Why Tech-based Banking cannot Replace Agents for Financial Inclusion?

• by Mukesh Sadana
• Jun 18, 2013
• 1 min

Agents act as a vital link for the banks and financial institutions to reach out to the financially excluded segment. But can they be replaced by technology? In this episode, MSC’s digital financial expert Mukesh Sadana reveals why the time is not right for technology enabled banking. In his own words, “Agents play a very crucial […]

Agents act as a vital link for the banks and financial institutions to reach out to the financially excluded segment. But can they be replaced by technology? In this episode, MSC’s digital financial expert Mukesh Sadana reveals why the time is not right for technology enabled banking. In his own words, “Agents play a very crucial role of educating low income customers, many of them experiencing technology enabled banking for the first time. The customer segment these agents cater to, needs human interaction to trust the system and use it regularly, until the time that customers understand the whole gamut of front-end and back-end processes; can operate technology without help and until they have access to efficient customer service department. And that may not be possible in the immediate future, therefore, necessitating the strengthening of an efficient and cordial agent network for success of efforts towards financial inclusion.”