Financial Inclusion For The Poorest Women in Pakistan

3/3/2021 Financial Inclusion for the Poorest Women in Pakistan
SlideShare Explore Search You
Upload
Login
Signup
Search Submit Search
Home
Explore
Search
Successfully reported this slideshow.
We use your LinkedIn profile and activity data to personalize ads and to show you more relevant ads. You can
change your ad preferences anytime.
cgap
11 of 38
https://www.slideshare.net/CGAP/financial-inclusion-for-the-poorest-women-in-pakistan 1/40
Financial Inclusion for the Poorest Women in

Pakistan
11,329 views
Share
Like
Download
...
CGAP
Follow
Published on Jan 13, 2014
CGAP and Habib Bank Limited (HBL), the largest commercial bank in Pakistan,
...
Published in: Education, Economy & Finance, Business
24 Comments
12 Likes
Statistics
Notes
Full Name
Comment goes here.
12 hours ago Delete Reply Block
Are you sure you want to Yes No
Your message goes here
Share your thoughts…

Post
Login to see the comments
Mahmoud Gamal , Head of Assets products Business Development at Credit Agricole Egypt at Credit
Agricole Egypt
10 months ago
Hanif Khan
2 years ago
Aizaz Ahmad
3 years ago
John Chang , Intern at Sinha Lab

4 years ago
Sajid Mansoor
5 years ago
Show More
No Downloads
Views
Total views
11,329
On SlideShare
0
From Embeds
0
Number of Embeds
6,316
Actions
Shares
0
Downloads
153
Comments
24
Likes
12
No notes for slide
Financial Inclusion for the Poorest Women in Pakistan

1. 1. Financial Inclusion for the Poorest Women in Pakistan 10 January 2014
2. 2. G2P Financial Inclusion for the Poorest Women in Pakistan
3. 3. T h e Pr o j e c t CGAP and Habib Bank Limited (HBL), the largest commercial bank in Pakistan,
recently worked with the design firm Continuum Innovation to better understand the constraints of linking
government-to-person (G2P) payments with financial inclusion in poor areas in Pakistan. The
ethnographic research focused on women beneficiaries of the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP). Pr
o j e c t G o a ls CGAP • Gain a deeper understanding of G2P beneficiaries in the Benazir Income Support
Program, BISP, and assess whether or not they are capable of being “banked.” • Increase financial
inclusion amongst BISP beneficiaries • Institutionalize Human Centered Design Process at HBL HBL •
Increase use of Branchless Banking
4. 4. BISP The government of Pakistan established the Benazir Income Support Programme, BISP in 2008 to
distribute cash payments to low income families. Currently, BISP distributes PKR 3,000 each quarter to
about 5 million of the poorest women in Pakistan. PKR 3,000 is about $30 at current exchange rates, so
the payments are worth about $10 a month.
5. 5. Researcher (Harry) BISP Recipient Facilitator (Nadia) Researcher (Rachel) Translator We worked
directly with BISP recipients to understand their values, attitudes and behaviors, understand the problems
they face, and to create and test solutions that work for them. Only once we have a human solution do we
look for ways to bring it into the business.
6. 6. This woman’s husband is a welder and she makes and sells these key chains. Each interview lasted
about an hour. We asked about their life. Their sources of income, social circles, anxieties and finally, their
financial behaviors, thoughts on BISP and banking.
7. 7. I N T E RV I E W S Base Location Type Number of Subjects Lahore Sanda urban 6 Lahore Jindra
village on the rural outskirts of urban center 4 Lahore Sharif Pura urban 4 Multan Multan urban 6 Multan
Lodhran rural 6 Multan Mailsi village in rural area 5
8. 8. W H AT W E L E A R N E D
9. 9. W H AT W E L E A R N E D BISP recipients are very poor and live day-to-day, or at best, month-to-
month, and they are all illiterate. Their primary concerns were making sure they could pay for food,
electricity, rent (in the city), medicine and saving for dowries for their daughters. For mothers of daughters
a few years before getting married, dowry savings were a pressing concern.
10. 10. Rural Karim is a widow from Lodhran. Her largest expense is medicine. She is completely illiterate
and can’t identify roman numerals, even on rupee notes. Her daughter purchases goods for her. She has to
travel 7km and spends 100-550PKR to get her BISP payment and is not allowed in the bank.
REPRESENTATIVE BENEFICIARIES This beneficiary’s husband doesn’t contribute financially. Her
eldest daughter contributes 4000-5000 per month. She uses BISP funds for rent and said, “how much we
get, we eat.” When there is not enough incoming money she borrows “door to door.” Urban Just Getting
By Parveen sews clothes at home and her husband is a bike mechanic. She has 4 kids and 3 of them are
literate. Though she owes 3000 PKR for the electricity bill she saves in a trunk in her home for a dowry.
When she first married she saved “pocket money” from her husband to buy the sewing machine she now
uses for work. Able to Save Bushra is married with three kids and has another one on the way. She works
as a dishwasher and her husband is an electrician. She was the most literate of all the women we spoke to.
She was able to write and read roman numerals in English. The ATM is right around the corner. She is
saving for a trip to Mecca.
11. 11. I R R E G U L A R PAY M E N T S All of the women interviewed were grateful for the BISP
payments, which were an important part of their budget or of their savings plan. However, there was a
pervasive sense of distrust of the BISP program because of the irregularity of the payments. Many of the
women told of going to the bank or an agent because they heard that there had been a distribution of
money, but their account was empty. They did not know the reason they did not get their money. BISP
money has historically been paid irregularly and at different times for different people in the same village.
12. 12. N O A C C E S S T O M O N E Y I N D E P E N D E N T LY Most women were not able to get their
money themselves from an ATM, or did not understand what was happening when they got their money
from an agent. Some women got help using the ATM from a respected female friend from the
neighborhood or a relative. Younger kids, older women or men seem to have more agency to engage with
a bank. Some women got help from someone at the bank. At one branch we watched the branch “chai
wallah” or tea boy volunteer his time helping the women at the ATM.
13. 13. This woman arrived at the ATM with two other female family members and her son. She was not able
to access her money for an entire year and a half and was receiving it all at once. The “Chai Wallah,” or
building’s tea boy is helping her withdraw her money.
14. 14. For every woman who received a windfall, we saw countless others who couldn’t get any money out.
The current irregularity of payments, and difficulty accessing the bank have got in the way of the women
building enough personal trust and confidence in the system for them to leave their money there. The
system has not demonstrated that it is trustworthy, and the women do not have confidence that they could
get their money out of the system if they needed it.
15. 15. The women’s illiteracy, lack of agency outside the house and lack of experience with banking makes
it: 1 Difficult for them to get their money independently. 2 Difficult for them to play their expected role in
taking advantage of the transparency in the system to monitor the correctness of their payments or amount
in their account.
16. 16. GROWING BRANCHLESS BANKING PROVIDE SOM ETHING USEFUL ESTABLISH TRUST
Reliability Communication Transparency Consistency and Practice Take something BISP recipients do
already and make it better REM OVE BARRIERS Process communication Proximity Access Account
opening
17. 17. U N D E R S TA N D I N G L I T E R A C Y & C O M M U N I C AT I O N T E S T I N G
18. 18. This women was unable to understand written numbers NUMERACY Illiteracy is the hidden hurdle
that makes it difficult to bring financial inclusion to BISP recipients. Systems that should work in theory
break down when beneficiaries, the most important player in the system, cannot interact with the system
themselves.
19. 19. The standard for literacy in Pakistan is to be able to write your own name. Most women in Pakistan
are unable to get over even this low bar. Literacy studies in other regions report much more capability than
we found in the rural areas in Southern Punjab we visited. The challenge of communicating with BISP
recipients is extreme.
20. 20. DIRECTION Understanding numerals is highly contextual. For example, a beneficiary was able to
enter in the following phone number but read and entered in the number from right to left, the way Urdu
script is read. We saw the same issue when it came to entering PINs into an ATM.
21. 21. WORDS This phone receipt was not understood by recipients This message, which only consists of
numbers, was comprehensible Being illiterate is more limiting than not being able to read. Any words can
complicate and confuse the reader, sending the implicit message that it is not for them.
22. 22. I N F O R M AT I O N H I E R A R C H Y The recipient misunderstood ATM receipt and we could
have defrauded her of 1000 PKR. She did understand the large font on the redesigned agent receipt.
23. 23. Although the women we all illiterate and unfamiliar with technology, this does not mean they are
unable to learn or that they lacked other knowledge. We learned this from an old woman who had spent
her entire life in the country, and could not use a cell phone. But when we described some financial
products to her, she immediately understood how to use them to her advantage in ways that our team had
not anticipated.
24. 24. COMMUNICATION Our recommendation is to design communication specifically for illiterate
people. This must be tested in the field before widespread dissemination. In particular, we recommend
using photographs to teach BISP recipients how to use the banking system, and simple, large text of only
the most relevant information to increase the transparency in the system.
25. 25. This is an example of what a simple ATM poster could look like
26. 26. This simple, photographic poster provided ample guidance. Here the beneficiary was focused intently
on following the poster to her right.
27. 27. This simple, photographic poster provided ample guidance. Here the beneficiary was focused intently
on following the poster to her right.
28. 28. After completing the interview. She asked our team member Sara, to show her the posters again.
29. 29. Then, using the posters, she explained the process of using an ATM to her sister-in-law in the
adjoining house.
30. 30. In response to the widespread desire to learn and access ATMs independently, we created and tested
smaller, shareable versions of the poster.
31. 31. There was confusion around what was going on at an agent hub. There was no transparency into their
account balance or history and the women were not able to read their receipts.
32. 32. We tested simple posters with the beneficiaries to set expectations and explain the agent process.
Recipients were able to understand the posters and articulate how their experience differed.
33. 33. This is an example of what a simple agents poster could look like. We also made a shareable version.
34. 34. T R A N S PA R E N C Y R E C O M M E N D AT I O N S Making it easier for BISP recipients to
monitor their payments makes it more difficult for them to be defrauded. These are examples of
communication of amount paid that are more transparent because illiterate BISP recipients are more likely
to understand them.
35. 35. PRODUCTS & PRODUCT TESTING
36. 36. GROWING BRANCHLESS BANKING Rather than try to change behavior, we built product ideas
around current behavior 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Committee saving system Beneficiaries commonly use informal and
traditional saving systems. There is significant peer pressure involved with maintaining regular payment.
The participants appreciate that the money is kept by a trusted member in the community but is also out of
reach. Worry about when BISP money will arrive Because of the unreliability of BISP payments,
beneficiaries have to borrow informally. Their lack of access to BISP funds also creates accidental
accumulated savings in their account. Community lending and financial health Informal lending occurs
frequently with one’s reputation as the only collateral. A beneficiary receiving an informal loan becomes
indebted to her community and depending on the circumstance, the loan may sometimes be considered a
gift. When it is a loan, the beneficiaries are compelled to pay it back to maintain the community’s
financial health. Accumulated debt on electricity bill Electricity bills vary monthly and are a frequent
source of stress for beneficiary families. Debt is frequently incurred on these bills and the fear of one's
electricity being cut is pervasive. Some of our beneficiaries were familiar with a bank as “ a place where
you pay your electricity bill.” Trunk to store money Beneficiaries frequently store money at home in a
trunk. Most often, it is savings for their daughter's dowry. At home, their savings feel tangible and easily
accessible. Khatta at the Karyana These stores provide informal credit to members of their neighborhood.
In order to maintain access to the store and keep up their reputation in the community, beneficiaries must
maintain good credit. Group agency Beneficiaries feel safer and more comfortable outside of their home
with groups of peer women. These groups are often led by a trusted and more educated female from the
community.
37. 37. PRODUCTS A simple savings product and a loan product which are just different options for when a
BISP recipient receives her money– these products are a natural extension of how the recipients are
thinking about their interactions with the bank today and are stepping stones to fuller financial inclusion.
38. 38. Advancing financial inclusion to improve the lives of the poor www.cgap.org 38
Recommended
Explore personal development books with Scribd

Scribd - Free 30 day trial
A Design Guide for Communicating with BISP Recipients in Pakistan

CGAP
Agent Expansion in WAEMU

CGAP
Enhancing Customer Engagement and Experience of Microinsurance in Africa

CGAP
Understanding the East African Aggregator Landscape

CGAP
Digital Finance and Interoperability: 20 Country Scan

CGAP
Problem
tristantravers13
Foreign marriage act 1969

P G RADHAKRISHNAN Kerala Revenue Department
beyond_denail
Rakhshinda Perveen
Shahina Aftab Foundation--- A chance at life

Noor Aftab
Financial Federalism in Pakistan & National Finance Commission

Shahbaz Cheema
English
Español
Português
Français
Deutsch
About
Dev & API
Blog
Terms
Privacy
Copyright
Support
Share Clipboard
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Link
Public clipboards featuring this slide
No public clipboards found for this slide
Select another clipboard
Looks like you’ve clipped this slide to already.
Search for a clipboard
Create a clipboard
You just clipped your first slide!
Clipping is a handy way to collect important slides you want to go back to later. Now customize the name of a
clipboard to store your clips.
Name* Best of Slides

Description Add a brief description so oth
Visibility
Others can see my Clipboard
Cancel Save
Save this presentation
U N D E R S TA N D I N G L I T E R A C Y & C O M M U N I C AT I O N T E S T I N G
This women was unable to understand written numbers NUMERACY Illiteracy is the hidden hurdle that
makes it difficult to b...
The standard for literacy in Pakistan is to be able to write your own name. Most women in Pakistan are unable
to get over ...
DIRECTION Understanding numerals is highly contextual. For example, a beneficiary was able to enter in
the following phone...
WORDS This phone receipt was not understood by recipients This message, which only consists of numbers,
was comprehensib...
I N F O R M AT I O N H I E R A R C H Y The recipient misunderstood ATM receipt and we could have
defrauded her of 1000 PKR...
Although the women we all illiterate and unfamiliar with technology, this does not mean they are unable to
learn or that ...
COMMUNICATION Our recommendation is to design communication specifically for illiterate people. This
must be tested in th...
This is an example of what a simple ATM poster could look like
This simple, photographic poster provided ample guidance. Here the beneficiary was focused intently on
following the poste...
This simple, photographic poster provided ample guidance. Here the beneficiary was focused intently on
following the poste...
After completing the interview. She asked our team member Sara, to show her the posters again.
Then, using the posters, she explained the process of using an ATM to her sister-in-law in the adjoining house.
In response to the widespread desire to learn and access ATMs independently, we created and tested smaller,
shareable vers...
There was confusion around what was going on at an agent hub. There was no transparency into their account
balance or hist...
We tested simple posters with the beneficiaries to set expectations and explain the agent process. Recipients
were able to...
This is an example of what a simple agents poster could look like. We also made a shareable version.
T R A N S PA R E N C Y R E C O M M E N D AT I O N S Making it easier for BISP recipients to monitor
their payments makes i...
PRODUCTS & PRODUCT TESTING
GROWING BRANCHLESS BANKING Rather than try to change behavior, we built product ideas around
current behavior 1 2 3 4 ...
PRODUCTS A simple savings product and a loan product which are just different options for when a BISP
recipient receives ...
Advancing financial inclusion to improve the lives of the poor www.cgap.org 38
Upcoming SlideShare
Loading in …5

Financial Inclusion For The Poorest Women in Pakistan

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Financial Inclusion For The Poorest Women in Pakistan

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

3/3/2021 Financial Inclusion for the Poorest Women in Pakistan

SlideShare Explore Search You

Search Submit Search

Financial Inclusion for the Poorest Women in

Published on Jan 13, 2014

Share your thoughts…

Login to see the comments

John Chang , Intern at Sinha Lab

No notes for slide

Financial Inclusion for the Poorest Women in Pakistan

Explore personal development books with Scribd

A Design Guide for Communicating with BISP Recipients in Pakistan

Agent Expansion in WAEMU

Enhancing Customer Engagement and Experience of Microinsurance in Africa

Understanding the East African Aggregator Landscape

Digital Finance and Interoperability: 20 Country Scan

Foreign marriage act 1969

Shahina Aftab Foundation--- A chance at life

Financial Federalism in Pakistan & National Finance Commission

Public clipboards featuring this slide

No public clipboards found for this slide

Select another clipboard

Looks like you’ve clipped this slide to already.

Search for a clipboard

You just clipped your first slide!

Name* Best of Slides

makes it difficult to b...

to get over ...

the following phone...

I N F O R M AT I O N H I E R A R C H Y The recipient misunderstood ATM receipt and we could have

defrauded her of 1000 PKR...

learn or that ...

must be tested in th...

This is an example of what a simple ATM poster could look like

following the poste...

following the poste...

were able to...

T R A N S PA R E N C Y R E C O M M E N D AT I O N S Making it easier for BISP recipients to monitor

their payments makes i...

PRODUCTS & PRODUCT TESTING

current behavior 1 2 3 4 ...

recipient receives ...

Advancing financial inclusion to improve the lives of the poor www.cgap.org 38

You might also like