Published by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH GIZ NABARD Rural Financial Institutions Programme

Transcription

1 6 CASE STUDIES 1

2 Published by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH GIZ NABARD Rural Financial Institutions Programme Contact Dr. Detlev Holloh A-2/18, 4th Floor, Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi / INDIA Phone: Telefax: detlev.holloh@giz.de Homepage Responsible Abhishek Lahiri Technical inputs/review Abhishek Lahiri and Amit Arora Editor Nitin Jindal Design Aspire Design New Delhi, November, 2014

3 Name: Uma Devi Age: 38 Address: Mohammadpur, Jagatpur, Unnao, Uttar Pradesh Contact Number: Education: Intermediate Family: She has 3 daughters and 1 son. Her husband extends full support in her work. After 18 years of being a housewife, Uma Devi joined an SHG promoted by Rajiv Gandhi Mahila Vikas Pariyojana (RGMVP). As she was fairly educated, she was made the treasurer of the SHG and so, she started visiting banks to do the financial transactions. She got in touch with the Branch Manager of Grameen Bank of Aryavrat and got to know about the SHG as BC project and expressed her interest in joining the same. She was found suitable as per the eligibility criteria and was appointed as an agent. Her fellow SHG members also extended full support for her selection. Since then, she has started working dedicatedly and has opened 385 accounts. Average balance in her customers bank accounts is Rs She conducts on an average 50 transactions daily and the average daily transaction amount is approximately Rs She feels that this project is a great initiative and could help villagers save money without undergoing the hassles of visiting the bank branch. Also, she is able to earn decent money for her household, while working in her own village. Earnings: She earns approximately Rs every month as she gets Rs.1.25 for every transaction facilitated by her. She is yet to receive her commission for account opening. She expects to earn at least Rs a month as there is a great potential to open more accounts in her service area and increasing the number of transactions by making people aware about the benefits. Trainings Attended: Uma Devi received adequate training before initiating her work as an agent. She was given training by Bartronics to operate laptop for opening accounts. Later, she was given training to operate the Point of Sale (POS) device and account opening by ISMW. She is very happy with the trainings received as it has been very helpful for her to handle her responsibilities well. Change in Status: Uma devi and her family is now getting increased respect from the villagers. The gram pradhan is also helping her in this project. Her status within her family has increased as now she is also an earning member in her family and gets full support from her husband and family for doing this job. Her kids get inspiration from her which makes her feel proud. Difficulties Encountered: In order to convince people about this doorstep service, Uma Devi had to go from door-to-door. People thought there might be some ulterior motive behind this, otherwise why would she travel around so much along with her small kid. The most important issue was to spread awareness and establish trust within the service area. Her repeated efforts and bank s brand name helped her over 3

4 come this issue. Introductory meeting by the branch manager was also very helpful in gaining trust of the people. She started convincing the villagers that they no longer need to go to bank for doing their transactions as this service is now available at their doorstep. Also, there is no time limit and they can deposit/withdraw amount as low as Rs.10. Her suggestions for making SHGs as BC successful: Uma feels that following will be helpful in making this project successful: ^ ^ ^ ^ Introductory meetings conducted by Branch Manager are helpful in increasing the credibility of the CSPs. As several people are now migrating to big cities and send money home, there is huge felt need for Remittance Service. Increased awareness would make villagers know that money can be remitted in this account also. Overdraft limit could be increased from Rs. 500 to Rs as the current amount is not sufficient enough for the purpose it is taken for. Increased customer awareness will result in enhancing number of transactions and building base for other services Uma s Vision: She wants to start Business Facilitator activities as well and help customers in buying solar lights, open pension accounts, receive remittances from kin living far. Recently, she saved a few customers from being served repayment notice by bank and requested them to repay their loans. She also helped the bank recover about Rs. 1 lakh. She wants to establish herself as a renowned bank agent serving large population at their doorstep and ensure a decent income for her household 4

5 SELF HELP GROUP INCULCATED SAVINGS HABIT Before a specific date of the month, borrowing from her neighbour and from local money lender was a part of daily life of Sunita (age 35). Sunita s husband migrated to other state in search of work and was trapped in bad habits like gambling and drinking. As a result, he stopped sending money back to his needy family. The burden of feeding a family of four was huge. Sunita had to take care of her children s (Son Ankit and Daughter Pooja) education and also save for her daughter s marriage. This forced Sunita to start working as a daily wage agricultural labour and earn Rs. 50 a day. At times, she also works under NREGA where she gets work for hardly 15 days in 2-3 months. Doing petty chores here and there gives her an average monthly income of Rs CHALLENGES Sunita has her bank account in Awadh Grameen Bank (now Grameen Bank of Aryavart) at Bhagwant Nagar Branch. This account was opened with the help of the Gram Pradhan in order to get her pay from NREGA. I could never save any money in this account and used this account only to withdraw money as it was difficult to make savings out of a small sum of 300 rupees. At times if I managed to save Rs 10-20, it was hard to get out of the house and go to the branch to deposit that money as I have to spend the same amount on transportation, says Sunita. BECOMING A MEMBER OF SHG With a smile on her face, Sunita shared her experience of becoming an SHG member and saving regularly with the group. The group was formed in 2009 and she has managed to save Rs 3,000 with the group, till date. The money saved with the group is used for bigger expenses and emergency needs like illness, irrigation, etc. Looking back, she shares - at times it was difficult to take money out from the group as it needed signature and consensus of all the group members. She also shared that she cannot withdraw her savings partially, whenever she wants. She has to take loan instead from the group and pay interest. Unlike this, opening an individual a/c through the CSP allows her to save privately and withdraw any amount as and when required. 5

6 CHANGE AFTER OPENING ACCOUNT WITH THE CSP One day in 2013, Sunita got to know from GIZ/RGMVP representatives that one of her co-shg members, Munni, would get work from the bank as a Bank Sakhi and she would open accounts at the door steps of the villagers. Munni would work as a bank! Initially Sunita was a little hesitant in opening the account but when it was explained that the account would be opened without spending a single penny, she opened an account with the CSP-Bank Sakhi. With a sparkle in her eyes, Sunita shares Now I can save as much amount as I want. I do regular savings and deposit any amount as per my capability, even as little as Rs. 10! She finds it hassle free as she does not have to travel out of the village. Whenever she gets time, either the Bank Sakhi visits her or she goes to the Bank Sakhi to deposit money. She has been doing transactions in this account for last one and a half months and has a sum of Rs 300 as her savings. Now I deposit money and even my husband is not aware of how much money I have deposited, says a confident Sunita. The major benefit she says is that there is no passbook, so her husband is not able to track her savings. At times, when her husband asks for money, she tells she has only Rs She has good confidence in her Bank Sakhi and knows that the information about her savings will not be leaked. Now the cycle of borrowing from neighbours and money lenders has stopped. Sunita is also aware of other services like Remittances which can be performed through this account. She shares that she has taken the IFSC code from Munni and has sent it to her husband. With a big smile on her face Sunita ends up her story with this line Andhey ko aankh mil jati hai to duniya dekhney ka saubhagya prapt ho jata hai, yahi hamarey saath hua hai! (When the blind gets eyes, s/ he gets the opportunity to see the world, this is what has happened with me.) Sunita in process of depositing money with Bank Sakhi - Munni 6

7 OPENING ACCOUNT IN THE VILLAGE SAVES TIME AND MONEY Dinesh is a vegetable seller in Kushwaha, a small village in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. He puts his shop in the weekly haats in nearby villages. There is no fix place for his shop. He runs a family of four. His Father has a small grocery shop in front of the house. Sometimes his mother also sits there. His wife is an anganwadi worker and she manages the house as well. His son is 5 years old. On being asked what does he do he replies innocently, Hum to khareedne bechney ka dhanda kartey hai I buy and sell. Dinesh s memories flash backs to 1970 s when he opened his first bank account for scholarship at Awadh Grameen Bank at Bhagwant Nagar. That was his need at that time and he started saving in the account. For initial few years he saved regularly but there after he started depositing money once in six months in order to keep it alive as going to bank was painful and time consuming. Benefits of opening account with CSP Munni came to his house 4-5 months ago and shared the benefits of opening an account with the CSP in the village. Despite already having a bank account, he gave it a thought and opened the account. Now it is easy for him to access his account. It saves time and money. If not in the morning, he goes out to deposit his money in the evening. It saves time! Munni, The CSP, is very helpful. She also comes at his door step for the transactions. CSP: The bank in the village Quite Relaxed, Dinesh shared, I am not afraid of my savings. It is not going anywhere and is being deposited in my account. On poking him more on building trust on Munni, he says, ye raseed jo machine se nikalti hai na, isse hume pata chalta hai ki hamara paisa aur kahin nahi Awadh Grameen Bank mein jama ho raha hai (The receipt which we get out of the machine, tells us that the money is being deposited in Awadh Grameen Bank). This is hassle free. We are not dependent on electricity to operate and update the account. Earlier, to operate the other account, I need to take full day off. My entire day used to get wasted. But now Now it is easy Says a happy Dinesh 7

8 Tell Let us now go through few real life stories of CSP, just as you all who with their dedication and hard work are performing extremely well. Note to the trainer: Discuss the below listed case studies to motivate the Bank Sakhi- CSP to perform better and overcome all the hurdles and difficulties faced with confidence and support of the stakeholders including Bank, RGMVP, Block Level Federation (BLF) and Village Organisation (VO). Discuss CASE STUDY No. 1 Name: Mr. Desh Raj Yadav Education: 12th Pass Date of Joining as Customer Service Provider (CSP) BC as BF: 28th February 2011 Exeprience on BC as BF: 3 years Region: Merut Nagar, Kashipur, Behrampur Gram Panchayat: Merutnagar Gram Panchayat Population in the allotted region: 5500 Training and Capacity Building Support Having come to know about the requirement of BC-BF by Grameen Bank of Aryavarta Desh Raj applied for the position. He was called for interview and was selected as BC. Further he received a five day training conducted by Bartronics India Limited. The training was provided on various subjects including Introduction to Banking, Banking Operations, Bank Products and Services, counselling skills and identification of customers for loan requirement. During the training he was also given in-depth knowledge on documents required for opening accounts, how to conduct enrolments, conducting transactions and techno logical knowledge on operation Point of Service (POS) machine. Shri Desh Raj along with the other participants was also trained to operate laptop for enrolment and account opening. Refresher training was also given at regular intervals to update on the new products and services offered by the bank. Work of BC as BF Being an enthusiastic and popular person in his own community Desh Raj opened 1250 accounts within the initial three months (until May 2011) by adopting suitable strategies such as conducting camps, door to door campaigning and also opening accounts of customers directly approaching him. The Bank also encouraged Desh Raj s efforts by supporting him in conducting enrolment camps. They provided him with Account Opening Forms (AOF), stationary and uniform. This provided him a distinct identity in his community and also served as moral booster to his confidence. Thereafter he started conducting various transactions including deposits and withdrawals in the Saving bank account. Gradually he was allotted more work as business facilitator by the bank related to mobilization and preparation of loan proposals including KCC, GCC, SCC and NPA recovery, notice distribution, etc., He is now planning to take up promoting Self Help Group (SHG) and Joint Liability Group (JLG) after receiving the requisite information and training. 8

9 Equipment and Infrastructure Support To facilitate his activities as BC-BF he was provided with the laptop during the enrolment process and later POS machine to conduct transactions. He was also allotted a space in the Grameen Bank of Aryavart branch to conduct his transaction. Simultaneously he also moved in the co mmunity at a pre-determined date/time to conduct transactions of the people. During the day he works from 09:00 AM to 07:00 PM. Reporting and Monitoring Desh Raj adheres to his reporting and monitoring schedules on regular basis. As per his schedule he reports daily in the afternoon to his respective branch and also collects his allocated work assignment for the next day. He submits his cash book copy at the bank branch on weekly basis. To plan and perform better, he has also developed his personal notebook to list down his work and priorities of his work and assignment. The bill book which lists the work allocated to him is filled against the work done during the month and then submitted to the branch at end of the month. Remuneration and Recognition Desh Raj on average conducts 25 transactions on daily basis. He has also motivated and mobilized small grocery shop owners to open over draft (OD) account and further processed their loan for working capital requirement. His earning per month is Rs. 2500/- and has earned maximum of Rs.20, 000/- during a single month which was largely due to being successful in recovery of loans in the area. He informed that more income can be earned if the BC-BF conducts financial transactions along with other work such as completing loan files NPA recovery, distributing notices, processing applications for KCC, GCC, SCC etc. His confidence is increasing day by day and he is willing to learn more to expand his scope of work for augmenting his earning by way of BC-BF activities. His social status in the community has enhanced as the community members identify him as a bank representative. The income earned through his work as BC-BF enables him to support his family more satisfactorily. He also gets the opportunity to meet senior officials visiting him from Bank, BIRD, NABARD and other agencies which adds to his social standing excel. 9

10 Case Study No. 2 Name: Mr. Premchand Yadav Education: BA Graduate s Exeprience on BC as BF: 3 years Area: Bhataulikala Village, panchayat? Population: 3000 Age : 30 years Premchand came to know about the recruitment of BC-BF through the bank manager and applied for the same. He was interviewed and selected for working as BC-BF of the Grameen Aryavart Bank. He received two day training. The training undertaken by him gave him the confidence to work as the BC-BF in the assigned area. Premchand conducted 940 enrollment in the first month of joining as BC-BF through proactive campaign in the allotted region. He further distributed the 668 smart cards within 45 days of the enrolment camps. In the initial stage he faced difficulty in convincing the community members to open accounts but gradually he gave more information about the benefits from the account and was able to convince the customers to open their accounts. Th e key to his success in conducting large number of enrolment in the first phase was that he worked in coordination with the bank officials. Also bank officials took keen interest in the enrolment process due to his dedicated efforts. He found a unique way of marketing the products to motivate the customers to conduct transactions in their accounts. Few of his techniques are listed as under. 1. Trust building amongst the community members with meeting them on regular intervals. 2. Sharing the concept money working for you by way of earning interest on the deposit kept with the bank 3. Convincing the people about the power of compounding of interest on deposit 4. Driving home the point that saving regularly is always better. He also convinced all the vegetable vendors to open recurring deposit account. During the evening hours he moves on his cycle to collect the saving of Rs.10/- from all the vegetable vendors. He also plans promotional and awareness generation campaigns for specific products on predetermined dates in consultation with the bank during a pre decided month along with that he takes support of bank. With such promotional programs he has been successful to mobilise deposit of Rs. 12, 00,000/-, solar loans of Rs. 5, 00,000/- and 112 solar lights in single month. He also set an example for all the BF by opening 500 Overdraft Accounts of all the NREGA account holders. He collected list of accounts from the Gram Pradhan and then organized camps to highlight the benefit of having deposit account with the bank. He appreciated the monitoring and cross checking by the bank managers and officials, He also suggests that the BC-BF should inculcate the habit of visiting the bank branch once or twice every week. He feels elated as the people in village affectionately call him Bank Manager. 10

11 Case Study No.3 Name: Mr. Sunil Kumar Education: BA Graduate Experience on BC as BF: 3 years Region: Nigri Panchayat, Atva Population: 3000 Age : 48 years Sunil Kumar has a family comprising his wife and four children. Earlier he used to work as teacher. Later started an NGO for welfare activities of the community members and received some support of NABARD. In due course he came to know about the opportunity of working as BC-BF of the Grameen Bank of Aryavart. Since he was already working for the community as a NGO he took up the work of BC/BF also. He was imparted the requisite training and orientation for his role as BC-BF. His knowledge of products/ schemes offered by the bank while running the NGO helped him to take-up BC-BF activity and thus provide broader framework of service for the community. As BC, he had already enrolled 1000 members from the community and now started to provide services as Business Facilitator also. He did promotional activities by conducting pu blic announcements (duggi pitvana). In addition to conducting financial transactions for the account holders he also took up promoting and publishing services offered by the bank. As BF his work include preparing loan proposals under Kissan Credit Card (KCC), General Credit Card (GCC), Solar Home Light System, Non-smoke Stove (Chulla) schemes, recovery of NPA loans, NREGA payments, canvassing insurance products etc. Till date he has been able to facilitate sanction of generate 450 KCC, 10 Non-smoke stove and NPA recovery of Rs. 37, 16,000/- with his relentless efforts and dedicated regularly. He ensures to conduct transactions on daily basis by creating awareness amongst the community and encouraging them to inculcate savings so that they can earn interest on the amount of saving deposited by them with the bank. The amount of transactions conducted by him is around Rs /- per day. Timely receipt of remuneration is a great source of motivation to him. He is very happy for helping the community members to inculcate savings habit. He feels that there should be regular monitoring to track the progress and achieve the targets for a BC- BF. While the TSP reviews his activities every 15days, the Bank Branch official s visits every Wednesdayis very helpful in this regard. He uses his cycle as a means of movement to cover the work area of around 4kms. He is able to contact good number of his existing and prospective customers daily. With his dedication and sincerity he is able to win trust of the community members. Bank officials also support him in his endeavours. He is proud of the work he is doing for the economic betterment of the society and wishes to continue doing it with renewed vigour. He says that He is working to earn respect not merely the money (Sammaan khatee marit, Paisa khatir nahe) 11

12 Case Study No.4: Name: Mr. Hare Ramsingh Yadav Education: BA Experience on BC as BF: 3 years Region: Mohiddinpur, Barabanki Hare Ramsingh Yadav has a been running an NGO in his village for past 16 years. The NGO is engaged in welfare activities of the community members. During his work he gained knowledge about the opportunity to work as the BC-BF of the Grammeen Bank of Aryavart. He opted to work as BC-BF for Grameen Bank of Aryavart and provide banking services at the doorstep for the community members. His main strength to work as the BC-BF was his strong skills on mobilizing the community member to open Bank account and also avail other banking facilities. The bank provided him with the requisite training and also helped in orienting him about various schemes offered by the bank. He showed keen interest and was enthusiastic to meet the senior bank officials at regular intervals to know more about the schemes of the Bank and spread awareness about the same to the community members. Ha re Ramsingh also possesses good skill in rapport building with all the stakeholders and affluent community members in the village. This helped him to create awareness and also convince the community members to avail the services offered by the bank. He is proud of the fact that on daily basis he conducts 100 transactions. He shared that over a period of two years he has been successful to help people develop the habit of savings on regular basis. That is why he is asked to conduct so many transactions every day. He said that the machine has limit of maximum 100 transactions in a day otherwise I can manage to conduct around 150 transactions a day. The area served by him is a small cluster, hence the doing rounds in the area does not pose any problem. The other services provided by him in addition to financial transactions included Kisan Credit Card (KCC), General Credit Card (GCC), Solar Home Light System, Non-smoke Stove (Chulla), and recovery of NPA loans, NREGA payments, facilitating collection of Insurance premium. He acknowledges that timely payment of remuneration for the services is a great source of motivation. He however feels that there should be arrangement in place to promptly repair/ replace the machine so that transactions go on smoothly. Once he had faced such difficulty which hampered his work. He is very happy and derives satisfaction in helping the community members for a better future with savings habit. It is a matter of pride for Hare Ramsingh Yadav to be recognised as the bank representative by the community members and the respect he has earned among community due to his relentless efforts to help them. 12

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14 Published by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH GIZ NABARD Rural Financial Institutions Programme Contact Dr. Detlev Holloh A-2/18, 4th Floor, Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi / INDIA Phone: Telefax: detlev.holloh@giz.de