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ReFinD

Competition in the Branchless Banking Agent Market: Effects, Strategic 2022-2023
Indonesia

Indonesia, 2022 - 2023
Reference ID
ind-refind-cbbam-2022-2023-v1
Producer(s)
Gianmarco Leon-Ciliotta, Erika Deserrano, Firman Witoelar, Martin Kanz, Daniel Gottlieb
Collections
The Retail Finance Distribution
Metadata
Documentation in PDF DDI/XML JSON
Created on
Mar 17, 2024
Last modified
Apr 04, 2024
Page views
2363
Downloads
223
  • Identification
  • Version
  • Scope
  • Coverage
  • Producers and sponsors
  • Data collection
  • Data Access
  • Contacts

    • Identification

    Survey ID number

    ind-refind-cbbam-2022-2023-v1
    Title

    Competition in the Branchless Banking Agent Market: Effects, Strategic 2022-2023
    Subtitle

    Indonesia
    Abbreviation or Acronym

    CBBAM 2022-2023
    Country
    Name Country code
    Indonesia inda
    Study type

    Digital Financial Survey
    Abstract

    We partner with one of Indonesia’s largest banks to test how increased competition in the market for branchless banking affects the willingness of banking agents to transparently disclose the bank’s official prices and refrain from charging illicit fees above the published price list. In the first experiment, the bank’s branchless banking agents received randomized information about the expected increase in competition in their local area. Subsequently, they were given an incentivized choice to enroll in a marketing plan that discloses the bank’s official prices or an alternative plan that does not require them to disclose official prices to their customers. In a complementary experiment, we will directly provide a randomly selected sample of clients with information about the bank’s official prices. From our preliminary analysis using survey data to 3,006 agents and 3,993 clients, we observe the tendency of agents to overcharge and “shroud” information about official transaction fees from clients. Our preliminary findings suggest that providing agents with information about an increase in expected competition significantly increases price transparency.
    Kind of Data

    Survey data

    Version

    Version Description

    Version 1
    Version Date

    2023

    Scope

    Notes

    Digital financial services have expanded rapidly across the developing world. While digital financial services offer many benefits for low-income populations, they also give rise to new consumer protection challenges. One widespread concern is the high prevalence of agent misconduct and illicit extra charges, which reduce consumer welfare and undermine trust in new financial technologies. This is an important concern in many emerging economies including Indonesia. Working with one of the country’s largest banks, we are conducting an experiment to (i) measure the consumer demand for price transparency and the extent of financial agent misconduct, (ii) examine whether increased competition — resulting from the rapid growth of Indonesia’s branchless banking network — is likely to make branchless banking agents more willing to transparently communicate official prices and less likely to charge illicit fees in an effort to win consumer trust and grow their business, and (iii) estimate the returns to price transparency.

    Coverage

    Geographic Unit

    West Bandung, West Java, Indonesia

    Producers and sponsors

    Primary investigators
    Name Affiliation
    Gianmarco Leon-Ciliotta Pompeu Fabra University and Barcelona School of Economics
    Erika Deserrano Northwestern University and Bocconi University
    Firman Witoelar Australian National University)
    Martin Kanz World Bank
    Daniel Gottlieb London School of Economics and Political Science
    Funding Agency/Sponsor
    Name Abbreviation
    RETAIL FINANCE DISTRIBUTION RESEARCH INITIATIVE ReFinD

    Data collection

    Dates of Data Collection
    Start End
    2022-07 2023-12
    Mode of data collection
    • Face-to-face

    Data Access

    Access authority
    Name Affiliation URL Email
    ReFinD, ISSER University of Ghana www.refind-isser.ug.edu.gh refind.isser@ug.edu.gh
    Access conditions

    Licensed access data, available under conditions
    Citation requirements

    producer. production date. dataset title and date [dataset]. version number. Place: Producer name [producer], date of production. Cape Town: DataFirst [distributor], date of distribution. doi:

    Contacts

    Contacts
    Name Affiliation Email URL
    Head, Data Processing Divisiom University of Ghana refind.isser@ug.edu.gh www.isser.ug.edu.gh
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