Photo by O’SHI on Shutterstock. In the last blog, we discussed about the need to understand financial lives of urban poor from their standpoint before devising financial products, services or tools for them. In this blog we’ll discuss some of the cash management strategies generally used by low-income households (LIHs). Cash inflow management strategies of low-income households.… Continue reading Cash Management or Managing Cash?
Progress hasn’t conformed just to the switch from chalk to marker, but the Indian Education system has transgressed in its nuances. Hefty lesson guides have been replaced by online portals that educate while they entertain. Lessons aren’t just about lectures but rather an assortment of digital aids and exercises. Gyan Saarthi, like the other… Continue reading Gyan with Technology at ‘Gyan Saarthi’
We are proud to present the book “CIIE — Celebrating 10 years of Experiments and Entrepreneurs” which chronicles the first decade of CIIE Initiatives (IIMA Ventures) and celebrates the stories of heroes aka its entrepreneurs.
Customer service and grievance management are critical challenges to the financial inclusion effort in India. As such, customer service and grievance management are key determinants of any bank’s relationship with their customers. Positive experiences of service and grievance redressal encourage customers to trust banking service providers and thereby, inspire loyalty. However, in the Indian… Continue reading Empowerment through Experience
Wealth Management. The very term conjures up images of High Net-worth Individuals (HNIs), big banks, and sophisticated financial advisors. Categorically speaking though, wealth management is just a way of allocating finances to maintain liquidity on one hand and to invest for growth on the other. The fundamental principles of wealth management have nothing to… Continue reading A quick introduction to micro-wealth management using IndiaStack
CIIE Initiatives, the not-for-profit entity completes 10 years since its incorporation this year. CIIE has transformed from being an academic centre located in the basement of Dorm 18 in the IIMA campus to a Technology Business Incubator (TBI, as recognised by DST) working out of a 20000-square-foot center. Over its journey, CIIE has… Continue reading Innovation, Incubation, and Impact
His name is Satrudhan but people call him Satish. So I call him Satish too. As I sit down to ask him questions, a group of two or three men gather around us, curious about what’s happening. I explain to them that it is a confidential interview about one’s incomes and savings. “Is that so?”… Continue reading People of Bharat: Satrudhan, Ahmedabad
Photo by India Picture on Shutterstock That Indian households invest largely in physical assets is well known. What is not well understood is why this might be so. The reluctance in engaging with formal financial markets in India may have its roots in lack of trust, financial illiteracy, and access to resources that make it easy for… Continue reading Reducing financial skill asymmetry between distributors and retail investors
IIMA Ventures (formerly IIMA-CIIE) and MicroSave conducted a research on the fintech landscape in India. The aim of the study was to identify support areas for fintechs to offer convenient and affordable financial solutions to the low- and middle-income (LMI) segments. For the research, we consulted more than 60 stakeholders working across different industry… Continue reading Fintech Study to Model a Financial Inclusion Lab
Over the last decade, financial inclusion — access to and use of formal financial services — of the underserved and excluded populations has become a priority goal of National Governments as well as International Organizations. Transaction accounts (such as bank account, mobile wallet, payment card, or similar electronic instruments) that allow individuals to store… Continue reading Digitizing Payments in India: Inducing Behavioral Change Through Peer Comparison
Image Credit: Shutterstock Self Help Groups (SHGs) are the foundation of Indian microfinance, and are a particularly Indian concept. They are different from the Joint Liability Groups (JLGs) through which Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) provide loan funds to women. SHGs encourage savings, opening of bank accounts, inter-loaning among members, and most importantly, members of SHGs… Continue reading Supporting Women Self-Help Group Federations
The use of technology (and mobile phone/smartphone based solutions in particular) is widely seen as a solution to overcome the information asymmetries that persist in agriculture in India, especially among small and marginal farmers. Given the constraints faced by government and practitioners in traditional extension services, technology based solutions are likely to be… Continue reading Beyond Product Design – Digital Financial Services in the Farmer Segment