MM4P supports the mobile network operator Etisalat to strengthen its presence in rural areas .

Distribution is a key element of the ecosystem approach used by the UNCDF programme MM4P in its digital financial service efforts. The reason is that agents represent the main channel through which customers are served. Agents are essential levers for providing a positive customer experience and supporting an effective use of digital financial services.

In Benin, MM4P supported the mobile network operator Etisalat, which offers a mobile wallet called Moov Money, to strengthen its distribution network. MM4P felt that it would be able to positively impact the use of digital financial services in the country by improving the distribution of Moov Money in urban and rural areas.

The first step was to evaluate the Moov Money distribution strategy. To this end, MM4P commissioned an evaluation in 2016 by the Helix Institute of Digital Finance, which ultimately provided four main recommendations:

1. Recruit a dedicated sales team to manage the Moov Money agent network
2. Implement an incentive plan based on key performance indicators for Moov Money tracking
3. Redesign the commission plan to make it more incentivizing
4. Establish a more efficient liquidity management and replenishment system

MM4P hired the consortium of MicroSave and Amarante Consulting to operationalize the recommendations. Four towns were chosen for the pilot, including the cotton-growing town of Banikoara that is located about 700 km from Cotonou. Despite the economic opportunities there, the nearest Moov agency is 70 km away. As a result, Banikoara suffers from a lack of regular agent monitoring, a lengthy replenishment process, etc., which in turn harm agent activity: poor quality of customer service provided by agents, perception of low profitability by agents and therefore loss of interest in the service and dropout.

To address these issues, Moov Benin deployed a sales force to the area. The sales staff develop and support the agent network through regular visits, creating a new and dynamic relationship between the agents and the Moov Money brand.

Results are encouraging: the Moov Money transaction volume nearly doubled in six months, as did the number of active agents, which improved Moov Money service revenue. "Before, I hardly had a transaction a day; today, I can do more than five in a day," a Moov Money agent reports.¹

Yet some challenges specific to rural areas remain, including financial education. With the high illiteracy rate of rural customers, there is a significant need to educate them about using services via mobile phone. The most obvious example is PIN code management, which is a real problem for rural clients. Agents must be trained to play the role of educator in order to help their rural customers develop the technical skills to keep and protect their PIN codes.

In addition, because those in rural areas tend to have greater need for cash withdrawals, agents frequently face liquidity issues to handle these transactions. To source cash, they have to go, not without time and cost, to their distributor. It is necessary to find a mechanism to facilitate cash replenishment.

Moreover, the network management model needs to better meet the specific needs of rural clients. Suffering from a lack of access points that offer telephone services and network connectivity and handicapped by a very low level of access to electricity, only 16 percent of rural Beninese are considered connected.² There are also frequent problems with the mobile network, which can and should be addressed. Finally, the motivation of agents can still be improved and their approach to follow-up can still gain efficiency.

The project with Moov is ongoing. The end of the pilot will allow MM4P and Moov to evaluate the relevance of the recommendations and especially to see how to duplicate positive results at the national level. To be continued …

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^{1. Quote was from an interview conducted by Jamelino Akogbeto in Banikoara in June 2017 and later translated from French to English.↩}

^{2. World Bank, ‘Access to electricity, rural (% of rural population),’ 2014 data. Available from https://donnees.banquemondiale.org/indicateur/EG.ELC.ACCS.RU.ZS (accessed April 2018).↩}