SureCash: Promoting financial inclusion in Bangladesh

The case is set in December 2017, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and describes the journey of a mobile financial service (MFS) provider called SureCash in Bangladesh, and the various facets of the MFS industry in the country. The MFS industry in Bangladesh is perceived to be oliogopolistic. While this is a d...

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Main Authors: GHOSH, Aurobindo, BHATTACHARYA, Lipika
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Language:English
Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2018
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Online Access:https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cases_coll_all/222
https://cmp.smu.edu.sg/case/3646
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spelling sg-smu-ink.cases_coll_all-12202019-01-18T06:01:09Z SureCash: Promoting financial inclusion in Bangladesh GHOSH, Aurobindo BHATTACHARYA, Lipika The case is set in December 2017, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and describes the journey of a mobile financial service (MFS) provider called SureCash in Bangladesh, and the various facets of the MFS industry in the country. The MFS industry in Bangladesh is perceived to be oliogopolistic. While this is a difficult market for a new entrant to get into, it is not yet a saturated marketplace. This is primarily because a considerable part of the population in the country still remain ‘unbanked’. Amidst two significantly large players in the MFS market in Bangladesh, smaller players like SureCash have tried to create a niche by associating themselves with education fee collection initiatives, salary disbursement programs and government led projects like the Primary Education Stipend Progarm (PESP) launched by the Governent of Bangladesh. While associating with large scale projects like PESP has its own adavantages, taking up such large scale creation of MFS accounts has several challenges as well. The case on SureCash encapsulates this story by elaborating on the diffulcties faced by the company in digitising the PESP initiative and opening accounts for more than 10 million mothers. This had helped the company to promote Financial Inclusion in rural Bangladesh for a section of the demographic who were less likely to have acess to formal financial services than their male counterparts. Notably, Bangladesh is a country where a significant percentage of the total population still remined ‘unbanked’. What remained to be seen was wether SureCash could keep the mother’s engaged in their MFS platform over the long run? Also what could be the best strategy for SureCash to grow their presence in Bangladesh? The case and teaching notes elaborates the important elements of MFS in a developing economy and demonstrates how an MFS provider can help promote financial inclusion in rural economies. The case aso describes some of the unique characteristics of an oliogopoly market, and the risks associated with entering such a market. It also highlights some of the social and behavioural facets of Financial Inclusion related to MFS. The case can also be used to study the primary risks associated with an MFS market from the customer and agent perspective. 2018-08-01T07:00:00Z text https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cases_coll_all/222 https://cmp.smu.edu.sg/case/3646 Case Collection eng Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University Behavioral finance Financial literacy Economic growth Financial institutions Game theory Corporate Finance Finance and Financial Management
institution Singapore Management University
building SMU Libraries
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider SMU Libraries
collection InK@SMU
language English
topic Behavioral finance
Financial literacy
Economic growth
Financial institutions
Game theory
Corporate Finance
Finance and Financial Management
spellingShingle Behavioral finance
Financial literacy
Economic growth
Financial institutions
Game theory
Corporate Finance
Finance and Financial Management
GHOSH, Aurobindo
BHATTACHARYA, Lipika
SureCash: Promoting financial inclusion in Bangladesh
description The case is set in December 2017, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and describes the journey of a mobile financial service (MFS) provider called SureCash in Bangladesh, and the various facets of the MFS industry in the country. The MFS industry in Bangladesh is perceived to be oliogopolistic. While this is a difficult market for a new entrant to get into, it is not yet a saturated marketplace. This is primarily because a considerable part of the population in the country still remain ‘unbanked’. Amidst two significantly large players in the MFS market in Bangladesh, smaller players like SureCash have tried to create a niche by associating themselves with education fee collection initiatives, salary disbursement programs and government led projects like the Primary Education Stipend Progarm (PESP) launched by the Governent of Bangladesh. While associating with large scale projects like PESP has its own adavantages, taking up such large scale creation of MFS accounts has several challenges as well. The case on SureCash encapsulates this story by elaborating on the diffulcties faced by the company in digitising the PESP initiative and opening accounts for more than 10 million mothers. This had helped the company to promote Financial Inclusion in rural Bangladesh for a section of the demographic who were less likely to have acess to formal financial services than their male counterparts. Notably, Bangladesh is a country where a significant percentage of the total population still remined ‘unbanked’. What remained to be seen was wether SureCash could keep the mother’s engaged in their MFS platform over the long run? Also what could be the best strategy for SureCash to grow their presence in Bangladesh? The case and teaching notes elaborates the important elements of MFS in a developing economy and demonstrates how an MFS provider can help promote financial inclusion in rural economies. The case aso describes some of the unique characteristics of an oliogopoly market, and the risks associated with entering such a market. It also highlights some of the social and behavioural facets of Financial Inclusion related to MFS. The case can also be used to study the primary risks associated with an MFS market from the customer and agent perspective.
format text
author GHOSH, Aurobindo
BHATTACHARYA, Lipika
author_facet GHOSH, Aurobindo
BHATTACHARYA, Lipika
author_sort GHOSH, Aurobindo
title SureCash: Promoting financial inclusion in Bangladesh
title_short SureCash: Promoting financial inclusion in Bangladesh
title_full SureCash: Promoting financial inclusion in Bangladesh
title_fullStr SureCash: Promoting financial inclusion in Bangladesh
title_full_unstemmed SureCash: Promoting financial inclusion in Bangladesh
title_sort surecash: promoting financial inclusion in bangladesh
publisher Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University
publishDate 2018
url https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cases_coll_all/222
https://cmp.smu.edu.sg/case/3646
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