FINO was contracted by a bank to facilitate the sign-up and account transactions of customers in select rural areas in Uttar Pradesh state. Customers who signed up for bank accounts through FINO would receive a FINO smart card which they could use to perform account transactions without visiting a bank branch. FINO’s network of mobile business correspondents regularly visiting villages could facilitate customers’ account transactions through their portable Point-of-Transaction (POT) machines and the customer’s smart card.
While many customers in the select areas signed up for accounts through FINO, few people were performing transactions with their smart cards. FINO wanted to better understand the reasons for the limited usage and to determine the role that consumer education (CE) could have in overcoming barriers to adoption.
