Listening to Agents of Mobile Banking in India
MicroSave's India Focus Note No. 38 examines why agents get into provision of mobile banking (m-banking) services and what they expect from this platform.
The fundamental role of agents is to act as the frontline customer service desks for the bank, where the customer can open a bank account and make cash deposits and withdrawals. Most of the m-banking agents are introduced to this concept by their channel partners in telecom distribution. Agents reasons for choosing m-banking agency include:
- Association with the bank;
- Increased footfall and cross-selling;
- Additional revenue stream;
- Insistence of their distributors/existing channel partners;
- Interest in the product/concept.
It is important to keep agents contented, and to constantly gauge their expectations, in order to further refine the product and optimize channel management. Agents expect adequate commissions, constant operational support, marketing and promotional support, and delivery of additional services. Although present mobile banking solutions do offer value to agents, they could make it a really attractive business proposition by bringing more customers on to the m-banking platform and ensuring that those customers transact regularly.
