Study to Assess the Role and Impact of Women Self-Help Groups as Banking Agents in Bihar​

This Slide Deck is a supplement to the official CGAP Blog "Doing Good by Doing Well: Women Banking Agents in India" (Apr 2023).

As part of CGAP's Agent Networks at the Last Mile initiative, this research explores the role of gender in developing rural agent networks in Bihar State, India, through the State Government’s Bank Sakhi Program. CGAP partnered with the Rural Livelihood Mission (Jeevika) to perform field research to better understand the business, impact, and outcomes of women agents of this program.

This deck provides the main findings of the research. In particular, it finds that Bank Sakhis can enable the financial inclusion of hard-to-reach rural and vulnerable customers; however, they face numerous gender norms and technological restrictions that hinder their ability to maximize their business potential and impact in these populations.

Disclaimer

This work was funded in whole or in part by CGAP. Unlike CGAP's official publications, it has not been peer reviewed or edited by CGAP, and any conclusions or viewpoints expressed are those of the authors, and they may or may not reflect the views of CGAP staff.