Agent Dormancy: Impact on Customers

by Akshat Pathak, Anil Gupta, Vartika Shukla, Sunil Bhat, Nimesh Soni and Priya Garg
Apr 13, 2016
1 min

Dormancy among agents is a cause of concern for financial inclusion in India. This note analyses the impact of agent dormancy on the financial behaviour of customers.

Agent dormancy is a cause of concern for financial inclusion. MicroSave recently conducted research to understand rural customers’ perception of dormancy, the challenges faced by them after an agent goes dormant and their coping mechanisms. The research was carried out in 12 districts across four states of India. This Note analyses the impact of agent dormancy on the financial behaviour of customers. Agent dormancy results in many negative impacts on the customers such as: customer account dormancy, inaccessibility of savings, challenges associated in reaching the bank branch and, as a result, a behavioural shift towards cash.

The next IFN – Agent Dormancy: Reasons and Remedial Measures- addresses the reasons for agent dormancy and the ways to address this issue.