what consumers want

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What Consumers WantKey learnings across the continentFindings from the baseline survey on the usage of rural post offices for remittances (11 African countries investigated)

March 2015

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1What do consumers want?

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Extract from immersionsSenegalese respondent

3

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What consumers want – in short

4

01

Get the money

02

Get it fast

03

Get it in full

Availability of a payoutoutlet

Proximity and short processing time

Availability of cash at the payoutoutlet

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2What is the nature of remittances in rural Africa?

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Access to finance in rural Africausage of remittances vs. other financial services

6

(In %)

MadagascarBenin Burundi Egypt Ethiopia Ghana Kenya Senegal Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe

Remittances

Savings

Mobile money accounts

Paymentproducts

Retail

Loans

House and land loans

Lower than 50%50% - 60%60% - 80%80% - 100%

-

92

74

67

81

5

62

78

50

32

1

81

88

1

89

77

59

87

73

91

27

62

53

82

53

18

86

75

94

88

64

20

87

66

88

32 68 24 58 62 62 14 18 42 50 26

12 62 3 23 49 87 24 44 76 32 73

42 64 6 51 19 40 26 30 42 11 16

7 32 3 8 8 11 2 8 9 2 0

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Remittances: The single biggest interaction with finance in rural Africa

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Remittance is by far the most common financial service used overall among the populations surveyed

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The vast majority of remittance transactions in rural Africa are domestic rather than international in nature

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Benin Burundi Egypt

Ghana Kenya Madagascar

Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe

Ethiopia

Senegal

84 1693 791 9

94 697 380 20

81 1997 398 2

77 23

69 31

From abroad

Domestic

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The essential lifeline nature of remittances in rural Africa is obvious

9

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Remittance transactions over the course of a month are less than $100 USD in total

10

US $100-$200

UnderUS $100

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3Where we are vs. consumer expectations

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What is the receiving experience like?

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Accessibility issues

Long and time-consuming proc

Reliability issues

What Consumers Want

Where we are

01

Get the money

02

Get it fast

03

Get it in full

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Total time taken to obtain a remittance is long across the region

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26mn

28mn

21mn

20mn

15mn

12mn

17mn

11mn26mn

16mn

19mn

15mn

23mn

19mn

22mn

11mn

17mn

09mn

23mn

11mn

18mn

10mn

Benin Ghana Madagascar SenegalBurundi Egypt Ethiopia Uganda Zambia ZimbabweKenya

41mn

26mn28mn

42mn

34mn

42mn

33mn

26mn

34mn

28mn

Operation timeTime to cash out place

54mn

Depart from home

Total transaction time

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Improving the customer experience is not optional

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4What can the post office do?

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What are post offices visited for?

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Benin Ghana Zambia Kenya Egypt Uganda

Remittances 86 84 77 69 52 48 29 24 20 15 8

Rem

itta

nces

Receive money from abroad

53 5 38 - 2 5 4 4 4 - 1

Receive money (domestic)

22 33 26 45 29 26 23 10 11 8 5

Send money (domestic) 9 43 13 24 21 17 2 10 4 7 2

Send money abroad 2 4 - - - - - - - - -

Oth

er

serv

ices

Mobile money facilities - - - - 37 5 21 12 - - 24

Current account 1 1 - - 8 1 - - 3 - -

Savings accounts 7 12 - - 3 6 37 11 57 - -

Other (inc. ATM card) 7 3 22 26 1 37 13 49 19 80 63

Columns sorted left to right, highest to lowest total remittance proportion

Senegal Madagascar Zimbabwe EthiopiaBurundi

Priority markets

Most used form of remittance transaction

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Are post offices legitimate? The answer is “Yes”

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The post office is a reliable institution to offer broader financial services to rural populations in Africa, including remittances – domestic or international

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Enabling rural Africa to access a broader range of financial services seems achievable through the postal network in the majority of countries investigated

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Existing behaviourindicates appetite

Preference for formal finance arrangements

Post office footprint supports access

Convenience of local finance is appealing

Existing post office services are appreciated

Many pledge to use more services

Infrastructure is already in place

New services may be vital for post office survival

Established history underpins trust

One size solution will not fit all

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10

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What else could be offered?

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Savings Mobile money Larger range of services in Eastern Africa, including loans

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From a client perspective, bottlenecks do exist

20

Too slow service Cash not available

Customer service not efficient enough

Burundi

The surroundings of the post office is dirty

Zambia

Not sufficient privacy during transaction

Uganda

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5How can financial inclusion be successfully achieved?

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Postal network SWOT

Opportunities

Importance of remittances in Africa

Technology and mobile opportunities

Market research as a support tool to design relevant customer offer, monitor and enhance client satisfaction for sustainable growth

Strengths

Perceived as a trustworthy institution across the region with an established history

Large network within the countries

Satisfying levels of enthusiasm towards new services

Perceived benefits are key drivers for success1. Cheaper fees2. Proximity advantage for many

Weaknesses

Current bottlenecks need urgent address: Service perceived and experienced as too slow Technical bugs as such network failure (or rather

cash unavailability) Lack of marketing, large awareness campaign

not run, resulting in low levels of awareness of product range

Old equipment premises judged as shabby in some markets

Threats

Increasing number of competitors on remittance providers across the region

Technology if not embraced

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open for discussion