From Beneficiary to Economic Citizens

Client

  • Design Research

Sector

  • Financial Services

Services

  • Design Research
  • Service Design

A study to understand the ecosystem of government-to-person (G2P) payments and the barriers and enablers to financial inclusion

The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) has been evaluating the link between government to people (G2P) transfers and financial inclusion since 2009, with a particular focus on investigating the long term impact of direct electronic bank transfers on population groups that were until recently unbanked. CGAP approached Quicksand to design and conduct an ethnographic study that would help understand the end-recipient experience and the manner in which direct transfer of social benefits is impacting their everyday lives.

Objective

The study’s goal was to illustrate the end-recipient experience in AP, India, especially in remote, tribal areas. A secondary objective of the study was to provide ideas for solutions that could enrich the quality of that experience for recipients. The study identified several domains of inquiry necessary to provide an informed understanding of digital cash transfers in the AP context. These were -

Understanding the experience of receiving government-to-person (G2P) payments and of new technologies facilitating these payments.

Experience of last mile agents (e.g., bankagents, postal officers) and

Segmentation of the financial needs of the poor according to livelihoods and socio-cultural contexts

The Study

The research was conducted over 6 weeks in the districts of Mahbubnagar, east Godavari and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. The sample was reflective of diversity in size, population, access to urban centres, sources of income, and primary occupations of the residents. Another key factor for selection was covering a spectrum of technology platforms and last mile agents that deliverG2P benefits.

The findings of this study include insights into and directions for enhancing the current G2P payment system. These included -

  • Driving transparency and accountability and transferring control to the end recipient in a way that enables them to make decisions on matters that directly concern their well being.
  • The role of community agents in helping beneficiaries mediate technology and as an efficient model of delivering DBT to end-beneficiaries.
  • Reimagining the G2P payment account with greater flexibility and features beyond its current purpose of funds disbursal.
  • Leveraging community trust and social cohesion amongst communities to create systems around saving.

Outcomes

This study was framed within a larger research initiative by CGAP which included an analysis of the operations of the service providers (banks, post offices, business correspondent agencies) and a large-scale survey to quantify the impact of electronic benefit transfers on the lives of people. The study report presented findings and opportunities for advancing financial inclusion through the G2P ecosystem and was presented to extended stakeholders such as the Department of Rural Development, SERP, UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India).

Resources