Grameen Foundation India (GFI) and the Business Correspondent Federation of India (BCFI) have jointly released a groundbreaking report, "Reimagining the Next-generation BC Model".
The report is based on a two-day CXO Roundtable Conference hosted by GFI and BCFI in November 2022 where leaders in the finance industry came together to chart a more inclusive and viable future for the Business Correspondents (BCs) in India.
The roundtable helped show the path toward the next-generation BC model. It provided a dynamic platform for industry experts to come together and co-create a strategy to build this model as they discussed the issues threadbare. The experts’ recommendations include ideas on regulatory reforms, improved visibility of BCs, marketing strategies, increased gender sensitivity, and making BCs one-stop points for financial services.
“The BC industry has played a significant role in driving financial inclusion to the last mile be it Jan Dhan Yojana, Benefit Schemes/Payments or Covid-19 cash relief. There is however dire need to significantly expand scope of digital financial services and address key challenges to make the industry self-reliant, more efficient, effective, and impactful,” says Sunil Kulkarni, CEO, BCFI.
The report also recommends the capacity building of all stakeholders, making the BC industry more investor-friendly, creating an open common knowledge-sharing platform, transitioning from demand fulfillment to demand generation, and providing training content in vernacular languages.