10
Changing Behavior --
Financial Capability
Financial capability emerged as a theme throughout a number of FI2020 Week events, from BRAC in Bangladesh to the Microfinance Club of New York. Participants recognized the importance of ensuring that capability-building efforts go beyond knowledge transfer to affect actual financial decision-making and habits. For example, creating financial communities among base of the pyramid consumers can enable peers to influence each other and spread awareness about the products that are available. Closing the gaps in financial capability will be crucial in any effort to help lower income consumers achieve financial inclusion.
In India, ideas42 is simplifying the content of financial education programs and delivering them through mobile phones to test whether mobile-based “financial heuristics” help customers make better financial decisions. In Afghanistan, researchers Joshua Blumenstock et. al. tested an automatic payroll deduction program with default enrollment and matching incentives to help employees save. In Chile, researchers Olga Fuentes and others brought personalized information on pension payouts to self-service modules in ChileAtiende offices to help low-income people save more by learning how their savings translated into income in their old age. The Kenya Post Office Savings Bank committed to improving the awareness of their services for at least half of their customers through SMS-based awareness-raising and financial education campaigns within the next six to nine months.
Above: Participants discuss financial capability innovations at a roundtable hosted by the Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI) in partnership with JPMorgan Chase Foundation at the Institute of International Finance. Diverse stakeholders explored how behaviorally informed approaches are yielding promising capability building results for consumers and discussed ways for organizations across sectors to evolve from more traditional models to deliver greater impact. During the roundtable CFI highlighted findings from a global study on financial capability innovations, showcased particularly innovative models, and discussed the opportunities and challenges for global stakeholders to integrate financial capability strategies in their services.
Left: Participants at a workshop hosted by Good Return in Cambodia, highlighting their partnership with the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) to design and launch a consumer awareness campaign in early 2016. The goal of the NBC’s Consumer Financial Awareness Campaign is “Activating financial behavior change through a national consumer campaign, to strengthen the economic empowerment of low income households and vulnerable consumers.” The National Consumer Financial Awareness Campaign has a dual focus on both raising Social Awareness and strengthening Consumer Empowerment.