Grameen Foundation
Savings Seminar
by, Debbie Dean and team
October 22, 2013
Agenda
 Overview of morning
 Ten lessons
 Breakout activities
Break (around 10:30 or 11 am)
Grameen Foundation
Microsavings Initiative

Partnering with CARD Bank, ACSI, and CASHPOR to create minimum of
650k new active savers with a target of 1.45M new savers

Expand safe access to formal savings accounts ensuring a segmentation
of the market includes targeting existing loan clients, non-loan clients,
and low income rural savers

Building a sustainable business model for the institution and the client

GF is taking a holistic approach working with the MFI’s in transformation
Product
Design and
Market
Research
Marketing
and Financial
Literacy
Enabling
Field
Transactions
Institutional
Capacity
Microsavings Initiative
• Amhara Credit and Savings
Institution (ACSI) is the
largest MFI in Ethiopia
founded in 1995 as an NGO
project in Amhara region
• 2800 employees
• Offering savings since
inception
• ACSI received its MFI license
(1997) focusing on small
farmers; predominantly
service agricultural loans
using the group lending
methodology.
• 2012 outreach:
• 11 Micro-banks
• 203 sub-branches
Cashpor
• CARD Bank (1997) is a
microfinance-oriented rural
bank (part of CARD MRI (1986)
• Largest MFI in the Philippines by
more than 50% of microfinance
market
• 1500 employees
• Organization owned, managed
and controlled by women
members;
• Moved from group to individual
lending and offering savings
services since 2003
• Current reach:
• 53 branches
• 255 Micro Banking Offices
(MBO)
ACSI
CARD Bank
Our Financial Services Partners
• Cashpor Micro Credit (1997)
is MFI with a focus on
women living below the
poverty line in the Uttar
Pradesh and Bihar regions;
1679 employees
• Unique regulatory
environment - banking
correspondent (BC) model is
the only viable path for
expanding savings services
• Establishing a triple win
business model is key to
success
• Current reach:
• 8 districts
• 131 branches
Microsavings Initiative
Results
Findings
CARD Bank
Cashpor
ACSI
Poverty Outreach
< $2.50/day
45%
96%*
79%*
< $1.25/day
15%
75%*
25%*
New Pilot Product
75,534
104,065
4,839
Total Saver Growth
428,100
104,065
320,848
Very poor = $37
Poor = $102
$3.5
NA
NA
29%
NA
NA
NA
Number of Savers
Average Savings Balance
Dormancy (>180 days)
Transaction Mix based on
poverty level
Sample: 9,065 Matapat customers with
PPI
Matapat customer base:
<$1.25 = 10%; <$2.50/day = 33%
Opening balance on <$2.50/day
<= php100: 80%
>php100 is 20%
* Credit clients , not savers
Lesson 1
Building the Right Team
 Choosing the right Financial
Services Partner
 Partner Selection Process
and Tool
Karla Brom
Financial Risk
Management
Social Performance
Management
Marketing
 Role of Project Management
Ruth Jacobs
Financial Literacy
Internal Controls
 Engaging with
Implementation Partners
Tomoko Harigaya
Behavioral
Research
Research
Human Resources and Change Management
Lesson 2
Leading Organizational Change
 What is Change Leadership/Management
 Why is it important
 How we instituted Change
• Change Workshops
• Lead/Shadow/Follow Methodology
• Communication Planning
• Human Capital Management (HCM) Assessment
Lesson 2
Human Capital Assessment
Strategic
Planning
Leadership
Practices
Culture
Talent
Acquisition
Talent
Development
Rewards &
Recognition
Review of the HR Function
http://humancapitalhub.org/Human_Capital_Management_Assessment
Lesson 2
Leading Organizational Change
 Key Lessons:




Project Management = Change Leaders
Build trust
Use their language and work culture
Baby steps -- Change takes longer than you think
 What would we do differently
•
•
•
•
Perform the HCM assessment early
Send partners top execs to leadership training
Find the low hanging fruit
Incorporate performance targets and incentives early
CONTENT
Breakout Activity
a. Landscape Assessment Summary slides
b. Some notes and translations from CGAP
Organizational Change
documents
Climate
c. Some
notes and Assessment
translations from UNDP /
UNCDF Financial Inclusion Study
Found onfrom
humancapitalhub.org
d. Information
Cocoa Study by GF
Lesson 3
Research – framework, RCTs, and findings
 Research is something you do
throughout and not just a one time
activity.
 Many ways to incorporate research into
the program
 How do we use the findings to guide the
work and do course correction
Lesson 3
Research – framework, RCTs, and findings
Behavioral Design
Games
Randomized Control led Trials (RCTs)
Questionnaires
Observation
Paper Prototypes
Surveys
Sampling
Landscape
Focus Groups Discussions
Usability Studies
Innovation
Impact
Lesson 3
Research – framework, RCTs, and findings
Behavioral Design
Games
Randomized Control led Trials (RCTs)
Questionnaires
Observation
Sampling
Landscape
Paper Prototypes
Surveys
Innovation
Focus Groups Discussions
Impact
Lesson 3
Research – framework, RCTs, and findings


Cashpor
•
70% illteracy rate
•
20% own a phone
•
60% access a phone
•
20% no phone
CARD
•
20% preferred manual system
•
48% of transactions by older
members were made by
someone else
•
Members that used the system
least, paid the most
Lesson 3
Research – framework, RCTs, and findings
Tracking key metrics is
important!
Lesson 3
Research – framework, RCTs, and findings
Tracking key metrics is
important!
Lesson 3
Research – framework, RCTs, and findings
Tracking key metrics is
important!
Lesson 3
Research – framework, RCTs, and findings
Number of Borrowers
CORRECTLY
^ Tracking key metrics is
important!
CRITICAL!
Lesson 3
Behavioral Research
• Started with CARD to evaluate the
uptake and usage, then found that 58%
were not transacting, so refocused our
work on usage.
• Also started out focusing on just the
new product, Matapat, then realized it
was across the board that was going to
have a better outcome.
19
Lesson 3
Behavioral Research
• ideas42 partnered with CARD Bank and Grameen Foundation and
used behavioral design and a randomized controlled trial to test
the effect of applied behavioral economics to the design of savings
accounts.
• Clients were 60% more likely to use new savings accounts and
made deposits that were 11% larger. These clients maintained
larger balances than they would have otherwise.
• Clients with existing accounts made larger deposits and
withdrawals and increased engagement with their savings
accounts
• These positive results indicate CARD Bank should implement the
new intervention in all branches and that behavioral design is a
powerful tool for improved savings behavior.
20
Summary of the ideas42 methodology
Define the
problem
Review
behavioral
research
Know the
Context
Generate
Behavioral
Diagnosis
Iterative
Design
Process
RCT
• Begin by carefully defining the problem in
terms of a specific user behavior
• Review relevant behavioral research
• Develop a detailed contextual understanding
– the details matter!
• Diagnose behavioral bottlenecks that are
preventing user behavior
• Design behavioral interventions to address
those bottlenecks
• Test these interventions with a randomized
controlled trial to measure impact.
21
Lesson 4
Product Design
 Product design is also never truly done and research
should be incorporated throughout the product lifecycle
 Regulatory Litmus Test
 Make adjustments early and think beyond the ‘financial
features’ such as the channel, tools to support the
clients, etc.
 Approvals through a Savings Committee
 Concepts and Prototyping ideas before going to market
with a pilot product.
• Cashpor used a ‘raise the hand’ approach when designing a
commitment savings account and a fixed deposit account.
Lesson 5
Importance of Marketing
Lesson 5
Importance of Marketing
Lesson 5
Importance of Marketing
BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE
Lesson 5
Importance of Marketing
Branch Product Posters
AFTER
BEFORE
Lesson 5
Importance of Marketing
Lesson 6
IT, Data, and Reporting
 Loans to voluntary savings
• Velocity of Information
• Activation and Updates (balance inquiries)
• Availability of deposits
 Centralized v Decentralized Systems
 High Availability (Redundancy, DRS)
Lesson 6
IT, Data, and Reporting
Lesson 6
IT, Data, and Reporting
 Understand the environment
• What are the components and where do
they reside?
• What are the technical resources?
 Formulate what you need and when
• Operational or Analytical?
 Set realistic expectations
Lesson 6
IT, Data, and Reporting
Why we push the use of data?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Benchmark social performance, and business and market figures
To answer business questions
Better understand customers needs and behaviors
Uncover nuances, discover opportunities, reduce risks and costs
Confirm assumptions and test hypothesis
Provide inputs for business case modeling
Overall, to take better informed decisions and drive change
“The bottleneck is less technical and more human, not statistics but
organizational change management. Accuracy is easier to achieve than
adoption.”
Lesson 7
Train, Train, and Train Some More

Amount of training and re-training required for MFI field staff
to be effective in delivery savings

Perform early Skills Gap Analysis for FSP project team

Many types of training required
•
•
•
•
•
Change management
Sales & promotion
Customer service
Product
Business Process
 Mobile Phone Literacy
 Language barriers, day of week, and lively interactive
sessions are the most effective
Lesson 8
Benefits of a Trusted Intermediary
Lesson 8
Benefits of a Trusted Intermediary
 Established Relationships
• ACSI - 1995
• Cashpor - 1997
• CARD - 1986
• Trust with clients
• Knowledge of culture as neighbors and family
members
 Introduce Products and Services where
customers live
• Weekly meetings – important interactions
Lesson 8
Benefits of a Trusted Intermediary
Lesson 8
Benefits of a Trusted Intermediary
Lesson 9
Discipline of Project Management
How the customer explained it
How the project leader
understood it
How the engineer designed it
How the programmer wrote it
How the sales executive
described it
How the project was
documented
What operations installed
How the customer was billed
How the helpdesk supported
it
What the customer really
needed
Lesson 9
Discipline of Project Management
 You don’t appreciate or value PM until you
have a good one!
 5 Components Project Management
•
•
•
•
•
Managing Scope
Managing Schedule and Resources
Communications
Risk Mitigation
Budget
 Cross cultural implications when managing a
project
Lesson 10
You Can Build a Business Case
 Can build the business case for small
savings
 3 Golden Rules
• Understand the present before planning the
future
• Rephrase questions and objectives, often
• Keep it simple