMENT SOLUTIONS\" 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][kleo_gap][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\n<div>\n<div>What clearly emerged from the data was that the main fracture in the user journey was from the awareness and engagement to adoption stage. Therefore, the key task for CATALYST was to develop easy to operate solutions for retailers and consumers and back these up with awareness and trial generation opportunities supported by extensive handholding. Thus, emerged the following DFC levers for retailers and consumers.</div>\n</div>\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Awareness stage\" font_container=\"tag:h4|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_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\n<div>\n<div>We created collaterals for our field team that could be used to educate the retailers about the key benefits of digital payments platform, i.e., direct bank-to-bank transfer, hassle-free accounting, convenience. We also created collaterals for the end-consumers to educate them about the presence of digital payment options at the dairy and the key value of ‘no hassle of loose change for every transaction’. We tried to create an aspirational image around digital transactions for both retailers and consumers through our collaterals. These customer facing posters, in vernacular text, were put up at visible spots at the dairy booths to inform consumers about the provision and benefits of digital payment services.</div>\n</div>\n[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\n<div>\n<div>For the retailers, we had also formed WhatsApp groups to create a buzz and for them to discuss their experience with digital payments. We also shared our IVRS number with all to empower them with knowledge on various solutions, as and when they need it.</div>\n</div>\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_gap][vc_custom_heading text=\"Awareness stage\" font_container=\"tag:h4|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_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]To identify which payment solution works best for merchants and end-consumers, we experimented with different solutions at different booths – while some retailers were offered QR scan solutions, some could go for khaata (maintain digital accounts) solutions while others were asked to try biometric solutions.\n\nAlongside the provision of solutions and the awareness collaterals, we deployed our field team for interpersonal communication with retailers and consumers. They gave a demonstration to merchants on application downloading, account-setting, pin setting and on how to handhold the consumers.\n\nThe implementation of nudges and solutions is being followed up by rigorous monitoring and field visits so that we can learn from different experiments and levers used.[/vc_column_text][kleo_gap][vc_single_image image=\"40271\"][kleo_gap][vc_custom_heading text=\"Learnings\" font_container=\"tag:h4|font_size:26px|text_align:left|color:%23da4a62|line_height:32px\" google_fonts=\"font_family:Roboto%20Condensed%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic\" letter_spacing=\"\"][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\n<ul style=\"list-style: disc;\">\n 	<li>Printed collaterals were provisioned at dairy retail outlets guiding customers to make digital payments, but it was noticed that customers do not spend a lot of time at the dairy booth and make quick transactions. This leaves very little room for deliberation on the payment method. Even among digital payment options, customers prefer to pay with mobile wallets because of their familiarity with them.</li>\n 	<li>Even after the campaign information was provided through consumer handholding, we saw 86 percent selecting cash payment over digital payments. The primary reason for the choice of cash was the small value of transaction. One-third said they had already got cash for the transaction, 30 percent said they were not interested in digital payments in general, and 43 percent respondents said they might consider digital payments for dairy transactions in the future.</li>\n 	<li>Though about 70 percent respondents had a smartphone and two-third of those were using internet on it, UPI still lagged mobile wallets and debit cards in terms of popularity. Similarly, almost all respondents had Aadhaar cards (99 percent) and four of five even reported it being linked to their bank account, yet we saw teething problems of operational hurdles (OTP, fingerprint, Aadhaar number) and trust factor deter usage of Aadhaar linked payments.</li>\n 	<li>The majority said they were motivated by cash backs and rewards to use digital payments, with only one-third reported continuing with digital payments.</li>\n</ul>\nAs for the WhatsApp group created with 20 dairy retailers, it did not seem to have the expected traction as a platform for peer-to-peer learning. We nudged group members with relevant information on digital payments. The uptake on the WhatsApp group was not very encouraging as most of the merchants remained inactive. They showed low interest in digital payments and did not feel the need to learn as most transactions at their dairy booths are still being made in cash.[/vc_column_text][/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][kleo_gap][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"EMITRA\" 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][kleo_gap][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]The eMitra entrepreneur’s account with the government acts as a prepaid account, with the amount in it reducing after every cash transaction made by the customer. The average transaction value varies from INR 300 to INR 2,000 for eMitra centers and the customer pays a fee for all the eMitra services except utility bill payments which constitute about 50-75 percent of the total transactions. Given that 98 percent of these transactions are made in cash at the eMitra centers, maintaining the balance in the account is critical for the entrepreneurs to do business.\n\n<strong>Now, if a customer is encouraged to pay digitally, the amount will get credited directly into the government’s account and the eMitra need not require a balance in the prepaid account. However, when we were exploring the eMitra use case, we noticed numerous challenges:</strong>\n<ul style=\"list-style: disc;\">\n 	<li>While the Government of Rajasthan had rolled out the eMitra web portal to encourage digital payments, the Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) charges that were being passed on to the customers acted like a disincentive for them;</li>\n 	<li>The eMitra model of requiring entrepreneurs to deposit money upfront reduced the risk for the government and enabled digital payments from the entrepreneur to the government but it also created the burden of working capital for the entrepreneur; and</li>\n 	<li>The eMitra centers with high rate of transactions could be losing business due to the time taken to digitize cash revenue so they could fill up their prepaid account for the next month.</li>\n 	<li>Once we identified these challenges, we realized that creating an enabling environment for customers to pay digitally for the eMitra services could resolve all these challenges.</li>\n 	<li>We first undertook research to understand the stages of adoption across eMitra entrepreneurs and the triggers and barriers at each stage. Our communication solutions had to address these barriers and use the value propositions that resonated with the early adopters. We conducted interactions with a diverse set of entrepreneurs who we identified based on their digital payment behavior and payments history (volume and value). Based on the interviews, we identified the triggers and barriers (Table 5) along their user journeys to adopt digital payments.</li>\n</ul>\n[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">Table 5: Triggers and barriers in digital payment solutions’ adoption for eMitra</div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">entrepreneurs</div>\n[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Stages of adoption</th>\n<th>Triggers</th>\n<th>Barriers</th>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Adoption</td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n 	<li>Reduction in trips to the bank for eMitra entrepreneurs to deposit money</li>\n 	<li>Many eMitra entrepreneurs felt that digital payment solutions are inevitable, and they need to move with the times by adopting them and advocating these to their consumers</li>\n</ul>\n</td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n 	<li>Not applicable for entrepreneurs s as UPI is already integrated into the platform but the barriers were in advocating digital payments to their end-consumers. These were:</li>\n 	<li>non-linkage of bank account and mobile numberThere were extra MDRs on transactions for end-customers which was a disincentive for them</li>\n 	<li>many customers had trust issues with UPI</li>\n</ul>\n</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"red\">Sustained usage</td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n 	<li>Reduction in the number of trips to the bank for eMitra entrepreneurs to deposit money</li>\n 	<li>Zero cost of operating any digital payment method</li>\n</ul>\n</td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n 	<li>Lack of customers’ interest to pay digitally (UPI) as there was no clear incentive to change a sticky behavior</li>\n 	<li>Transaction failures which are either bank related or e-Mitra portal related (PoS device)</li>\n</ul>\n</td>\n</tr>\n</tbody>\n</table>\n[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\n<div>Based on the above, we devised DFC nudges to enhance the digital financial capability of the eMitraentrepreneurs and their end-consumers:</div>\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Merchant handholding and IVRS\" font_container=\"tag:h4|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_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\n<div>The CATALYST field team spent some time at each eMitra center to assist entrepreneurs with the initial few transactions, to ensure he/she was comfortable in using the solution. Given that UPI was integrated in the eMitra panel by the Department of Information Technology &amp; Communication (DoITC), Government of Rajasthan and PoS machines were provided, entrepreneurs were aware about the solution. The objective primarily was to handhold the entrepreneur and ensure he understands the solution and advocates it to end-consumers too. During this time, the CATALYST team qualitatively observed the eMitra entrepreneurs and their approach to promotion of digital payments to their end-consumers. We tried to learn from the entrepreneurs and their customers about their experience of using digital payments, their perceptions of the benefits, their key concerns and the impact that digital payments can have on their lives.</div>\n<div>\n<div>We also familiarized all the eMitra entrepreneurs with our IVRS numbers so that they could call in and educate themselves on various digital payment solutions as and when they wanted the information.</div>\n</div>\n[/vc_column_text][kleo_gap][vc_custom_heading text=\"Customer handholding\" font_container=\"tag:h4|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_column_text letter_spacing=\"\"]\n<div>We created collaterals to promote digital payments to the end-consumers of eMitra centers. These highlighted the key value propositions that digital payments offered to the segment and talked about the incentives. The handholding exercise was also undertaken to inform customers, assist with UPI onboarding and observe the behavior of consumers and merchants.</div>\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/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/MoT-Learning-Note.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_column][/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;}\"]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.[/vc_column_text][kleo_gap][vc_column_text letter_spacing=\"\" css=\".vc_custom_1484051069491{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}\"][email-newsletter-plugin][/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][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row]', 'Using behavioral insights to improve digital financial capability of customers', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '40127-autosave-v1', '', '', '2019-01-22 09:50:37', '2019-01-22 09:50:37', '', 40127, 'https://cashlesscatalyst.org/media/40127-autosave-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0);
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(40138, 12, '2019-01-18 07:06:54', '2019-01-18 07:06:54', '', 'img1', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', 'img1-4', '', '', '2019-01-18 07:06:54', '2019-01-18 07:06:54', '', 40130, 'https://cashlesscatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/img1.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(40139, 23, '2019-01-18 07:07:13', '2019-01-18 07:07:13', '[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\" 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_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\"]Ecosystems, by definition, are living systems of relationships. To create enabling digital ecosystems, the nuts and bolts of living relationships must be recreated digitally. While most efforts aimed at promotion of digital payments focus on the more tangible aspects such as digital infrastructure, payment solutions, gadget ownership, and internet penetration, among others, there is a soft aspect that more often than not goes unexplored. Efforts at financial inclusion in the past decade focused on getting these soft aspects right, and similar concerns remain relevant in the context of digital financial inclusion today.\r\n\r\nCATALYST, a user-centric digital finance innovation platform for the underserved last mile, carried out a program of research projects and operational initiatives centered on a low-income cluster, Bhatta Basti (Shastri Nagar) in Jaipur where infrastructure and financial capabilities were low and the role of informal community institutions strong, compared to other low-income market clusters where CATALYST carried out its operations. A part of immersive qualitative research focusing on women who work across four employment categories – old clothes vendors, bangle makers, tie &amp; dye workers, and domestic workers – helped unpack existing ecosystems that these women operate in. This note focuses on markers of trust that would help in recreating a more inclusive and enabling digital ecosystem.\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=\"40098\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"WOMEN IN BHATTA BASTI: THE CONTEXT\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\"]Bhatta Basti comprises women (and households) who belong to the lower socioeconomic strata of society – about 70 percent of the 190 surveyed women belonged to the scheduled castes/tribes or other backward castes, while 13 percent were categorized as minorities. At an average age of 35 and most of them married, these women support their household incomes through their employment in the four categories mentioned above. The average Bhatta Basti woman is literate without formal schooling; the education level is fairly comparable to their male counterparts in the locality.\r\n\r\nAadhaar penetration in the surveyed sample was almost universal at 99 percent, followed by 87 percent coverage of voter IDs and 74 percent Bhamashah (the Government of Rajasthan benefits program) card holders. Eighty-nine percent respondents reported having bank accounts with 87 percent of those linked to Aadhaar numbers. While bank account access and linkage was high, consistent usage was low; more than half of the respondents indicated not using their accounts in the past month and very few using banks to deposit their own savings. Very limited information was available on receipt of government benefits due to poor recall and/or privacy concerns of respondents.\r\n\r\nWomen in Bhatta Basti actively engaged in the economic lives of their families. While access to cash for household payments varies by purchase type, most women reported making payments on their own for daily household items, while some women even made payments for big utility items, including refrigerators and electronics. These women also indicated their willingness to use their own mobile phones, and also adopt digital payments. However, all reported payments use cases so far remained cash-based.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/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=\"ECOSYSTEM RELATIONSHIPS AND MARKERS OF TRUST\" 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\"]In this context of women in lower-income households who earn a considerable income and make day-to-day financial decisions, gender dynamics also come into play as these groups tend to follow traditionally patriarchal customs. Certain norms and implicit rules preserve the fabric of their socioeconomic lifestyle which has to be taken into account if the prevalent ecosystem has to be recreated digitally. Two important heuristics relevant to the digital payment context, based on qualitative insights, are described below.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"Heuristic 1: Ownership matters\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Since digital payments rely on digital infrastructure – bank accounts, smartphones and internet connection, primarily. Digital financial inclusion at an individual level means individual ownership of these.\r\n\r\nAs one would expect, going higher up on the economic ladder, the ownership of products and services becomes individual centered. Lower income means shared ownership to cut costs. Power comes into play and, typically, even if the household as a group owns two gadgets, it is clear that the member who holds more agency and autonomy will own the smartphone. It was found that this was not about gender alone but also dependent on occupations. Women selling old clothes, for example, held equal (if not more) agency and autonomy than men in the family than their counterparts who make bangles. This was because of the former had more independence in carrying out their businesses while the latter and were completely dependent on their agents.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Implications\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]\r\n<ul>\r\n 	<li>The gender context: If all digital products and services were, by default, centered on the use of smartphones and smartphone ownership was with men, the first step would be to strongly incentivize co-ownership for transactions alone. The man in the household, who might have ownership of the phone, needs to be convinced that he is a partner in progress of the household when the woman is able to use the phone for making digital payments through her accounts.</li>\r\n 	<li>The occupation context: In occupations where women hold equal agency and autonomy, a targeted intensive handholding approach could be devised. Since women showed an overwhelming willingness to learn, identifying women who could be champions of digital payments and handhold others could be the way forward to gain trust and manage cultural sensitivity.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Heuristic 2: Employer-employee relationships\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]There are also subtle but powerful dynamics between these women and their employers, particularly in cases where agency of the employee is important for the employer, for example, domestic workers. In a domestic worker-employer relationship, the pain-points for the employer, in most instances, are inconsistent patterns of leave and delay in work times. The pain-point for domestic workers lies in communicating about work delays and/or leave on time. The domestic workers earn an average of about INR 3,000 from about three to five employers. A digital solution can allow these women to consolidate payments from their employers, keep track of their schedules and leave, at the same time, keeping the employers informed about potential delays or leave.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Implications\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]\r\n<ul>\r\n 	<li>Rather than a narrow focus on digital payments, think of the employer-employee relationship as an opportunity for a bundle of services. Incentivize the employers, to encourage them to make digital payments to domestic workers. Incentivize workers by giving them talk time reimbursements, or variable pay based on leave taken or any such mutually fair benefit.</li>\r\n 	<li>Link all payments and government transfers to the account being used for salary transfers. Many government benefit transfers go unnoticed and unused in the bank accounts because the beneficiaries do not use their accounts and are unaware of their balance.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n[/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=\"MARKERS OF TRUST\" 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\"]Looping back to the initial idea of an ecosystem as a system of living relationships, it is observed that even though these relationships are marked with inequality, the norms and variations are consistent and known to all the parties. Trust is therefore vital to the survival and growth of the ecosystem. In attempting to create a digital ecosystem, it is essential to recreate the markers of trust digitally as they are on the ground.\r\n\r\nThe first marker of trust is that all the parties in an existing relationship dynamic are equally invested. Otherwise they would not embrace an unknown system. In the case of working women, the dynamic not only includes men and the household, but also their employers, agents and the other economic actors that they interact with in the value chain. The two tricks of the trade above highlight how this dynamic works.\r\n\r\nThe second marker of trust would be an assurance against fear of the unknown. This could be achieved by intensive handholding and proactive grievance redressal. CATALYST’s efforts in Bhatta Basti with opening bank accounts and ATM pin generation were a good example of how this becomes an effective strategy in including the financially underserved.\r\n\r\nThe third marker of trust comes from incentivizing the early adopters in the community to become champions and role models where they help their peers through the digital journey. Information and communication from known and trusted sources would be a far more easy-sell for digital solutions than from the marketing and promotion activities of the solution itself.\r\n\r\nThe fourth marker of trust would be a process of community legitimization or validation. Since the community itself is a key stakeholder, the community should benefit. Public good or value must be created, in collective public terms, so as to not only endorse the digital ecosystem, but encourage it.\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/MoT-Learning-Note.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 behavioral insights to improve digital financial capability of customers', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '40127-revision-v1', '', '', '2019-01-18 07:07:13', '2019-01-18 07:07:13', '', 40127, 'https://cashlesscatalyst.org/media/40127-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(40140, 12, '2019-01-18 07:07:55', '2019-01-18 07:07:55', '[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=\"IMPLEMENTING INNOVATION THROUGH AN ECOSYSTEM “LEARNING AND SOLVING BY DOING” APPROACH\" 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\"]CATALYST aims to significantly expand the use of digital payments between low-income consumers and merchants. Achieving this vision requires the identification, development, testing and implementation of innovative business models that are also scalable and sustainable. It also requires a conducive policy environment and a significant behavior change from consumers. Given the numerous stakeholders in the payments value chain, scaling new digital solutions requires that multiple coordination problems be addressed. Through this, the need arises for a context-specific approach, and a rigorous well-defined “learning and solving by doing” methodology. Such a methodology captures the adaptive process of innovation in real world settings where intractable challenges are being addressed. This note outlines the method that is specific to such a setting and underlines CATALYST’s learning process comprising rapid, data-driven, test-learn-and-build cycles with the aim to validate various innovative business models around digital payments that can further be scaled.\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=\"AN ECOSYSTEM APPROACH\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\"]CATALYST, through its multiple partnerships, serves as an incubator of innovative business models built around digital payments as well as policy field experiments in real-world settings. This ecosystem approach is core to its ability to achieve sustainable impact on the longer-term and catalyze systematic change.\r\n\r\nComplex problems, such as digital payments, often remain unresolved, despite the will to address them. This is because the challenges in resolving them result from interconnectedness and complexities of different actors and aspects. Such challenges need to be studied through the lens of the ecosystem in which they exist. Many actors and factors can influence uptake of digital payments between merchants (supply) and low-income households (demand), or within supply chains. Failure to take into aspects such as the regulatory environment, technology innovation, customer need and constraints, as well as available infrastructure, among other aspects, into consideration would yield very limited impact. Central to the philosophy is blending an entrepreneurial innovative way of thinking with a grass root level approach to doing, to infuse transformative change.\r\n\r\n[/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=\"``LEARNING AND SOLVING`` BY DOING MODEL\" 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\"]Addressing issues in real-word ecosystem settings through innovation requires an exploratory as well as an action-oriented method. This allows potential solutions to emerge and their iterative testing until evolution into an optimal solution. Key to the success of this process is a well-defined learning plan and testing in the intended use environment. It is characterized by incremental knowledge production and collaborative learning among various experts (researchers, practitioners, government, technology experts, etc.).\r\n\r\nThe process features the following broad steps:\r\n\r\n1. <strong>Identification:</strong> Focus on identifying persistent painpoints from multiple stakeholders’ perspectives.\r\n\r\n2. <strong>Solution Design:</strong> Collaborative approach to designing a solution and a commitment to an iterative process that allows continuous refinement of the solution. The solution design is based on developing assumptions from theory, practice as well as ensuring a well-defined plan for learning.\r\n\r\n3. <strong>Testing and Systematic Inquiry:</strong> Implementing and testing the solution with the relevant partners and in the environment in which it is intended to be further replicated. This step involves systematic inquiry as learnings are derived and iterated accordingly. Clearly defined metrics are put in place to systematically evaluate, implement and improve the digital payment landscape. Information regarding the methods, tools and metrics used in this exercise are detailed in Appendix. A wide range of methods such as pre-post analysis, information triangulation, A/B testing, experimental and participatory research techniques. Research tools such as surveys, interviews, focus group discussion, etc., are used to gather context-rich information and data that are backed by evidence.\r\n\r\n4. <strong>Scaling and Replicating:</strong> Devising a plan for scaling and replicating the optimal solution outcome and catalyzing a systematic and sustaining change in systems.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner css=\".vc_custom_1547795402510{padding-top: 25px !important;}\"][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"2/3\"][vc_single_image image=\"40138\" 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_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]', 'IMPLEMENTING INNOVATION THROUGH AN ECOSYSTEM “LEARNING AND SOLVING BY DOING” APPROACH', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '40130-revision-v1', '', '', '2019-01-18 07:07:55', '2019-01-18 07:07:55', '', 40130, 'https://cashlesscatalyst.org/media/40130-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
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(40142, 12, '2019-01-18 07:20:18', '2019-01-18 07:20:18', '[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=\"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=\"IMPLEMENTING INNOVATION THROUGH AN ECOSYSTEM “LEARNING AND SOLVING BY DOING” APPROACH\" 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\"]CATALYST aims to significantly expand the use of digital payments between low-income consumers and merchants. Achieving this vision requires the identification, development, testing and implementation of innovative business models that are also scalable and sustainable. It also requires a conducive policy environment and a significant behavior change from consumers. Given the numerous stakeholders in the payments value chain, scaling new digital solutions requires that multiple coordination problems be addressed. Through this, the need arises for a context-specific approach, and a rigorous well-defined “learning and solving by doing” methodology. Such a methodology captures the adaptive process of innovation in real world settings where intractable challenges are being addressed. This note outlines the method that is specific to such a setting and underlines CATALYST’s learning process comprising rapid, data-driven, test-learn-and-build cycles with the aim to validate various innovative business models around digital payments that can further be scaled.\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=\"AN ECOSYSTEM APPROACH\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\"]CATALYST, through its multiple partnerships, serves as an incubator of innovative business models built around digital payments as well as policy field experiments in real-world settings. This ecosystem approach is core to its ability to achieve sustainable impact on the longer-term and catalyze systematic change.\r\n\r\nComplex problems, such as digital payments, often remain unresolved, despite the will to address them. This is because the challenges in resolving them result from interconnectedness and complexities of different actors and aspects. Such challenges need to be studied through the lens of the ecosystem in which they exist. Many actors and factors can influence uptake of digital payments between merchants (supply) and low-income households (demand), or within supply chains. Failure to take into aspects such as the regulatory environment, technology innovation, customer need and constraints, as well as available infrastructure, among other aspects, into consideration would yield very limited impact. Central to the philosophy is blending an entrepreneurial innovative way of thinking with a grass root level approach to doing, to infuse transformative change.\r\n\r\n[/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=\"``LEARNING AND SOLVING`` BY DOING MODEL\" 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\"]Addressing issues in real-word ecosystem settings through innovation requires an exploratory as well as an action-oriented method. This allows potential solutions to emerge and their iterative testing until evolution into an optimal solution. Key to the success of this process is a well-defined learning plan and testing in the intended use environment. It is characterized by incremental knowledge production and collaborative learning among various experts (researchers, practitioners, government, technology experts, etc.).\r\n\r\nThe process features the following broad steps:\r\n\r\n1. <strong>Identification:</strong> Focus on identifying persistent painpoints from multiple stakeholders’ perspectives.\r\n\r\n2. <strong>Solution Design:</strong> Collaborative approach to designing a solution and a commitment to an iterative process that allows continuous refinement of the solution. The solution design is based on developing assumptions from theory, practice as well as ensuring a well-defined plan for learning.\r\n\r\n3. <strong>Testing and Systematic Inquiry:</strong> Implementing and testing the solution with the relevant partners and in the environment in which it is intended to be further replicated. This step involves systematic inquiry as learnings are derived and iterated accordingly. Clearly defined metrics are put in place to systematically evaluate, implement and improve the digital payment landscape. Information regarding the methods, tools and metrics used in this exercise are detailed in Appendix. A wide range of methods such as pre-post analysis, information triangulation, A/B testing, experimental and participatory research techniques. Research tools such as surveys, interviews, focus group discussion, etc., are used to gather context-rich information and data that are backed by evidence.\r\n\r\n4. <strong>Scaling and Replicating:</strong> Devising a plan for scaling and replicating the optimal solution outcome and catalyzing a systematic and sustaining change in systems.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner css=\".vc_custom_1547795402510{padding-top: 25px !important;}\"][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"2/3\"][vc_single_image image=\"40138\" 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=\"MERAPAPER: SUBSCRIPTION MODEL FOR DIGITAL PAYMENTS CASE STUDY\" 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_custom_heading text=\"Background and context\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<p>Merapaper (now Bix42) is a micro Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution, a mobile application that provides digital invoicing and payment service to micro vendors. It focuses on attracting micro vendors whose business has a subscription model of payment. As the first step in this endeavor, it worked towards digitizing billing and invoicing for newspaper vendors, a prominent use case in any geographical area. The solution allowed vendors to keep a track of their consumer base and their respective balances. It generated automatic bills at the end of each month, which reduced the manual labor of maintaining ledgers. In addition, it enabled vendors to send bills to customers via multiple channels of communication such as WhatsApp, email and Short Message Service (SMS). The sections below described the learning by doing process followed by Catalyst.</p>\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Identification\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<p>A digital solution such as the Merapaper application that enables remote payment can ease out the pain in payment collection and accounts reconciliation in a subscription business model. The belief is that, through such a systemized digital subscriptionbased payment mechanism, distributors can realize the value proposition of adopting digital payment mechanisms, thereby eventually growing their business and consumers’ sustain usage as well as adopting digital payment mechanisms for other expenses as well.</p>\r\n<p>Newspaper distribution is a laborious manual process including daily distribution, invoicing and payment collection. While doorstep newspaper distribution is a streamlined process with a low error rate, the billing for it is largely a paper-driven process, one that is onerous and labor-intensive and can take-up to 10-12 hours every month. The monthly collection of payments is equally cumbersome and requires at least three or four repeat visits to each household. In reality, it takes 20-22 days for a newspaper vendor to recover the revenue for a given month. This also includes manual reconciliation and cash accounting for bookkeeping. A newspaper vendor works on moderate margins and relies heavily on timely consumer payments to maintain business cash flow. There is also an overhead spillage of up to 5 percent due to transportation charges and wages of staff engaged in invoice distribution and payments collection. Lack of awareness about the availability of digital payment options was a major reason for such a low percentage of digitally paying customers.</p>\r\n<p>Merapaper’s business model targets small vendors who generally belong to low- to middle-income households, and work more than 16 hours every day. Such vendors maintain a daily product purchase cycle. However, the subscription-based customer payment happens once every month or at longer intervals. Hence, these vendors continue to service consumers while extending a minimum of one month’s credit period. It is critical for these vendors to generate enough cash on a daily basis to run their business, make supplier payments and remain afloat.</p>[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"The business case for newspaper distributor to go digital\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<p>The newspaper business is an ideal sector for payment and invoice digitization. The following section highlights the challenges faced by newspaper distributors that could be resolved with a solution such as the Merapaper app:</p>\r\n<p>1.<strong> Manual process of invoice generation and payment collection:</strong> Newspaper vendors deliver newspapers on a daily basis to consumer households. They must visit each consumer household in person to collect the payments. Payment collection takes about 20-22 days from the date of invoice generation. And a distributor must allocate three to six hours daily and make two to three repeat visits to successfully complete payment collection for the month. Only 2-3 percent of the consumer base pays digitally.</p>\r\n<p>2. <strong>Manual recording of receipts and reconciliation:</strong> Newspaper vendors maintain ledgers with details regarding bill payments and due amount. This task is a challenge due to its time-intensive nature and has the potential to disrupt a vendor’s working capital if mistakes are made.</p>\r\n<p>3. <strong>Resource allocation and overhead cost:</strong> Big newspaper distributors hire temporary employees to complete the monthly payment collection. Along with employee salary, transportation costs chip away at the thin margins of a newspaper business.</p>[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Solution design\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<p>CATALYST worked with Merapaper to test the possibility of digitizing subscription-based payments. In addition to pilot testing the Merapaper application, we also aimed to test if the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) platform was appropriate to digitize newspaper subscription payments.</p>[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Theory of change\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<p>Collecting payments from consumers is a time- and resource-consuming activity. Distributors struggle with several inconveniences due to cash collection. For example, costumers are sometimes unavailable or low-income subscribers may not have the payment amount available with them.</p>\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][vc_single_image image=\"40141\" img_size=\"728*520\" alignment=\"center\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space][/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_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]', 'IMPLEMENTING INNOVATION THROUGH AN ECOSYSTEM “LEARNING AND SOLVING BY DOING” APPROACH', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '40130-revision-v1', '', '', '2019-01-18 07:20:18', '2019-01-18 07:20:18', '', 40130, 'https://cashlesscatalyst.org/media/40130-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(40144, 23, '2019-01-18 07:30:33', '2019-01-18 07:30:33', '[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_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=\"WOMEN IN BHATTA BASTI: THE CONTEXT\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\"]Bhatta Basti comprises women (and households) who belong to the lower socioeconomic strata of society – about 70 percent of the 190 surveyed women belonged to the scheduled castes/tribes or other backward castes, while 13 percent were categorized as minorities. At an average age of 35 and most of them married, these women support their household incomes through their employment in the four categories mentioned above. The average Bhatta Basti woman is literate without formal schooling; the education level is fairly comparable to their male counterparts in the locality.\r\n\r\nAadhaar penetration in the surveyed sample was almost universal at 99 percent, followed by 87 percent coverage of voter IDs and 74 percent Bhamashah (the Government of Rajasthan benefits program) card holders. Eighty-nine percent respondents reported having bank accounts with 87 percent of those linked to Aadhaar numbers. While bank account access and linkage was high, consistent usage was low; more than half of the respondents indicated not using their accounts in the past month and very few using banks to deposit their own savings. Very limited information was available on receipt of government benefits due to poor recall and/or privacy concerns of respondents.\r\n\r\nWomen in Bhatta Basti actively engaged in the economic lives of their families. While access to cash for household payments varies by purchase type, most women reported making payments on their own for daily household items, while some women even made payments for big utility items, including refrigerators and electronics. These women also indicated their willingness to use their own mobile phones, and also adopt digital payments. However, all reported payments use cases so far remained cash-based.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/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=\"ECOSYSTEM RELATIONSHIPS AND MARKERS OF TRUST\" 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\"]In this context of women in lower-income households who earn a considerable income and make day-to-day financial decisions, gender dynamics also come into play as these groups tend to follow traditionally patriarchal customs. Certain norms and implicit rules preserve the fabric of their socioeconomic lifestyle which has to be taken into account if the prevalent ecosystem has to be recreated digitally. Two important heuristics relevant to the digital payment context, based on qualitative insights, are described below.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"Heuristic 1: Ownership matters\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Since digital payments rely on digital infrastructure – bank accounts, smartphones and internet connection, primarily. Digital financial inclusion at an individual level means individual ownership of these.\r\n\r\nAs one would expect, going higher up on the economic ladder, the ownership of products and services becomes individual centered. Lower income means shared ownership to cut costs. Power comes into play and, typically, even if the household as a group owns two gadgets, it is clear that the member who holds more agency and autonomy will own the smartphone. It was found that this was not about gender alone but also dependent on occupations. Women selling old clothes, for example, held equal (if not more) agency and autonomy than men in the family than their counterparts who make bangles. This was because of the former had more independence in carrying out their businesses while the latter and were completely dependent on their agents.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Implications\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]\r\n<ul>\r\n 	<li>The gender context: If all digital products and services were, by default, centered on the use of smartphones and smartphone ownership was with men, the first step would be to strongly incentivize co-ownership for transactions alone. The man in the household, who might have ownership of the phone, needs to be convinced that he is a partner in progress of the household when the woman is able to use the phone for making digital payments through her accounts.</li>\r\n 	<li>The occupation context: In occupations where women hold equal agency and autonomy, a targeted intensive handholding approach could be devised. Since women showed an overwhelming willingness to learn, identifying women who could be champions of digital payments and handhold others could be the way forward to gain trust and manage cultural sensitivity.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Heuristic 2: Employer-employee relationships\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]There are also subtle but powerful dynamics between these women and their employers, particularly in cases where agency of the employee is important for the employer, for example, domestic workers. In a domestic worker-employer relationship, the pain-points for the employer, in most instances, are inconsistent patterns of leave and delay in work times. The pain-point for domestic workers lies in communicating about work delays and/or leave on time. The domestic workers earn an average of about INR 3,000 from about three to five employers. A digital solution can allow these women to consolidate payments from their employers, keep track of their schedules and leave, at the same time, keeping the employers informed about potential delays or leave.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Implications\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]\r\n<ul>\r\n 	<li>Rather than a narrow focus on digital payments, think of the employer-employee relationship as an opportunity for a bundle of services. Incentivize the employers, to encourage them to make digital payments to domestic workers. Incentivize workers by giving them talk time reimbursements, or variable pay based on leave taken or any such mutually fair benefit.</li>\r\n 	<li>Link all payments and government transfers to the account being used for salary transfers. Many government benefit transfers go unnoticed and unused in the bank accounts because the beneficiaries do not use their accounts and are unaware of their balance.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n[/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=\"MARKERS OF TRUST\" 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\"]Looping back to the initial idea of an ecosystem as a system of living relationships, it is observed that even though these relationships are marked with inequality, the norms and variations are consistent and known to all the parties. Trust is therefore vital to the survival and growth of the ecosystem. In attempting to create a digital ecosystem, it is essential to recreate the markers of trust digitally as they are on the ground.\r\n\r\nThe first marker of trust is that all the parties in an existing relationship dynamic are equally invested. Otherwise they would not embrace an unknown system. In the case of working women, the dynamic not only includes men and the household, but also their employers, agents and the other economic actors that they interact with in the value chain. The two tricks of the trade above highlight how this dynamic works.\r\n\r\nThe second marker of trust would be an assurance against fear of the unknown. This could be achieved by intensive handholding and proactive grievance redressal. CATALYST’s efforts in Bhatta Basti with opening bank accounts and ATM pin generation were a good example of how this becomes an effective strategy in including the financially underserved.\r\n\r\nThe third marker of trust comes from incentivizing the early adopters in the community to become champions and role models where they help their peers through the digital journey. Information and communication from known and trusted sources would be a far more easy-sell for digital solutions than from the marketing and promotion activities of the solution itself.\r\n\r\nThe fourth marker of trust would be a process of community legitimization or validation. Since the community itself is a key stakeholder, the community should benefit. Public good or value must be created, in collective public terms, so as to not only endorse the digital ecosystem, but encourage it.\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/MoT-Learning-Note.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 behavioral insights to improve digital financial capability of customers', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '40127-revision-v1', '', '', '2019-01-18 07:30:33', '2019-01-18 07:30:33', '', 40127, 'https://cashlesscatalyst.org/media/40127-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0);
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(40143, 23, '2019-01-18 07:24:54', '2019-01-18 07:24:54', '[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_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\"]Ecosystems, by definition, are living systems of relationships. To create enabling digital ecosystems, the nuts and bolts of living relationships must be recreated digitally. While most efforts aimed at promotion of digital payments focus on the more tangible aspects such as digital infrastructure, payment solutions, gadget ownership, and internet penetration, among others, there is a soft aspect that more often than not goes unexplored. Efforts at financial inclusion in the past decade focused on getting these soft aspects right, and similar concerns remain relevant in the context of digital financial inclusion today.\r\n\r\nCATALYST, a user-centric digital finance innovation platform for the underserved last mile, carried out a program of research projects and operational initiatives centered on a low-income cluster, Bhatta Basti (Shastri Nagar) in Jaipur where infrastructure and financial capabilities were low and the role of informal community institutions strong, compared to other low-income market clusters where CATALYST carried out its operations. A part of immersive qualitative research focusing on women who work across four employment categories – old clothes vendors, bangle makers, tie &amp; dye workers, and domestic workers – helped unpack existing ecosystems that these women operate in. This note focuses on markers of trust that would help in recreating a more inclusive and enabling digital ecosystem.\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=\"40098\"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"WOMEN IN BHATTA BASTI: THE CONTEXT\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\"]Bhatta Basti comprises women (and households) who belong to the lower socioeconomic strata of society – about 70 percent of the 190 surveyed women belonged to the scheduled castes/tribes or other backward castes, while 13 percent were categorized as minorities. At an average age of 35 and most of them married, these women support their household incomes through their employment in the four categories mentioned above. The average Bhatta Basti woman is literate without formal schooling; the education level is fairly comparable to their male counterparts in the locality.\r\n\r\nAadhaar penetration in the surveyed sample was almost universal at 99 percent, followed by 87 percent coverage of voter IDs and 74 percent Bhamashah (the Government of Rajasthan benefits program) card holders. Eighty-nine percent respondents reported having bank accounts with 87 percent of those linked to Aadhaar numbers. While bank account access and linkage was high, consistent usage was low; more than half of the respondents indicated not using their accounts in the past month and very few using banks to deposit their own savings. Very limited information was available on receipt of government benefits due to poor recall and/or privacy concerns of respondents.\r\n\r\nWomen in Bhatta Basti actively engaged in the economic lives of their families. While access to cash for household payments varies by purchase type, most women reported making payments on their own for daily household items, while some women even made payments for big utility items, including refrigerators and electronics. These women also indicated their willingness to use their own mobile phones, and also adopt digital payments. However, all reported payments use cases so far remained cash-based.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/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=\"ECOSYSTEM RELATIONSHIPS AND MARKERS OF TRUST\" 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\"]In this context of women in lower-income households who earn a considerable income and make day-to-day financial decisions, gender dynamics also come into play as these groups tend to follow traditionally patriarchal customs. Certain norms and implicit rules preserve the fabric of their socioeconomic lifestyle which has to be taken into account if the prevalent ecosystem has to be recreated digitally. Two important heuristics relevant to the digital payment context, based on qualitative insights, are described below.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_custom_heading text=\"Heuristic 1: Ownership matters\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Since digital payments rely on digital infrastructure – bank accounts, smartphones and internet connection, primarily. Digital financial inclusion at an individual level means individual ownership of these.\r\n\r\nAs one would expect, going higher up on the economic ladder, the ownership of products and services becomes individual centered. Lower income means shared ownership to cut costs. Power comes into play and, typically, even if the household as a group owns two gadgets, it is clear that the member who holds more agency and autonomy will own the smartphone. It was found that this was not about gender alone but also dependent on occupations. Women selling old clothes, for example, held equal (if not more) agency and autonomy than men in the family than their counterparts who make bangles. This was because of the former had more independence in carrying out their businesses while the latter and were completely dependent on their agents.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Implications\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]\r\n<ul>\r\n 	<li>The gender context: If all digital products and services were, by default, centered on the use of smartphones and smartphone ownership was with men, the first step would be to strongly incentivize co-ownership for transactions alone. The man in the household, who might have ownership of the phone, needs to be convinced that he is a partner in progress of the household when the woman is able to use the phone for making digital payments through her accounts.</li>\r\n 	<li>The occupation context: In occupations where women hold equal agency and autonomy, a targeted intensive handholding approach could be devised. Since women showed an overwhelming willingness to learn, identifying women who could be champions of digital payments and handhold others could be the way forward to gain trust and manage cultural sensitivity.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Heuristic 2: Employer-employee relationships\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]There are also subtle but powerful dynamics between these women and their employers, particularly in cases where agency of the employee is important for the employer, for example, domestic workers. In a domestic worker-employer relationship, the pain-points for the employer, in most instances, are inconsistent patterns of leave and delay in work times. The pain-point for domestic workers lies in communicating about work delays and/or leave on time. The domestic workers earn an average of about INR 3,000 from about three to five employers. A digital solution can allow these women to consolidate payments from their employers, keep track of their schedules and leave, at the same time, keeping the employers informed about potential delays or leave.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Implications\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]\r\n<ul>\r\n 	<li>Rather than a narrow focus on digital payments, think of the employer-employee relationship as an opportunity for a bundle of services. Incentivize the employers, to encourage them to make digital payments to domestic workers. Incentivize workers by giving them talk time reimbursements, or variable pay based on leave taken or any such mutually fair benefit.</li>\r\n 	<li>Link all payments and government transfers to the account being used for salary transfers. Many government benefit transfers go unnoticed and unused in the bank accounts because the beneficiaries do not use their accounts and are unaware of their balance.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n[/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=\"MARKERS OF TRUST\" 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\"]Looping back to the initial idea of an ecosystem as a system of living relationships, it is observed that even though these relationships are marked with inequality, the norms and variations are consistent and known to all the parties. Trust is therefore vital to the survival and growth of the ecosystem. In attempting to create a digital ecosystem, it is essential to recreate the markers of trust digitally as they are on the ground.\r\n\r\nThe first marker of trust is that all the parties in an existing relationship dynamic are equally invested. Otherwise they would not embrace an unknown system. In the case of working women, the dynamic not only includes men and the household, but also their employers, agents and the other economic actors that they interact with in the value chain. The two tricks of the trade above highlight how this dynamic works.\r\n\r\nThe second marker of trust would be an assurance against fear of the unknown. This could be achieved by intensive handholding and proactive grievance redressal. CATALYST’s efforts in Bhatta Basti with opening bank accounts and ATM pin generation were a good example of how this becomes an effective strategy in including the financially underserved.\r\n\r\nThe third marker of trust comes from incentivizing the early adopters in the community to become champions and role models where they help their peers through the digital journey. Information and communication from known and trusted sources would be a far more easy-sell for digital solutions than from the marketing and promotion activities of the solution itself.\r\n\r\nThe fourth marker of trust would be a process of community legitimization or validation. Since the community itself is a key stakeholder, the community should benefit. Public good or value must be created, in collective public terms, so as to not only endorse the digital ecosystem, but encourage it.\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/MoT-Learning-Note.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 behavioral insights to improve digital financial capability of customers', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '40127-revision-v1', '', '', '2019-01-18 07:24:54', '2019-01-18 07:24:54', '', 40127, 'https://cashlesscatalyst.org/media/40127-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(40145, 12, '2019-01-18 07:32:57', '2019-01-18 07:32:57', '[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=\"IMPLEMENTING INNOVATION THROUGH AN ECOSYSTEM “LEARNING AND SOLVING BY DOING” APPROACH\" 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\"]CATALYST aims to significantly expand the use of digital payments between low-income consumers and merchants. Achieving this vision requires the identification, development, testing and implementation of innovative business models that are also scalable and sustainable. It also requires a conducive policy environment and a significant behavior change from consumers. Given the numerous stakeholders in the payments value chain, scaling new digital solutions requires that multiple coordination problems be addressed. Through this, the need arises for a context-specific approach, and a rigorous well-defined “learning and solving by doing” methodology. Such a methodology captures the adaptive process of innovation in real world settings where intractable challenges are being addressed. This note outlines the method that is specific to such a setting and underlines CATALYST’s learning process comprising rapid, data-driven, test-learn-and-build cycles with the aim to validate various innovative business models around digital payments that can further be scaled.\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=\"AN ECOSYSTEM APPROACH\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\"]CATALYST, through its multiple partnerships, serves as an incubator of innovative business models built around digital payments as well as policy field experiments in real-world settings. This ecosystem approach is core to its ability to achieve sustainable impact on the longer-term and catalyze systematic change.\r\n\r\nComplex problems, such as digital payments, often remain unresolved, despite the will to address them. This is because the challenges in resolving them result from interconnectedness and complexities of different actors and aspects. Such challenges need to be studied through the lens of the ecosystem in which they exist. Many actors and factors can influence uptake of digital payments between merchants (supply) and low-income households (demand), or within supply chains. Failure to take into aspects such as the regulatory environment, technology innovation, customer need and constraints, as well as available infrastructure, among other aspects, into consideration would yield very limited impact. Central to the philosophy is blending an entrepreneurial innovative way of thinking with a grass root level approach to doing, to infuse transformative change.\r\n\r\n[/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=\"``LEARNING AND SOLVING`` BY DOING MODEL\" 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\"]Addressing issues in real-word ecosystem settings through innovation requires an exploratory as well as an action-oriented method. This allows potential solutions to emerge and their iterative testing until evolution into an optimal solution. Key to the success of this process is a well-defined learning plan and testing in the intended use environment. It is characterized by incremental knowledge production and collaborative learning among various experts (researchers, practitioners, government, technology experts, etc.).\r\n\r\nThe process features the following broad steps:\r\n\r\n1. <strong>Identification:</strong> Focus on identifying persistent painpoints from multiple stakeholders’ perspectives.\r\n\r\n2. <strong>Solution Design:</strong> Collaborative approach to designing a solution and a commitment to an iterative process that allows continuous refinement of the solution. The solution design is based on developing assumptions from theory, practice as well as ensuring a well-defined plan for learning.\r\n\r\n3. <strong>Testing and Systematic Inquiry:</strong> Implementing and testing the solution with the relevant partners and in the environment in which it is intended to be further replicated. This step involves systematic inquiry as learnings are derived and iterated accordingly. Clearly defined metrics are put in place to systematically evaluate, implement and improve the digital payment landscape. Information regarding the methods, tools and metrics used in this exercise are detailed in Appendix. A wide range of methods such as pre-post analysis, information triangulation, A/B testing, experimental and participatory research techniques. Research tools such as surveys, interviews, focus group discussion, etc., are used to gather context-rich information and data that are backed by evidence.\r\n\r\n4. <strong>Scaling and Replicating:</strong> Devising a plan for scaling and replicating the optimal solution outcome and catalyzing a systematic and sustaining change in systems.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner css=\".vc_custom_1547795402510{padding-top: 25px !important;}\"][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"2/3\"][vc_single_image image=\"40138\" 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=\"MERAPAPER: SUBSCRIPTION MODEL FOR DIGITAL PAYMENTS CASE STUDY\" 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_custom_heading text=\"Background and context\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Merapaper (now Bix42) is a micro Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution, a mobile application that provides digital invoicing and payment service to micro vendors. It focuses on attracting micro vendors whose business has a subscription model of payment. As the first step in this endeavor, it worked towards digitizing billing and invoicing for newspaper vendors, a prominent use case in any geographical area. The solution allowed vendors to keep a track of their consumer base and their respective balances. It generated automatic bills at the end of each month, which reduced the manual labor of maintaining ledgers. In addition, it enabled vendors to send bills to customers via multiple channels of communication such as WhatsApp, email and Short Message Service (SMS). The sections below described the learning by doing process followed by Catalyst.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Identification\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]A digital solution such as the Merapaper application that enables remote payment can ease out the pain in payment collection and accounts reconciliation in a subscription business model. The belief is that, through such a systemized digital subscriptionbased payment mechanism, distributors can realize the value proposition of adopting digital payment mechanisms, thereby eventually growing their business and consumers’ sustain usage as well as adopting digital payment mechanisms for other expenses as well.\r\n\r\nNewspaper distribution is a laborious manual process including daily distribution, invoicing and payment collection. While doorstep newspaper distribution is a streamlined process with a low error rate, the billing for it is largely a paper-driven process, one that is onerous and labor-intensive and can take-up to 10-12 hours every month. The monthly collection of payments is equally cumbersome and requires at least three or four repeat visits to each household. In reality, it takes 20-22 days for a newspaper vendor to recover the revenue for a given month. This also includes manual reconciliation and cash accounting for bookkeeping. A newspaper vendor works on moderate margins and relies heavily on timely consumer payments to maintain business cash flow. There is also an overhead spillage of up to 5 percent due to transportation charges and wages of staff engaged in invoice distribution and payments collection. Lack of awareness about the availability of digital payment options was a major reason for such a low percentage of digitally paying customers.\r\n\r\nMerapaper’s business model targets small vendors who generally belong to low- to middle-income households, and work more than 16 hours every day. Such vendors maintain a daily product purchase cycle. However, the subscription-based customer payment happens once every month or at longer intervals. Hence, these vendors continue to service consumers while extending a minimum of one month’s credit period. It is critical for these vendors to generate enough cash on a daily basis to run their business, make supplier payments and remain afloat.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"The business case for newspaper distributor to go digital\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]The newspaper business is an ideal sector for payment and invoice digitization. The following section highlights the challenges faced by newspaper distributors that could be resolved with a solution such as the Merapaper app:\r\n\r\n1.<strong> Manual process of invoice generation and payment collection:</strong> Newspaper vendors deliver newspapers on a daily basis to consumer households. They must visit each consumer household in person to collect the payments. Payment collection takes about 20-22 days from the date of invoice generation. And a distributor must allocate three to six hours daily and make two to three repeat visits to successfully complete payment collection for the month. Only 2-3 percent of the consumer base pays digitally.\r\n\r\n2. <strong>Manual recording of receipts and reconciliation:</strong> Newspaper vendors maintain ledgers with details regarding bill payments and due amount. This task is a challenge due to its time-intensive nature and has the potential to disrupt a vendor’s working capital if mistakes are made.\r\n\r\n3. <strong>Resource allocation and overhead cost:</strong> Big newspaper distributors hire temporary employees to complete the monthly payment collection. Along with employee salary, transportation costs chip away at the thin margins of a newspaper business.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Solution design\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]CATALYST worked with Merapaper to test the possibility of digitizing subscription-based payments. In addition to pilot testing the Merapaper application, we also aimed to test if the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) platform was appropriate to digitize newspaper subscription payments.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Theory of change\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Collecting payments from consumers is a time- and resource-consuming activity. Distributors struggle with several inconveniences due to cash collection. For example, costumers are sometimes unavailable or low-income subscribers may not have the payment amount available with them.\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][vc_single_image image=\"40141\" img_size=\"728*520\" alignment=\"center\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space][vc_custom_heading text=\"Objective\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<p>In the wake of the given opportunity to digitize payments to newspaper vendors, the objective was to:</p>\r\n<p>i. Test whether UPI-based remote digital payments are an effective solution for newspaper payments;</p>\r\n<p>ii. Test whether consumers adopt the UPI payment mechanism for newspaper payments;</p>\r\n<p>iii. Understand the impact of UPI-based remote payment mechanism in creating value for distributor and consumer;</p>\r\n<p>iv. Build a process workflow for the newspaper bill payment use case, which can help Merapaper to build a sustained business model; and</p>\r\n<p>v. Validate if Merapaper’s business model provides value to its distributors as an effective and user-friendly solution with a proposition to scale.</p>\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Focus areas\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<p>The pilot was focused on peri-urban communities with household incomes in the range of INR 15,000 to 20,000 per annum with most of the residents employed as daily wage laborers, taxi drivers, and household helps. Four locations with this category of consumer base were suggested to provide a vendor connect in the given location. Of the three vendors engaged, two dropped out half way through the pilot due to a lack of availability. The pilot was finally executed in the Kanakpura locality of Jaipur.</p>[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Stakeholder engagement\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<p>Within the subscription-based digital payment ecosystem for newspapers, we engaged with the following key stakeholders.</p>\r\n<p>i. <strong>Newspaper vendors:</strong> To introduce digital payment option through the Merapaper mobile application and promote incentives and other pilot levers to the consumer base across the identified low-income communities. In addition, vendors also evaluate payment solution during the pilot and adopt a commercial/sustainable business model based on pilot success, during as well as post pilot.</p>\r\n<p>ii. <strong>Solution provider (Merapaper):</strong> To train vendors on application usability; provide a single channel for troubleshooting and grievance redressal; carry out periodic review of progress; and evaluate the need for any iterative change to the process. Finally, based on pilot learnings, the solution provider must develop scalable and sustainable models for large-scale roll out.</p>\r\n<p>iii. <strong>Consumer:</strong> To interact with the vendor to evaluate the need for the solution and to provide feedback on solution features, value-added services and ease of use.</p>[/vc_column_text][/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_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]', 'IMPLEMENTING INNOVATION THROUGH AN ECOSYSTEM “LEARNING AND SOLVING BY DOING” APPROACH', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '40130-revision-v1', '', '', '2019-01-18 07:32:57', '2019-01-18 07:32:57', '', 40130, 'https://cashlesscatalyst.org/media/40130-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0);
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(40146, 12, '2019-01-18 07:51:05', '2019-01-18 07:51:05', '[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=\"IMPLEMENTING INNOVATION THROUGH AN ECOSYSTEM “LEARNING AND SOLVING BY DOING” APPROACH\" 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\"]CATALYST aims to significantly expand the use of digital payments between low-income consumers and merchants. Achieving this vision requires the identification, development, testing and implementation of innovative business models that are also scalable and sustainable. It also requires a conducive policy environment and a significant behavior change from consumers. Given the numerous stakeholders in the payments value chain, scaling new digital solutions requires that multiple coordination problems be addressed. Through this, the need arises for a context-specific approach, and a rigorous well-defined “learning and solving by doing” methodology. Such a methodology captures the adaptive process of innovation in real world settings where intractable challenges are being addressed. This note outlines the method that is specific to such a setting and underlines CATALYST’s learning process comprising rapid, data-driven, test-learn-and-build cycles with the aim to validate various innovative business models around digital payments that can further be scaled.\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=\"AN ECOSYSTEM APPROACH\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\"]CATALYST, through its multiple partnerships, serves as an incubator of innovative business models built around digital payments as well as policy field experiments in real-world settings. This ecosystem approach is core to its ability to achieve sustainable impact on the longer-term and catalyze systematic change.\r\n\r\nComplex problems, such as digital payments, often remain unresolved, despite the will to address them. This is because the challenges in resolving them result from interconnectedness and complexities of different actors and aspects. Such challenges need to be studied through the lens of the ecosystem in which they exist. Many actors and factors can influence uptake of digital payments between merchants (supply) and low-income households (demand), or within supply chains. Failure to take into aspects such as the regulatory environment, technology innovation, customer need and constraints, as well as available infrastructure, among other aspects, into consideration would yield very limited impact. Central to the philosophy is blending an entrepreneurial innovative way of thinking with a grass root level approach to doing, to infuse transformative change.\r\n\r\n[/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=\"``LEARNING AND SOLVING`` BY DOING MODEL\" 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\"]Addressing issues in real-word ecosystem settings through innovation requires an exploratory as well as an action-oriented method. This allows potential solutions to emerge and their iterative testing until evolution into an optimal solution. Key to the success of this process is a well-defined learning plan and testing in the intended use environment. It is characterized by incremental knowledge production and collaborative learning among various experts (researchers, practitioners, government, technology experts, etc.).\r\n\r\nThe process features the following broad steps:\r\n\r\n1. <strong>Identification:</strong> Focus on identifying persistent painpoints from multiple stakeholders’ perspectives.\r\n\r\n2. <strong>Solution Design:</strong> Collaborative approach to designing a solution and a commitment to an iterative process that allows continuous refinement of the solution. The solution design is based on developing assumptions from theory, practice as well as ensuring a well-defined plan for learning.\r\n\r\n3. <strong>Testing and Systematic Inquiry:</strong> Implementing and testing the solution with the relevant partners and in the environment in which it is intended to be further replicated. This step involves systematic inquiry as learnings are derived and iterated accordingly. Clearly defined metrics are put in place to systematically evaluate, implement and improve the digital payment landscape. Information regarding the methods, tools and metrics used in this exercise are detailed in Appendix. A wide range of methods such as pre-post analysis, information triangulation, A/B testing, experimental and participatory research techniques. Research tools such as surveys, interviews, focus group discussion, etc., are used to gather context-rich information and data that are backed by evidence.\r\n\r\n4. <strong>Scaling and Replicating:</strong> Devising a plan for scaling and replicating the optimal solution outcome and catalyzing a systematic and sustaining change in systems.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner css=\".vc_custom_1547795402510{padding-top: 25px !important;}\"][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"2/3\"][vc_single_image image=\"40138\" 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=\"MERAPAPER: SUBSCRIPTION MODEL FOR DIGITAL PAYMENTS CASE STUDY\" 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_custom_heading text=\"Background and context\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Merapaper (now Bix42) is a micro Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution, a mobile application that provides digital invoicing and payment service to micro vendors. It focuses on attracting micro vendors whose business has a subscription model of payment. As the first step in this endeavor, it worked towards digitizing billing and invoicing for newspaper vendors, a prominent use case in any geographical area. The solution allowed vendors to keep a track of their consumer base and their respective balances. It generated automatic bills at the end of each month, which reduced the manual labor of maintaining ledgers. In addition, it enabled vendors to send bills to customers via multiple channels of communication such as WhatsApp, email and Short Message Service (SMS). The sections below described the learning by doing process followed by Catalyst.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Identification\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]A digital solution such as the Merapaper application that enables remote payment can ease out the pain in payment collection and accounts reconciliation in a subscription business model. The belief is that, through such a systemized digital subscriptionbased payment mechanism, distributors can realize the value proposition of adopting digital payment mechanisms, thereby eventually growing their business and consumers’ sustain usage as well as adopting digital payment mechanisms for other expenses as well.\r\n\r\nNewspaper distribution is a laborious manual process including daily distribution, invoicing and payment collection. While doorstep newspaper distribution is a streamlined process with a low error rate, the billing for it is largely a paper-driven process, one that is onerous and labor-intensive and can take-up to 10-12 hours every month. The monthly collection of payments is equally cumbersome and requires at least three or four repeat visits to each household. In reality, it takes 20-22 days for a newspaper vendor to recover the revenue for a given month. This also includes manual reconciliation and cash accounting for bookkeeping. A newspaper vendor works on moderate margins and relies heavily on timely consumer payments to maintain business cash flow. There is also an overhead spillage of up to 5 percent due to transportation charges and wages of staff engaged in invoice distribution and payments collection. Lack of awareness about the availability of digital payment options was a major reason for such a low percentage of digitally paying customers.\r\n\r\nMerapaper’s business model targets small vendors who generally belong to low- to middle-income households, and work more than 16 hours every day. Such vendors maintain a daily product purchase cycle. However, the subscription-based customer payment happens once every month or at longer intervals. Hence, these vendors continue to service consumers while extending a minimum of one month’s credit period. It is critical for these vendors to generate enough cash on a daily basis to run their business, make supplier payments and remain afloat.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"The business case for newspaper distributor to go digital\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]The newspaper business is an ideal sector for payment and invoice digitization. The following section highlights the challenges faced by newspaper distributors that could be resolved with a solution such as the Merapaper app:\r\n\r\n1.<strong> Manual process of invoice generation and payment collection:</strong> Newspaper vendors deliver newspapers on a daily basis to consumer households. They must visit each consumer household in person to collect the payments. Payment collection takes about 20-22 days from the date of invoice generation. And a distributor must allocate three to six hours daily and make two to three repeat visits to successfully complete payment collection for the month. Only 2-3 percent of the consumer base pays digitally.\r\n\r\n2. <strong>Manual recording of receipts and reconciliation:</strong> Newspaper vendors maintain ledgers with details regarding bill payments and due amount. This task is a challenge due to its time-intensive nature and has the potential to disrupt a vendor’s working capital if mistakes are made.\r\n\r\n3. <strong>Resource allocation and overhead cost:</strong> Big newspaper distributors hire temporary employees to complete the monthly payment collection. Along with employee salary, transportation costs chip away at the thin margins of a newspaper business.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Solution design\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]CATALYST worked with Merapaper to test the possibility of digitizing subscription-based payments. In addition to pilot testing the Merapaper application, we also aimed to test if the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) platform was appropriate to digitize newspaper subscription payments.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Theory of change\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Collecting payments from consumers is a time- and resource-consuming activity. Distributors struggle with several inconveniences due to cash collection. For example, costumers are sometimes unavailable or low-income subscribers may not have the payment amount available with them.\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][vc_single_image image=\"40141\" img_size=\"728*520\" alignment=\"center\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space][vc_custom_heading text=\"Objective\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]In the wake of the given opportunity to digitize payments to newspaper vendors, the objective was to:\r\n\r\ni. Test whether UPI-based remote digital payments are an effective solution for newspaper payments;\r\n\r\nii. Test whether consumers adopt the UPI payment mechanism for newspaper payments;\r\n\r\niii. Understand the impact of UPI-based remote payment mechanism in creating value for distributor and consumer;\r\n\r\niv. Build a process workflow for the newspaper bill payment use case, which can help Merapaper to build a sustained business model; and\r\n\r\nv. Validate if Merapaper’s business model provides value to its distributors as an effective and user-friendly solution with a proposition to scale.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Focus areas\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]The pilot was focused on peri-urban communities with household incomes in the range of INR 15,000 to 20,000 per annum with most of the residents employed as daily wage laborers, taxi drivers, and household helps. Four locations with this category of consumer base were suggested to provide a vendor connect in the given location. Of the three vendors engaged, two dropped out half way through the pilot due to a lack of availability. The pilot was finally executed in the Kanakpura locality of Jaipur.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Stakeholder engagement\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Within the subscription-based digital payment ecosystem for newspapers, we engaged with the following key stakeholders.\r\n\r\ni. <strong>Newspaper vendors:</strong> To introduce digital payment option through the Merapaper mobile application and promote incentives and other pilot levers to the consumer base across the identified low-income communities. In addition, vendors also evaluate payment solution during the pilot and adopt a commercial/sustainable business model based on pilot success, during as well as post pilot.\r\n\r\nii. <strong>Solution provider (Merapaper):</strong> To train vendors on application usability; provide a single channel for troubleshooting and grievance redressal; carry out periodic review of progress; and evaluate the need for any iterative change to the process. Finally, based on pilot learnings, the solution provider must develop scalable and sustainable models for large-scale roll out.\r\n\r\niii. <strong>Consumer:</strong> To interact with the vendor to evaluate the need for the solution and to provide feedback on solution features, value-added services and ease of use.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/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=\"TESTING AND SYSTEMIC INQUIRY\" 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>An iterative process of learning was followed where field implementation and data-driven decision making was efficiently combined for optimal impact. The focus of this approach was to identify means of instilling a behavior shift from cash to digital payments among consumers and small vendors. Presented here is the phase-wise description of the experiment designed for the pilot.</p>\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Phase 1: Merchant identification and onboarding\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<p>Phase 1 was initiated with the one-time set up of the process for UPI payment flow, vendor onboarding and registration of the selected distributor. CATALYST had an active role in this phase involving training of the distributor on the usability of UPI apps and onboarding activities.</p>\r\n<p><strong>Methods:</strong> Pre-post analysis backed by triangulation of information for validation.</p>\r\n<p><strong>Tools:</strong> In-depth interviews with vendors, distributors, etc. Surveys were conducted to gather preliminary information.</p>\r\n<p><strong>Metrics:</strong> Merchant information, business information, consumer base, payment collection data, etc.</p>[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Phase 2: Sampling and consumer onboarding:\" 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_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_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]', 'IMPLEMENTING INNOVATION THROUGH AN ECOSYSTEM “LEARNING AND SOLVING BY DOING” APPROACH', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '40130-revision-v1', '', '', '2019-01-18 07:51:05', '2019-01-18 07:51:05', '', 40130, 'https://cashlesscatalyst.org/media/40130-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0);
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(40147, 12, '2019-01-18 07:58:58', '2019-01-18 07:58:58', '[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=\"IMPLEMENTING INNOVATION THROUGH AN ECOSYSTEM “LEARNING AND SOLVING BY DOING” APPROACH\" 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\"]CATALYST aims to significantly expand the use of digital payments between low-income consumers and merchants. Achieving this vision requires the identification, development, testing and implementation of innovative business models that are also scalable and sustainable. It also requires a conducive policy environment and a significant behavior change from consumers. Given the numerous stakeholders in the payments value chain, scaling new digital solutions requires that multiple coordination problems be addressed. Through this, the need arises for a context-specific approach, and a rigorous well-defined “learning and solving by doing” methodology. Such a methodology captures the adaptive process of innovation in real world settings where intractable challenges are being addressed. This note outlines the method that is specific to such a setting and underlines CATALYST’s learning process comprising rapid, data-driven, test-learn-and-build cycles with the aim to validate various innovative business models around digital payments that can further be scaled.\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=\"AN ECOSYSTEM APPROACH\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\"]CATALYST, through its multiple partnerships, serves as an incubator of innovative business models built around digital payments as well as policy field experiments in real-world settings. This ecosystem approach is core to its ability to achieve sustainable impact on the longer-term and catalyze systematic change.\r\n\r\nComplex problems, such as digital payments, often remain unresolved, despite the will to address them. This is because the challenges in resolving them result from interconnectedness and complexities of different actors and aspects. Such challenges need to be studied through the lens of the ecosystem in which they exist. Many actors and factors can influence uptake of digital payments between merchants (supply) and low-income households (demand), or within supply chains. Failure to take into aspects such as the regulatory environment, technology innovation, customer need and constraints, as well as available infrastructure, among other aspects, into consideration would yield very limited impact. Central to the philosophy is blending an entrepreneurial innovative way of thinking with a grass root level approach to doing, to infuse transformative change.\r\n\r\n[/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=\"``LEARNING AND SOLVING`` BY DOING MODEL\" 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\"]Addressing issues in real-word ecosystem settings through innovation requires an exploratory as well as an action-oriented method. This allows potential solutions to emerge and their iterative testing until evolution into an optimal solution. Key to the success of this process is a well-defined learning plan and testing in the intended use environment. It is characterized by incremental knowledge production and collaborative learning among various experts (researchers, practitioners, government, technology experts, etc.).\r\n\r\nThe process features the following broad steps:\r\n\r\n1. <strong>Identification:</strong> Focus on identifying persistent painpoints from multiple stakeholders’ perspectives.\r\n\r\n2. <strong>Solution Design:</strong> Collaborative approach to designing a solution and a commitment to an iterative process that allows continuous refinement of the solution. The solution design is based on developing assumptions from theory, practice as well as ensuring a well-defined plan for learning.\r\n\r\n3. <strong>Testing and Systematic Inquiry:</strong> Implementing and testing the solution with the relevant partners and in the environment in which it is intended to be further replicated. This step involves systematic inquiry as learnings are derived and iterated accordingly. Clearly defined metrics are put in place to systematically evaluate, implement and improve the digital payment landscape. Information regarding the methods, tools and metrics used in this exercise are detailed in Appendix. A wide range of methods such as pre-post analysis, information triangulation, A/B testing, experimental and participatory research techniques. Research tools such as surveys, interviews, focus group discussion, etc., are used to gather context-rich information and data that are backed by evidence.\r\n\r\n4. <strong>Scaling and Replicating:</strong> Devising a plan for scaling and replicating the optimal solution outcome and catalyzing a systematic and sustaining change in systems.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner css=\".vc_custom_1547795402510{padding-top: 25px !important;}\"][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"2/3\"][vc_single_image image=\"40138\" 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=\"MERAPAPER: SUBSCRIPTION MODEL FOR DIGITAL PAYMENTS CASE STUDY\" 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_custom_heading text=\"Background and context\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Merapaper (now Bix42) is a micro Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution, a mobile application that provides digital invoicing and payment service to micro vendors. It focuses on attracting micro vendors whose business has a subscription model of payment. As the first step in this endeavor, it worked towards digitizing billing and invoicing for newspaper vendors, a prominent use case in any geographical area. The solution allowed vendors to keep a track of their consumer base and their respective balances. It generated automatic bills at the end of each month, which reduced the manual labor of maintaining ledgers. In addition, it enabled vendors to send bills to customers via multiple channels of communication such as WhatsApp, email and Short Message Service (SMS). The sections below described the learning by doing process followed by Catalyst.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Identification\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]A digital solution such as the Merapaper application that enables remote payment can ease out the pain in payment collection and accounts reconciliation in a subscription business model. The belief is that, through such a systemized digital subscriptionbased payment mechanism, distributors can realize the value proposition of adopting digital payment mechanisms, thereby eventually growing their business and consumers’ sustain usage as well as adopting digital payment mechanisms for other expenses as well.\r\n\r\nNewspaper distribution is a laborious manual process including daily distribution, invoicing and payment collection. While doorstep newspaper distribution is a streamlined process with a low error rate, the billing for it is largely a paper-driven process, one that is onerous and labor-intensive and can take-up to 10-12 hours every month. The monthly collection of payments is equally cumbersome and requires at least three or four repeat visits to each household. In reality, it takes 20-22 days for a newspaper vendor to recover the revenue for a given month. This also includes manual reconciliation and cash accounting for bookkeeping. A newspaper vendor works on moderate margins and relies heavily on timely consumer payments to maintain business cash flow. There is also an overhead spillage of up to 5 percent due to transportation charges and wages of staff engaged in invoice distribution and payments collection. Lack of awareness about the availability of digital payment options was a major reason for such a low percentage of digitally paying customers.\r\n\r\nMerapaper’s business model targets small vendors who generally belong to low- to middle-income households, and work more than 16 hours every day. Such vendors maintain a daily product purchase cycle. However, the subscription-based customer payment happens once every month or at longer intervals. Hence, these vendors continue to service consumers while extending a minimum of one month’s credit period. It is critical for these vendors to generate enough cash on a daily basis to run their business, make supplier payments and remain afloat.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"The business case for newspaper distributor to go digital\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]The newspaper business is an ideal sector for payment and invoice digitization. The following section highlights the challenges faced by newspaper distributors that could be resolved with a solution such as the Merapaper app:\r\n\r\n1.<strong> Manual process of invoice generation and payment collection:</strong> Newspaper vendors deliver newspapers on a daily basis to consumer households. They must visit each consumer household in person to collect the payments. Payment collection takes about 20-22 days from the date of invoice generation. And a distributor must allocate three to six hours daily and make two to three repeat visits to successfully complete payment collection for the month. Only 2-3 percent of the consumer base pays digitally.\r\n\r\n2. <strong>Manual recording of receipts and reconciliation:</strong> Newspaper vendors maintain ledgers with details regarding bill payments and due amount. This task is a challenge due to its time-intensive nature and has the potential to disrupt a vendor’s working capital if mistakes are made.\r\n\r\n3. <strong>Resource allocation and overhead cost:</strong> Big newspaper distributors hire temporary employees to complete the monthly payment collection. Along with employee salary, transportation costs chip away at the thin margins of a newspaper business.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Solution design\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]CATALYST worked with Merapaper to test the possibility of digitizing subscription-based payments. In addition to pilot testing the Merapaper application, we also aimed to test if the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) platform was appropriate to digitize newspaper subscription payments.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Theory of change\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Collecting payments from consumers is a time- and resource-consuming activity. Distributors struggle with several inconveniences due to cash collection. For example, costumers are sometimes unavailable or low-income subscribers may not have the payment amount available with them.\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][vc_single_image image=\"40141\" img_size=\"728*520\" alignment=\"center\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space][vc_custom_heading text=\"Objective\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]In the wake of the given opportunity to digitize payments to newspaper vendors, the objective was to:\r\n\r\ni. Test whether UPI-based remote digital payments are an effective solution for newspaper payments;\r\n\r\nii. Test whether consumers adopt the UPI payment mechanism for newspaper payments;\r\n\r\niii. Understand the impact of UPI-based remote payment mechanism in creating value for distributor and consumer;\r\n\r\niv. Build a process workflow for the newspaper bill payment use case, which can help Merapaper to build a sustained business model; and\r\n\r\nv. Validate if Merapaper’s business model provides value to its distributors as an effective and user-friendly solution with a proposition to scale.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Focus areas\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]The pilot was focused on peri-urban communities with household incomes in the range of INR 15,000 to 20,000 per annum with most of the residents employed as daily wage laborers, taxi drivers, and household helps. Four locations with this category of consumer base were suggested to provide a vendor connect in the given location. Of the three vendors engaged, two dropped out half way through the pilot due to a lack of availability. The pilot was finally executed in the Kanakpura locality of Jaipur.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Stakeholder engagement\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Within the subscription-based digital payment ecosystem for newspapers, we engaged with the following key stakeholders.\r\n\r\ni. <strong>Newspaper vendors:</strong> To introduce digital payment option through the Merapaper mobile application and promote incentives and other pilot levers to the consumer base across the identified low-income communities. In addition, vendors also evaluate payment solution during the pilot and adopt a commercial/sustainable business model based on pilot success, during as well as post pilot.\r\n\r\nii. <strong>Solution provider (Merapaper):</strong> To train vendors on application usability; provide a single channel for troubleshooting and grievance redressal; carry out periodic review of progress; and evaluate the need for any iterative change to the process. Finally, based on pilot learnings, the solution provider must develop scalable and sustainable models for large-scale roll out.\r\n\r\niii. <strong>Consumer:</strong> To interact with the vendor to evaluate the need for the solution and to provide feedback on solution features, value-added services and ease of use.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/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=\"TESTING AND SYSTEMIC INQUIRY\" 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\"]An iterative process of learning was followed where field implementation and data-driven decision making was efficiently combined for optimal impact. The focus of this approach was to identify means of instilling a behavior shift from cash to digital payments among consumers and small vendors. Presented here is the phase-wise description of the experiment designed for the pilot.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Phase 1: Merchant identification and onboarding\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Phase 1 was initiated with the one-time set up of the process for UPI payment flow, vendor onboarding and registration of the selected distributor. CATALYST had an active role in this phase involving training of the distributor on the usability of UPI apps and onboarding activities.\r\n\r\n<strong>Methods:</strong> Pre-post analysis backed by triangulation of information for validation.\r\n\r\n<strong>Tools:</strong> In-depth interviews with vendors, distributors, etc. Surveys were conducted to gather preliminary information.\r\n\r\n<strong>Metrics:</strong> Merchant information, business information, consumer base, payment collection data, etc.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Phase 2: Sampling and consumer onboarding:\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]<p>To enhance the pilot’s focus and efficiency, CATALYST, along with the distributors identified a few colonies with a high concentration of the customer base where we could engage with a sample of 300 households.</p>\r\n<p><strong>Payment collection through UPI:</strong> The distributor then shared his Virtual Payment Address (VPA) along with the monthly invoice to collect payment from the consumer.</p>\r\n<p><strong>Consumer onboarding and activation:</strong> The distributor along with a CATALYST agent, conducted his daily payment collection beat, where he introduced the agent to his customers after which the agent briefed these consumers about the benefits of the UPI app and helped them onboard the apps.</p>\r\n<p><strong>Methods:</strong> A participatory research technique was employed to gain context-rich insights from the vendor for the solution design. Information collected through the surveys was incorporated into the pre-post analysis.</p>\r\n<p><strong>Tools:</strong> Consumers were introduced to enumerators for the preliminary survey and awareness creation; in-depth interviews and non-participatory observation were also carried out to understand motivation and perception.</p>\r\n<p><strong>Metrics:</strong> Consumer household data, vendor consumer-base information, payment practices, etc.</p>[/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_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]', 'IMPLEMENTING INNOVATION THROUGH AN ECOSYSTEM “LEARNING AND SOLVING BY DOING” APPROACH', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '40130-revision-v1', '', '', '2019-01-18 07:58:58', '2019-01-18 07:58:58', '', 40130, 'https://cashlesscatalyst.org/media/40130-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0);
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(40154, 12, '2019-01-18 09:30:34', '2019-01-18 09:30:34', '[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=\"IMPLEMENTING INNOVATION THROUGH AN ECOSYSTEM “LEARNING AND SOLVING BY DOING” APPROACH\" 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\"]CATALYST aims to significantly expand the use of digital payments between low-income consumers and merchants. Achieving this vision requires the identification, development, testing and implementation of innovative business models that are also scalable and sustainable. It also requires a conducive policy environment and a significant behavior change from consumers. Given the numerous stakeholders in the payments value chain, scaling new digital solutions requires that multiple coordination problems be addressed. Through this, the need arises for a context-specific approach, and a rigorous well-defined “learning and solving by doing” methodology. Such a methodology captures the adaptive process of innovation in real world settings where intractable challenges are being addressed. This note outlines the method that is specific to such a setting and underlines CATALYST’s learning process comprising rapid, data-driven, test-learn-and-build cycles with the aim to validate various innovative business models around digital payments that can further be scaled.\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=\"AN ECOSYSTEM APPROACH\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\"]CATALYST, through its multiple partnerships, serves as an incubator of innovative business models built around digital payments as well as policy field experiments in real-world settings. This ecosystem approach is core to its ability to achieve sustainable impact on the longer-term and catalyze systematic change.\r\n\r\nComplex problems, such as digital payments, often remain unresolved, despite the will to address them. This is because the challenges in resolving them result from interconnectedness and complexities of different actors and aspects. Such challenges need to be studied through the lens of the ecosystem in which they exist. Many actors and factors can influence uptake of digital payments between merchants (supply) and low-income households (demand), or within supply chains. Failure to take into aspects such as the regulatory environment, technology innovation, customer need and constraints, as well as available infrastructure, among other aspects, into consideration would yield very limited impact. Central to the philosophy is blending an entrepreneurial innovative way of thinking with a grass root level approach to doing, to infuse transformative change.\r\n\r\n[/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=\"``LEARNING AND SOLVING`` BY DOING MODEL\" 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\"]Addressing issues in real-word ecosystem settings through innovation requires an exploratory as well as an action-oriented method. This allows potential solutions to emerge and their iterative testing until evolution into an optimal solution. Key to the success of this process is a well-defined learning plan and testing in the intended use environment. It is characterized by incremental knowledge production and collaborative learning among various experts (researchers, practitioners, government, technology experts, etc.).\r\n\r\nThe process features the following broad steps:\r\n\r\n1. <strong>Identification:</strong> Focus on identifying persistent painpoints from multiple stakeholders’ perspectives.\r\n\r\n2. <strong>Solution Design:</strong> Collaborative approach to designing a solution and a commitment to an iterative process that allows continuous refinement of the solution. The solution design is based on developing assumptions from theory, practice as well as ensuring a well-defined plan for learning.\r\n\r\n3. <strong>Testing and Systematic Inquiry:</strong> Implementing and testing the solution with the relevant partners and in the environment in which it is intended to be further replicated. This step involves systematic inquiry as learnings are derived and iterated accordingly. Clearly defined metrics are put in place to systematically evaluate, implement and improve the digital payment landscape. Information regarding the methods, tools and metrics used in this exercise are detailed in Appendix. A wide range of methods such as pre-post analysis, information triangulation, A/B testing, experimental and participatory research techniques. Research tools such as surveys, interviews, focus group discussion, etc., are used to gather context-rich information and data that are backed by evidence.\r\n\r\n4. <strong>Scaling and Replicating:</strong> Devising a plan for scaling and replicating the optimal solution outcome and catalyzing a systematic and sustaining change in systems.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner css=\".vc_custom_1547795402510{padding-top: 25px !important;}\"][vc_column_inner width=\"1/6\"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"2/3\"][vc_single_image image=\"40138\" 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=\"MERAPAPER: SUBSCRIPTION MODEL FOR DIGITAL PAYMENTS CASE STUDY\" 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_custom_heading text=\"Background and context\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Merapaper (now Bix42) is a micro Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution, a mobile application that provides digital invoicing and payment service to micro vendors. It focuses on attracting micro vendors whose business has a subscription model of payment. As the first step in this endeavor, it worked towards digitizing billing and invoicing for newspaper vendors, a prominent use case in any geographical area. The solution allowed vendors to keep a track of their consumer base and their respective balances. It generated automatic bills at the end of each month, which reduced the manual labor of maintaining ledgers. In addition, it enabled vendors to send bills to customers via multiple channels of communication such as WhatsApp, email and Short Message Service (SMS). The sections below described the learning by doing process followed by Catalyst.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Identification\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]A digital solution such as the Merapaper application that enables remote payment can ease out the pain in payment collection and accounts reconciliation in a subscription business model. The belief is that, through such a systemized digital subscriptionbased payment mechanism, distributors can realize the value proposition of adopting digital payment mechanisms, thereby eventually growing their business and consumers’ sustain usage as well as adopting digital payment mechanisms for other expenses as well.\r\n\r\nNewspaper distribution is a laborious manual process including daily distribution, invoicing and payment collection. While doorstep newspaper distribution is a streamlined process with a low error rate, the billing for it is largely a paper-driven process, one that is onerous and labor-intensive and can take-up to 10-12 hours every month. The monthly collection of payments is equally cumbersome and requires at least three or four repeat visits to each household. In reality, it takes 20-22 days for a newspaper vendor to recover the revenue for a given month. This also includes manual reconciliation and cash accounting for bookkeeping. A newspaper vendor works on moderate margins and relies heavily on timely consumer payments to maintain business cash flow. There is also an overhead spillage of up to 5 percent due to transportation charges and wages of staff engaged in invoice distribution and payments collection. Lack of awareness about the availability of digital payment options was a major reason for such a low percentage of digitally paying customers.\r\n\r\nMerapaper’s business model targets small vendors who generally belong to low- to middle-income households, and work more than 16 hours every day. Such vendors maintain a daily product purchase cycle. However, the subscription-based customer payment happens once every month or at longer intervals. Hence, these vendors continue to service consumers while extending a minimum of one month’s credit period. It is critical for these vendors to generate enough cash on a daily basis to run their business, make supplier payments and remain afloat.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"The business case for newspaper distributor to go digital\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]The newspaper business is an ideal sector for payment and invoice digitization. The following section highlights the challenges faced by newspaper distributors that could be resolved with a solution such as the Merapaper app:\r\n\r\n1.<strong> Manual process of invoice generation and payment collection:</strong> Newspaper vendors deliver newspapers on a daily basis to consumer households. They must visit each consumer household in person to collect the payments. Payment collection takes about 20-22 days from the date of invoice generation. And a distributor must allocate three to six hours daily and make two to three repeat visits to successfully complete payment collection for the month. Only 2-3 percent of the consumer base pays digitally.\r\n\r\n2. <strong>Manual recording of receipts and reconciliation:</strong> Newspaper vendors maintain ledgers with details regarding bill payments and due amount. This task is a challenge due to its time-intensive nature and has the potential to disrupt a vendor’s working capital if mistakes are made.\r\n\r\n3. <strong>Resource allocation and overhead cost:</strong> Big newspaper distributors hire temporary employees to complete the monthly payment collection. Along with employee salary, transportation costs chip away at the thin margins of a newspaper business.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Solution design\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]CATALYST worked with Merapaper to test the possibility of digitizing subscription-based payments. In addition to pilot testing the Merapaper application, we also aimed to test if the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) platform was appropriate to digitize newspaper subscription payments.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Theory of change\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Collecting payments from consumers is a time- and resource-consuming activity. Distributors struggle with several inconveniences due to cash collection. For example, costumers are sometimes unavailable or low-income subscribers may not have the payment amount available with them.\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][vc_single_image image=\"40141\" img_size=\"728*520\" alignment=\"center\"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space][vc_custom_heading text=\"Objective\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]In the wake of the given opportunity to digitize payments to newspaper vendors, the objective was to:\r\n\r\ni. Test whether UPI-based remote digital payments are an effective solution for newspaper payments;\r\n\r\nii. Test whether consumers adopt the UPI payment mechanism for newspaper payments;\r\n\r\niii. Understand the impact of UPI-based remote payment mechanism in creating value for distributor and consumer;\r\n\r\niv. Build a process workflow for the newspaper bill payment use case, which can help Merapaper to build a sustained business model; and\r\n\r\nv. Validate if Merapaper’s business model provides value to its distributors as an effective and user-friendly solution with a proposition to scale.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Focus areas\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]The pilot was focused on peri-urban communities with household incomes in the range of INR 15,000 to 20,000 per annum with most of the residents employed as daily wage laborers, taxi drivers, and household helps. Four locations with this category of consumer base were suggested to provide a vendor connect in the given location. Of the three vendors engaged, two dropped out half way through the pilot due to a lack of availability. The pilot was finally executed in the Kanakpura locality of Jaipur.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Stakeholder engagement\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Within the subscription-based digital payment ecosystem for newspapers, we engaged with the following key stakeholders.\r\n\r\ni. <strong>Newspaper vendors:</strong> To introduce digital payment option through the Merapaper mobile application and promote incentives and other pilot levers to the consumer base across the identified low-income communities. In addition, vendors also evaluate payment solution during the pilot and adopt a commercial/sustainable business model based on pilot success, during as well as post pilot.\r\n\r\nii. <strong>Solution provider (Merapaper):</strong> To train vendors on application usability; provide a single channel for troubleshooting and grievance redressal; carry out periodic review of progress; and evaluate the need for any iterative change to the process. Finally, based on pilot learnings, the solution provider must develop scalable and sustainable models for large-scale roll out.\r\n\r\niii. <strong>Consumer:</strong> To interact with the vendor to evaluate the need for the solution and to provide feedback on solution features, value-added services and ease of use.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][/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=\"TESTING AND SYSTEMIC INQUIRY\" 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\"]An iterative process of learning was followed where field implementation and data-driven decision making was efficiently combined for optimal impact. The focus of this approach was to identify means of instilling a behavior shift from cash to digital payments among consumers and small vendors. Presented here is the phase-wise description of the experiment designed for the pilot.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Phase 1: Merchant identification and onboarding\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Phase 1 was initiated with the one-time set up of the process for UPI payment flow, vendor onboarding and registration of the selected distributor. CATALYST had an active role in this phase involving training of the distributor on the usability of UPI apps and onboarding activities.\r\n\r\n<strong>Methods:</strong> Pre-post analysis backed by triangulation of information for validation.\r\n\r\n<strong>Tools:</strong> In-depth interviews with vendors, distributors, etc. Surveys were conducted to gather preliminary information.\r\n\r\n<strong>Metrics:</strong> Merchant information, business information, consumer base, payment collection data, etc.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Phase 2: Sampling and consumer onboarding:\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]To enhance the pilot’s focus and efficiency, CATALYST, along with the distributors identified a few colonies with a high concentration of the customer base where we could engage with a sample of 300 households.\r\n\r\n<strong>Payment collection through UPI:</strong> The distributor then shared his Virtual Payment Address (VPA) along with the monthly invoice to collect payment from the consumer.\r\n\r\n<strong>Consumer onboarding and activation:</strong> The distributor along with a CATALYST agent, conducted his daily payment collection beat, where he introduced the agent to his customers after which the agent briefed these consumers about the benefits of the UPI app and helped them onboard the apps.\r\n\r\n<strong>Methods:</strong> A participatory research technique was employed to gain context-rich insights from the vendor for the solution design. Information collected through the surveys was incorporated into the pre-post analysis.\r\n\r\n<strong>Tools:</strong> Consumers were introduced to enumerators for the preliminary survey and awareness creation; in-depth interviews and non-participatory observation were also carried out to understand motivation and perception.\r\n\r\n<strong>Metrics:</strong> Consumer household data, vendor consumer-base information, payment practices, etc.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Phase 3: Handholding and triability\" 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_column_text text_color=\"#383b3b\" font_size=\"16px\" letter_spacing=\"\" el_class=\"lh22 ptext-justify\"]Upon successful registration on UPI, consumers were nudged by the vendor to make their current month’s payment using UPI apps.\r\n\r\n<strong>Payment reconciliation:</strong> Merapaper used consumer details (name and VPA) recorded during onboarding to manually reconcile the UPI payments daily and then reflect and update the same information on the distributor’s MeraPaper balance sheet (dashboard).\r\n\r\n<strong>Methods:</strong> A/B testing was incorporated to understand adoptability and usability of the mobile application and UPI payment triangulation\r\nof data to understand digital payment viability for subscription-based payments.\r\n\r\n<strong>Tools:</strong> Focus group discussions with the vendor and consumers were conducted; participatory and non-participatory observation of payment and collection behaviour was conducted.\r\n\r\n<strong>Metrics:</strong> Transactional data; payment practices; mobile application and UPI adoption and usage, etc.\r\n\r\n[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=\"Phase 4: Behavioral shift and monitoring\" 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_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space][/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_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]', 'IMPLEMENTING INNOVATION THROUGH AN ECOSYSTEM “LEARNING AND SOLVING BY DOING” APPROACH', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '40130-revision-v1', '', '', '2019-01-18 09:30:34', '2019-01-18 09:30:34', '', 40130, 'https://cashlesscatalyst.org/media/40130-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0);
