women & usability of mobile financial services in the philippines

Research on Women & Usability of Mobile Financial Services in the Philippines

GRAMEENFOUNDATION.ORG

Research on

Women & Usability of Mobile Financial Services in the Philippines

Research on Women & Usability of Mobile Financial Services in the Philippines 2Grameen Foundation | February 2014

Contents

Introduction……………………...….…..3

Summary of Findings……….………..6

Key Factors..……………….....…..7

Recommendations…...………..…24

For an additional view of our study, please see our video of participant responses

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHlBPXRy1Fw

Research on Women & Usability of Mobile Financial Services in the Philippines 3

The goal of this research is to understand how mobile phone

technology and its usability is impacting poor women’s ability to access

and benefit from mobile financial services. Many players assume that

if a poor person owns a mobile phone, they are able to use it. We

believe that this is a faulty assumption, and believe that usability and

“mobile phone literacy” are big issues that prevent poor women in

particular from benefitting from mobile-enabled solutions. This study

expands on the ‘Women, Mobile Phones and Savings’ case study

Grameen Foundation completed a year ago in India, which studied a

65-person sample size.

Our intention is to demonstrate the specific challenges and constraints

that women in particular face while using a mobile delivery channel for

financial services. These findings will be used to influence commercial

players (mobile money operators, banks, technology service providers,

agent network managers) as well as back-end technology and

hardware designers to address usability issues that are preventing poor

women from benefitting from mobile financial services.

Introduction

Grameen Foundation | February 2014

http://www.grameenfoundation.org/resource/women-mobile-phones-and-savings-case-study

http://www.grameenfoundation.org/resource/women-mobile-phones-and-savings-case-study


Location

Introduction

In the Philippines, CKS conducted the research in rural areas around Nagcarlan municipality, one of the poorest municipalities in the Laguna province. CKS tested the services of BanKO and SMART Money.



Methods

Facilitated Usability Sessions

We facilitated discovery and task-based usability sessions with 14 current and potential users on the interfaces including 10 women and 4 men.

Introduction

We conducted qualitative research using a variety of methods:

Contextual Interviews

We interviewed 16 people including current customers, potential customers and mobile financial services agents.

Observation

We observed 2 mobile service agent centers.



1. Most of the women have easy access to mobile phones and

use them for calling and texting frequently. The study found no

gender differences in access or ability to use a mobile phone.

2. The primary barrier to mobile financial services usage is lack

of awareness. Promotions by service providers are not

reaching poor women, resulting in a lack of awareness of

available services.

3. Women have extreme trust in the agent. If provided with more

information, women could become independent users of

mobile financial services. One-time assistance is often

sufficient for women to conduct transactions independently.

4. Age of women in the Philippines is correlated with ability to

use the mobile phone. Older women needed more assistance

with content and language and navigation.

Summary of Findings



2. Accessibility

Women’s access to mobile phones in the Philippines differs little from men’s access. All women surveyed have easy access to a mobile phone.

Key Factors

1. Awareness

Lack of awareness of independent usage options and services availability are barriers to the adoption of mobile financial services (MFS). Providers do not effectively promote their services where poor women live.

3. Comprehension, Comfort & Confidence

These 3C’s are major factors in women’s usage of mobile phones and MFS. Women are confident using the mobile phone, although challenged at times by MFS terminology and language. They put a high degree of trust into agents.

Our research uncovered the following observations and insights that impact poor,

rural women’s ability to access and benefit from mobile financial services:

4. Usage

Poor women are challenged by navigation and syntax while using both SMART Money and BanKO services, but most learn quickly after one-time assistance.



1. Awareness

Lack of awareness of independent usage options and services

availability are barriers to the adoption of mobile financial services

(MFS). Providers do not effectively promote their services where

poor women live.

8Grameen Foundation | February 2014


1. Awareness

Service Awareness

Marketing and promotion by each service provider does not effectively reach target audiences.

BanKO: Women were not aware of BanKO’s service. The company does not promote its services in locations that are easily accessible by women in our study. Employees make caravans in the town center or nearby areas, but not where women frequently visit. Additionally, BanKO promotes through Bosing, a popular celebrity TV show. But poor women lack easy access to TV and don’t see these advertisements.

SMART Money: Our participants are more aware of SMART Money. The company has many outlets and the agent interviewed is located at the center of the bayad, which is visited by households of all income levels.



1. Awareness

Feature Selection

Once women become aware of the available

features, they express willingness to send

money using their mobile phones. They are

interested in features such as balance check,

pay bills, cash withdrawal and buy load. (‘Buy

load’ means to purchase credit for talk time

and sending SMS.)

Most women express interest in using the buy

load feature because they can load their

prepaid accounts from their home.

All of the women say that they would also like

to use the balance check feature because they

can check their balance before sending and

receiving money or buying load independently.



1. Awareness

Cost

The participants do not know that if they

transact more than 6 times a year, they can

save money by using services independently.

The agent does not inform them that if they

send money themselves, they only pay 5 pesos

(USD $0.12 ) to send 1,000 pesos (USD $23.23)

instead of paying 25 pesos (USD $0.58) to the

agent for sending or receiving the same

amount.

It is important for customers to understand fee

structures so they know their options and can

make decisions accordingly. In some cases,

such as when transacting fewer than 6 times

per year, it may be cheaper to use the agent.



1. Awareness

Ease of Signing Up

SMART Money does not require new customers

to fill out paperwork. SMART’s instruction

booklet was easy for our participants to

understand because it is in Tagalog and uses

graphic illustrations.

To use BanKO, women must fill out a form to

open an account. BanKO’s instruction booklet is

also in Tagalog and easy for the women to

understand.

In the study, most women try to read the

booklets on their own and only ask for

assistance when needed. The female literacy

rate in the Philippines is 96.1%*, and in our

sample literacy did not surface as a barrier.

* http

://census.gov.ph/content/literacy-men-and-women-philippines-results-2008-functional-literacy-education-and-mass-media


http://census.gov.ph/content/literacy-men-and-women-philippines-results-2008-functional-literacy-education-and-mass-media





2. Accessibility

Women’s access to mobile phones in the Philippines differs little

from men’s access. All women surveyed have easy access to a

mobile phone.



2. Accessibility

Phone Ownership

All the women in our study have easy access to

mobile phones. Their husbands often leave their

phones at home when they go to work and the

women use the phones regularly to call and text.

These findings are not surprising given mobile

penetration rates in the Philippines. Mobile

penetration stood at 112% by the end of 2012.

Levels higher than 100% imply that some people

own more than one phone, rather than implying

that everyone owns a phone. Another related

factor is the widespread use of SMS messages: The

country generates the largest SMS volume in the

world.*

* http

://www.budde.com.au/Research/Philippines-Mobile-Communications-Forecasts-and-Broadcasting-Market.html


http://www.budde.com.au/Research/Philippines-Mobile-Communications-Forecasts-and-Broadcasting-Market.html




3. Comprehension, Comfort & ConfidenceThese 3C’s are major factors in women’s usage of mobile phones

and MFS. Women are confident using the mobile phone, although

challenged at times by MFS terminology and language. They put a

high degree of trust into agents.



Mobile Literacy

Our participants are all comfortable and

confident using mobile phones. Regardless of

age, they make very few mobile usage errors.

Most women say they are “fairly confident” to

“very confident” while using both SMART

Money and BanKO services and find them

easy to understand.




Terminology

Even though our participants can read English, the

financial and mobile phone terminology was confusing to

them.

For example, using BanKO, the phrase “buy load type

amount between 10-150” was not clear to them. While

using the send money feature, the phrase “Type Outlet

Code” was not understandable to some participants.

With SMART Money, our participants were unfamiliar with

certain terminology. Almost all participants were

confused between “Reload Money” (cash deposit) and

“Load Airtime” (buy load) because the word “load” is

commonly used for mobile recharge.

Women made errors related to terminology irrespective

of their literacy levels.




Using a Trusted Intermediary

From the observation of agent-customer

interactions, it is evident that most customers

of SMART Money have extreme faith in the

agent. Customers trust the agent to perform

transactions on their behalf.

Some frequent customers ask acquaintances to

send or receive money on their behalf through

the agent or just leave the money with the

agent without waiting for the money transfer to

be completed.




4. Usage

Poor women are challenged by navigation and syntax while using

both SMART Money and BanKO services, but most learn quickly

after one-time assistance.

Grameen Foundation | February 2014 19


Navigation

Women are able to navigate the menus and

screens with both providers, but are

challenged by some of the steps required.

When trying to use SMART Money, the service

terminates in 55 seconds. This causes users to

need multiple attempts, as they take time to

read and understand English.

While using BanKO, a few of our participants

make the mistake of pressing the soft key for

“Cancel” instead of “Reply.” Also, a few women

press the space key by mistake while entering

the PIN.

4. Usage



4. Usage

Network Issues

Many women experienced a session timeout

issue in accessing SMART Money. The

service terminates in 55 seconds, requiring

users to start the process over if they don’t

complete it in time. On average it took our

participants three attempts to use the

service.



Syntax

The use of hash (#) in place of

decimal while using the services

creates confusion for our

participants. Also, a few women find

the 16-digit outlet code (agent’s

code) for SMART Money long and

difficult to remember.

4. Usage



Assisted Transactions

SMART Money:

Our participants are comfortable navigating

through the screens while using SMART

Money, as most of them are already customers

of SMART telecom and familiar with the

interface.

BanKO:

Some women, particularly those in the 36-44

years age cohort, need one-time assistance

when they start using the service. Younger

women are able to navigate through BanKO on

their own but they take some time to

understand the interface.

4. Usage



Use Language I KnowLanguage for both instruction booklets, mobile directions and interface should be in Tagalog, as instructions in English are more challenging and time consuming.

Tell Me My OptionsAgents should inform customers that they can open an account on their own and make transactions independently.

Come To Where I AmAll mobile financial service providers need to better target their potential and existing customers if they want to ensure wider uptake of their services among poor women.

Recommendations


Use Words I UnderstandUse mobile and financial terminologies that your users understand. Be careful of words used in transactions, such as ‘load’, which can already have a separate meaning to users.

Explain the CostsCustomers should be aware that there are multiple payment options. They can pay a one-time upfront fee for opening an account or additional fees each time they transact.


GRAMEENFOUNDATION.ORG

Thank you.

Grameen FoundationWashington , DC

Center for Knowledge Societies

New Delhi, India

women & usability of mobile financial services in the philippines

Technology

poor women

services of banko

banko services

mobile phone technology

services availability

available services

usage of mobile phones

mobile phone literacy