payment strategies for irregular income streams in the lower...
TRANSCRIPT
Payment strategies for irregular income streams in the lower income demographic
Study goal: How do they manage their household finances on irregular income streams?
Study focus: Rural bop households in Philippines, India and (remotely) in Malawi
Study Findings: Actionable insights for business transaction models (design of products and services)
Seasonality
Lack of liquidity/rapid conversion of cash to goods
Increase span of control over timing and amount for the end user (why prepaid works)
Framing the problem correctly
What led to this research project – nicknamed “prepaid economy”
• Observed “failures” in the marketplace such as consumer durables purchased by time payments, health schemes, microfinance loans, insurance programs
• Problem statement: Inherent conflict between rigid payment plans and irregular income streams
• Yet prepaid models very successful – what can we learn about how and why they work to inspire better design of products and services for informal and cash based economy?
Exploratory Research using design ethnography methods
• Identifies gaps in existing solutions versus customer needs – unmet needs, inappropriate or insufficient solutions
• Uncovers opportunities for innovation
• Leads to insights for relevant and appropriate products, services and messaging
Sampling across a scale of uncertainty of income – time and money
Rapid prototyping in the field refines focus and orientation
Complex protocol distilled into to three and half simple questions:
• How do you manage your daily expenses?• What do you when there is an emergency?• How do you plan big ticket (expected) items – buying a
house, a funeral or a wedding etc?• And is there any influence of seasonality in your income
stream over the course of the natural year?
emerging futures lab
Narrow perspective, broad focus – regional clustering
Seasonality
emerging futures lab
Pattern recognition
Broader perspective but narrower focus – behavioural clustering
emerging futures lab
Stored wealth
emerging futures lab
Stored wealth
emerging futures lab
Cashless transactions
emerging futures lab
Cashless transactions
emerging futures lab
Investment
emerging futures lab
Investment
emerging futures lab
Insurance
emerging futures lab
Conversion to goods
emerging futures lab
Conversion to goods
emerging futures lab
Cooperative Economy
Niti Bhan
www.nitibhan.com
This research study was carried out with the aid of a grant from the iBoP Asia Project (http://www.ibop-asia.net), a partnership between the Ateneo School of Government and Canada's International Development Research Centre (www.idrc.ca)