Ashoka Reflections - Mar 2023
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Simple, short knowledge bytes: We shared knowledge bytes on product features and incentives through
messages, flyers, and videos with banking agents on the WhatsApp group.
Incentive calculator: We sent a link to the incentive calculator on the WhatsApp group. The incentive
calculator is a simple web page on which agents can enter their anticipated number of transactions and find
out the value of the incentives they will earn.
Live feedback using WhatsApp group: The WhatsApp group enabled banking agents to share their targets
and run rate of focus schemes (MIS at the branch level). The group also gave feedback and social recognition
to banking agents who did well.
Personal calling: Our subsequent intervention involved the branch manager calling 2-3 banking agents daily
to explain focus schemes, troubleshoot using standardised talking points, and maintain the relationship and
trust of agents.
WhatsApp is a democratic tool used by a significant section of India’s population (~500 million accounts). The
platform encourages a sense of community and provides an opportunity to learn from peers, thus enabling it to
create a significant impact. The CSBC team utilised WhatsApp extensively in two interventions focused on
Financial Inclusion and Complementary Feeding (CF). The interventions demonstrated WhatsApp to be a
powerful tool with the potential to communicate social impact messages for behaviour change effectively.
We worked with India Postal Payments Bank (IPPB) to increase the number of transactions facilitated by its
banking agents by improving agent motivation. During our initial research, banking agents’ motivation emerged
as a critical barrier to increasing the number of transactions. While banking agents’ motivation was linked to
multiple issues (including agents considering IPPB work as an additional burden and lack of detailed knowledge
about IPPB’s products), the need for simpler communication about their incentives was one of the most critical
issues. With this background, CSBC designed a pilot focussed on simplifying communication around incentives
and disseminating it to banking agents through branch-level WhatsApp groups. We supported the branch
managers by sending them content to share on WhatsApp.
CSBC designed the following intervention package for the pilot:
CSBC designed a pilot focussed on simplifying communication
around incentives and disseminating it to banking agents
through branch-level WhatsApp groups
Ashoka Reflections | Page 07
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