Eko India's Financial Inclusion Initiative

Abstract:

Eko India Financial Services Pvt Ltd (Eko), a Delhi, India, based financial services company was founded to serve the section of the population which was financially excluded. The company believed that a basic saving account is important for financial inclusion. Eko realized that people from financially excluded communities owned mobile phones and the mobile penetration in India was rising rapidly. The company decided to develop its product based on mobile phone. It chose to use mobile phones as the mode of communication between banks and the end users. Eko developed a platform called Simplibank. It entered into a tie-up with erstwhile Centurion Bank of Punjab to provide no frills accounts to financially excluded people.

Eko used neighborhood grocery and pharmacy stores as Customer Service Points (CSP). Under this model, any person could approach a CSP to open a savings bank account. The Know Your Customers norms for those taking no frills accounts were relaxed so that more people could be included into the financial system. CSP would send the new account details to Eko through his mobile phone and the account would get operable in ten minutes. The account holder would be given material with instructions and password to operate the account. Account holders could deposit, withdraw, and transfer to others' no frills account opened through Eko at CSP. The mobile number and password acted as authentication for transactions. Eko designed its system in such a manner that its customer need to be just number literate to avail its services. The case describes in detail Eko's business model and highlights the need for financial inclusion initiatives.

Issues:

» Understand Eko India's business model.

» Appreciate the importance of financial inclusion and examine Eko's efforts towards financial inclusion of under-banked population.

» Appraise the costs involved in the financial inclusion model of Eko.

» Analyze the opportunities and challenges in Eko's business model.

Contents:

Keywords:

Eko India Financial Services, No Frills Savings Accounts, Under-banked Masses, Business Correspondent, Customer Service Points, Financial Inclusion, Financial Exclusion, Microfinance Institutions, Information, Communication and Technology, Inclusion Centric Financial Infrastructure, Eko Aspire Foundation, Simplibank, Unstructured Supplementary Service Data, Microfinance Open Source, Banking for Masses, Mobile Banking, General Purpose Credit Card, Abhilasha Account, Grameen Foundation, Know Your Customer Norms, Mobile Penetration

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