The monthly newsletter from the Indicus Centre for Financial Inclusion documents the latest news and views in the financial inclusion space, to provide a knowledge base that will help build understanding around how to accelerate the poor’s access to high-quality financial services.

This month we lead with two pieces revolving on moving consumers from cash to digital payments, which form the primary building block for financial inclusion. These include a) an article by Ignacio Mas and David Porteous which highlights the significant efficiency gains from transforming into a cash lite economy using mobile networks and b) a paper by Jake Kendal, Graham Wright and Mireya Almazan that discusses the emerging challenges in new sales and distribution models in mobile financial services.

Lead Stories

A cash-lite world: safe, cheap, and convenient payments for all

Ignacio Mas and David Porteous discuss the efficiency gains that result from a transition away from cash - greater business innovations, more control over financial lives, greater effectiveness for the government etc. However, for building an effective cash-lite system all stakeholders-banks, telecom companies, distributors and regulators will have to jointly work to create an interoperable digital payments grid.

New Sales and Distribution Models in Mobile Financial Services

This paper by Jake Kendal, Graham Wright and Mireya Almazan critically analyses the novel mobile based sales and distribution approaches adopted by financial service providers. It uses case studies and interviews with practitioners from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Tanzania and Uganda to evaluate emerging challenges in this uncharted territory. They conclude that appropriate application of technology and simplification and streamlining of sales procedures to the maximum possible extent are key principles to keep in mind.

Section I: Policy – the latest from India’s policymakers

Regulation for Financial Consumer Protection: Present Status and Future Directions

Dr.K.C.Chakrabarty, Deputy Governor, RBI, April 29, 2013

Strategy for Seeding Aadhar in Bank Accounts

Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, April 22, 2013

Financial Inclusion and Financial Literacy

Dr. Deepali Pant Joshi, Executive Director, RBI, April 17, 2013

Development of secured automated system for Direct Benefit Transfer

Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, April 16, 2013

Section II: News and Views Digest- the latest from India and abroad

India

Saradha Fraud: Blame RBI for Financial Exclusion  AND  Ponzi schemes show failure of formal banking

3-6-3 banking costs the poor money

No application yet to RBI for setting up new private banks  AND  Opening new banks will not be a 'cakewalk': RBI's Deputy Governor KC Chakrabarty

Parliamentary Panel for opening branches in unbanked areas

HSBC chairman Douglas Flint warns poorer customers could lose out

Vodafone, ICICI Bank enable mobile wallet to tap rural east India

SBI in talks with Vodafone for last-mile link to unbanked

Bank Licences: RBI should make financial inclusion an opportunity not an obligation

RBI not keen on Bank Licence auction as it will deter financial inclusion

Bandhan Microfinance keen on banking foray- to provide remittance facility and promote financial inclusion

UP IAS officer moots mobile cash for poor

RBI to urban co-operative banks: Grant unsecured loans up to 25 per cent of assets

International

Beyond financial inclusion

Data: Enabling Country-led Actions to Address Financial Inclusion

G20, the Commonwealth and La Francophonie articulate importance of Maya Declaration

G24, AFI will seek to strengthen engagement with SSBs through peer-to-peer approach

IFC and G-20 Partners Launch an Online Platform to Expand Access to Finance for Women Entrepreneurs

Pathways to Prosperity: Accelerating Financial Inclusion & Women in Finance

Section III: Research – surveys and studies on expanding access to financial services

Success Factors of Equity Bank’s Agency Banking

Venkata N. A. and Priyank Mishra, MicroSave, April 2013

Access to Credit in West Bengal Post Microfinance Crisis

Anirban Roy, Ritika Srivastava, Shayandeep Chakraborty and Swati Mehta, MicroSave, April 17, 2013

Access to Credit in Andhra Pradesh Post Microfinance Crisis

Anjaneyulu Ballem, Alphina Jos, Ghiyazuddin A. Mohammad and Nishant Kumar, MicroSave, April 17, 2013

Financial Inclusion in the Commonwealth and Francophonie

Common Wealth Secretariat & Organisation Internationale La Francophonie, April 11, 2013

Financial Inclusion and Legal Discrimination against Women: Evidence from Developing Countries

Asli Demirguc-Kunt, Leora F. Klapper and Dorothe Singer, World Bank, April, 2013