X

We detected that you log in from the United States, do you want to visit our US website?  Click here Browse region

Select a brand

Financial inclusion

financial inclusion / enable the cash-based societies with financial services

Today, three quarters of the world’s population is excluded from the traditional banking system, for various reasons. Because of the limited number of bricks-and-mortar branches in developing countries, the high cost and the complexity of the banking services, local population cannot afford being banked. How to make the unbanked access and use effectively financial services? What does it take to support the shift from a cash-based environment to a cashless ecosystem? These are hard questions that we can solve.

Proximity the missing ingredient

Enabling the cash-based societies with financial services requires “proximity” meaning education, assistance and building trust around the Financial Inclusion program. Ingenico Group believes that these adoption barriers are easily removable by leveraging a network of banking advocates outside of the brick-and-mortar branches where the program representatives (such as Branchless Agents)…

  • go on the field, 
  • get closer to the unbanked people, 
  • enroll un(der)banked customers, 
  • assist them in selecting and using the offered services and,
  • enable them to use their mobile device to access Financial Services. 

 

To do so, the program representatives need one single point of interaction to achieve “proximity”. Equipped with Ingenico Smart Terminals, they are able to enroll the unbanked population and get them familiar with the financial ecosystem. In fact, they capture the enrollment information (know-your-customer (KYC) information) and are capable to access the account information on the same terminal to answer any query that consumers have. They can also initiate transactions for their customers to make them trust the service and be more comfortable with electronic payments. 

Our solutions drive the adoption of the services step by step by the unbanked. 

Enrollment

Ingenico Smart Terminals support multi-applications including banking services and traditional payment applications. Terminals become a secure banking tool allowing the enrollment of new customers in the program and the funding of the issued accounts:

  • KYC Collection & Management 
  • Cash Deposits 
  • Cash Withdrawals
  • Salary and Grants Disbursement (P2P, B2P & G2P)

 


 

Education

Providing help and assistance removes the adoption barriers. The program representative (such as branchless agents or local merchants) can provide value-added services to their customer by initiating transactions for them or responding to any query related to account management. 

  • Account Management: balance inquiry, transaction history, PIN management
  • Value added services: domestic & international remittance, bill payment, airtime purchase, payment with vouchers

Adoption

We offer, thanks to our platform, a whole range of services to the end users. Account holders initiate transactions easily via mobile phones, laptops or payment cards.

  • Various offering: account & PIN management, money transfer, payments & retail, bill payment, Airtime top-up, ATM cash withdrawal and banking services (insurances, credits and savings)
  • Our platform supports, in addition to the usual authentication mechanisms, a Near Sound Data Transfer technology that turns any phone (meaning basic and smart phones) into a secure, easy-to-use and fast payment tool.

 

More about Financial Inclusion

Branchless Banking in Africa

This infographic describes the current state of the unbanked African adult population and explains why branchless banking is the answer to make financial inclusion come true.

Find out more

Financial Inclusion: Brochure

Brochure

When the hard-to-reach become your preferred customers
Finc / the offering which addresses financial inclusion challenges
 

Find out more

 

Video from It's Africa time

Video use Case / It's Africa's Time

This new episode tells the success story of Equity Bank’s Branchless Banking program in partnership with Ingenico Group.
 

Find out more