Unleashing Bharat’s potential: Empowering local communities for economic growth

Mass transformation of Bharat is only possible when there is mass mobilisation

Business correspondents have deep entrenchments and distribution capacity across the unserved and underserved regions of Bharat. They have successfully ported the local trust of retailers to enable basic banking, cash-in/cash-out services, in their communities. This deep-rooted distribution is now well poised to enable multiple other digital and financial services at the last mile and bridge the gap that exists between Bharat and India. Mass transformation of Bharat is only possible when there is mass mobilisation, and the distribution strength of the BC network is well positioned to rise to the challenge.  

For BCs to grow and run successful businesses in their communities, it is important that they adopt multiple lines of services and provide more value per footfall to their customers. In addition to right capacity building across catchments, PayNearby is investing in awareness and upskilling of this network to seamlessly enable multiple digital and financial services through local counters. BCs are being made aware of the financial advantage of a diversified product portfolio, and how more loyalty and value per customer can be derived through that. Also, through right partnerships and technology sharing, complex user journeys and service constructs are getting simplified so that products can be easily delivered across rural counters and easily consumed by a tech-shy last mile population.  

Anand Kumar Bajaj
Founder, MD & CEO
PayNearby

Another key aspect to enable services beyond basic banking at BC counters is to understand that there is no one-size-fits-all across a complex market like Bharat. So, the usage of AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine Learning) to understand diversified cohorts and design personalized products that meet local requirements, is critical for the success of this model. Discovery of the right price point and product size that meets local expectations and is affordable at local counters is important. It is therefore critical that a two-way communication protocol to integrate local know-how is put in place before launching any new product or service. 

By simplifying high end technology for mass consumption and through right partnerships with financial institutions and enterprises across ecommerce, education, entertainment, credit management, insurance and more, PayNearby is continuously innovating and introducing sachetized, tailored solutions across cohorts so that our Distribution as a Service network can be leveraged to democratize and universalize services across the country. 

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ET Edge Insights, its management, or its members

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