IN PARTNERSHIP WITH GENDER AND DIGITAL FINANCIAL SERVICES BANKING OUTSIDE OF THE BOX The Service As Ghana’s largest indigenous bank, Fidelity Bank has always wanted Ghanaians to know that they can produce the same, if not better, levels of products and services as any international bank. In KEY FIGURES 2013, Fidelity Bank piloted the Smart Account product and Agency Banking service to set the pace for offering quality financial services to Ghana’s unbanked and under-banked. Fidelity’s Smart Account Converted 396 VSLA’s is either a current or savings account with reduced Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations, an immediately enabled debit card. It Individual Accounts is enabled for mobile and internet banking, and usable at any Smart Opened: 4402 Agent via a point of service (POS) machine. In 2013, Fidelity Bank partnered with CARE, a leading humanitarian Total Cumulative organization funded by the United Nations Capital Development Deposit Gamered: Fund [UNCDF] Micro-Lead Expansion [MLE] Programme. The Ghanaian Cedi (GHS) goals was to pilot the transition of CARE-run Village Savings and 198,243.1 (approximately Loans Associations (VSLA) from being managed in a locked box to US$50,000) digital banking. Fidelity Bank has also opened an individual account, as well as a group account (in the name of the VSLA Chairperson). 4803 Transactions Through Agents Adaptations and Innovations • Reduced KYC - With approval from the Bank of Ghana, Fidelity 16 New Agents Opened Bank opened accounts with low KYC requirements. This meant Due to CARE VSLAs that customers only needed one type of government-issued identification (ID). For the rural areas, this is predominately a voter ID or a National Health ID card. This ID is then photographed and uploaded so the opening of the account can be immediately undertaken by a Smart Friend (a roving Fidelity Bank representative). • Triple PIN – CARE VSLAs include up to 25 people with an elected chairperson, secretary and treasurer who hold keys. Each group has a box that is locked with three locks that are opened by these keys. To replicate this level of security, Fidelity Bank has split the four-digit account PIN into two, giving two digits each to two persons selected by the group, with the card being domiciled with a third person. • Core Banking System (CBS) – When developing Further Opportunities the Smart Program, Fidelity Bank opted to build a stand-alone CBS for customers that also allowed This pilot project, when adapted, allows Fidelity to for internet and mobile banking through agents. convert the remaining CARE VSLAs as well as other Fidelity was then able to move very quickly savings group models operating in Ghana. to market with a new customer set, without This pilot allows CARE to replicate this program impacting their existing customers. This decision, with other institutions in other countries where they though well thought-out at the time, has proven to are operating VSLA programs. In Ghana, two other have too many limitations (not scalable enough, financial institutions have now joined this linkage agents restricted to Smart accounts only, and POS model being piloted by Fidelity Bank and CARE terminals not robust enough for the geography). under the sponsorship of UNCDF MLE. Therefore, Fidelity is transitioning this platform to their existing CBS. How this can apply to the Pacific • Training through CARE – With CARE as the Region overseer and facilitator of the VSLAs, they were best placed to manage and train the individuals and The Pacific Islands have many savings group groups in the necessary skills. Providing training structures similar to the CARE VSLAs described in already established and trusted groups allows here. They are collective groups that can be easily for ease of information sharing and trust among targeted to be the providers of transactions to a clients. VSLA members also have input into the struggling agent network. selection of local Smart Agents, as they have local knowledge of the reliability, trustworthiness, and Additional Resources: abilities of those chosen to provide agent services. A report from CARE on how collectives empower women: http://www.care.org/sites/default/files/ Added Value to Fidelity Bank documents/care_crossproject_wee_revisedformat_ The partnership with CARE allows Fidelity Bank to june_2016.pdf access collective customer sets that would have been Video on Fidelity Smart Account and expensive to recruit on their own. Agency Banking: https://www.youtube.com/ An interesting outcome of this project has been the watch?v=zQ3CCZhTENM anecdotal increase in savings by individuals. VSLAs Video on CARE Fidelity VSLA Linkage: tend to have set and equal savings requirements https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks6OBrgxVS0 for each member to offset any chance of power differentiation. Although this works well for a group dynamic, many women want to save more than the set amount. The provision of the Smart Account allows women to meet their VSLA obligations while still having a safe and secure place to save extra money. Contact: Margarete Biallas | IFC Digital Financial Services Advisory | mbiallas@ifc.org IN PARTNERSHIP WITH