M-Banking Agent Selection
MicroSave's Briefing Note No.81 reviews agent selection, management, and retention in mobile banking (m-banking).
Selecting the right agent is critical to the success of a mobile banking initiative, especially during the introductory period, when the solution needs acceptance in the market. Finding the right combination of agent selection criteria involves research and adaptation during pilot testing. Factors that are particularly important include the m-banking environment, maturity of the m-banking solution, rollout strategy and resources. Given a particular m-banking environment, the following criteria should be considered while selecting agents:
- Agents existing relationship with the mobile network provider;
- Age and education of the agent;
- Experience of the agent;
- Nature of business or connection to the customer;
- Liquidity with the agent;
- Agent location;
- Appropriate premises;
- Target clients of existing business should match the target market for m-banking solution;
- Consistent personnel managing business;
- Other agents in the area, so that agents are not located too close to each other.
Finally, the m-banking service provider should take care to retain agents by supporting them and ensuring that they have a clear business case.
