A Study in Tracking the Shift from Savings to Remittance on the Mobile Backbone: Findings from Eko, India

A Study in Tracking the Shift from Savings to Remittance on the Mobile Backbone: Findings from Eko, India

2012

South Asia

India

This project will investigate the mobile money model of a prominent mobile banking financial services provider in India. In particular, the study will investigate a shift of organizational focus from the savings to the remittance product. Eko, which, contrary to African contexts, until now had focused on savings products in India, recently changed its focus towards remittance-based services. This shift was seen as a remedy to the lack of uptake of their previous savings focus. The proposed study hopes to examine the Eko model in action, describe the transition of the model, provide a stakeholder analysis, and finally, provide a prognosis for the development of mobile money services (with a special emphasis on savings) in the Indian context. To this effect, the research design incorporates two related, but distinct set of research questions, which are centered around provider-end and user-end perspectives respectively. Currently, there is scant scholarly literature on the Eko model, which, when considered in light of their unique and prominent position within the Indian mobile banking industry, as well as of their Indian partnership with the largest Indian Bank (SBI), constitutes a research gap of import. This work will address this gap.

Ishita Ghosh, Kartikeya Bajpai

Ishita Ghosh is currently a doctoral student in the School of Information at UC Berkeley. She received her M.S. degree in Information Sciences & Technology from the Pennsylvania State University. Previously, she has worked with Sampark, an NGO that nurtures self-help groups towards financial credibility and solvency in India, and AppLab at the Grameen Foundation that uses technology to extended formal financial services to the unserved in Uganda. Her research interests include technology and development, specifically towards financial inclusion strategies.

Kartikeya Bajpai currently works as a consultant for various non-profits in India. He recently completed his M.S. in Information Sciences & Technology from the Pennsylvania State University. Previously, Kartikeya completed degrees at the University of Florida, and the National Institute of Technology, Trichy. His research interests include collective action, organizational behavior, and new media & technology.