Urwego Opportunity Bank (UOB) Branchless Banking (mHOSE) Evaluation – Rwanda

URWEGO BANK

Context: UOB launched in 2013 mobile and agent (branchless) banking (mHOSE) for its customers to have better access to UOB savings accounts, allow repayments of loans via the mobile phone, and to offer benefits such as a life insurance and the capacity to transfer money and pay bills, using the mVISA platform. Triple Jump (TJ) wants to evaluate the effects of branchless banking products on an MFI and its clients so that TJ can use the findings to showcase the benefits and promote the use of branchless banking. UOB’s mHOSE was selected as the MFI to test out the Branchless Banking Diagnostic Tool that was developed by PHB in consultation with TJ.

Objective: The objective was to evaluate the effects of branchless banking (BB) for the MFI: Cost of implementation and service delivery; Operational efficiency gains and safety of staff and cash; Rural outreach and clients satisfaction; Portfolio quality and profitability The other objective for the clients: Cost of accessing products and services; Service quality and customer satisfaction; Social and financial inclusion

Deliverables: Designing the Evaluation matrix and the Diagnostic Tool (for the MFI and for clients); Data collection on the indicators listed in the matrix. Methods used were data mining based on the MIS, interviews with management and staff, focus group discussions and a telephone survey (with 400 clients); Analysis of outputs and results, including the completing the Diagnostic Tool; Formulation of recommendations to improve mHOSE and a prioritization, In close cooperation with UOB; Writing of the detailed case-study and the executive summary (for an article to be published).

en_USEnglish