INDIAN INSTITUTE OF BANKING & FINANCE Preparedness for financial inclusion. Trained and Certified Man power.

An essential ingredient in the road map for Financial Inclusion Achieving full scale financial inclusion will depend on favourable policy climate and availability of an efficient delivery system. Banks, BC firms, Technology firms, availability of efficient technology and man power to deliver the banking products at the door step of the excluded are the essential constituent of the financial inclusion delivery system. The most important part of the delivery system is the man power to deliver the banking products to the hitherto excluded. Unless trained man power is available the success of financial inclusion may not be achieved. Trained manpower is very important for the last mile delivery of financial products to the excluded. The Institute has been working in the area of financial education for some time now. In this regard, one of the issues that the institute observed was that knowledge about banking and bank products with the persons involved in marketing bank products or working in the area of outreach needs to be increased for improving efficient delivery of financial products. This is accentuated by the fact that, often the bank staff does not have time to sit with the customers and clarify all the issues to the full satisfaction of the customer. It is for this purpose that the institute has been emphasising on financial literacy or financial education. Financial education enables the depositors and borrowers take informed decision about financial products. With the approval of BC/BF model for financial inclusion and with the entry of technology firms in the process of inclusion there is now a distinct possibility of making financial inclusion happen. A point worth noting here is that the banks will be using CSP (customer service points) which will be manned by employees of BC companies. These employees are drawn from the village youth who will however need knowledge inputs on banking, and finance. As the financial inclusion take route there will be a need for financial advising and debt management advising skills to make the concept work well. Evidently the scope of financial education becomes larger. Given that the BC model will depend heavily on persons manning the CSP it is important that they must have sufficient knowledge of banking, bank products and customers such that they not only open the accounts correctly but they are also able to help the customers in understanding the financial products and take an informed decision. The role of the CSP is thus very important. In most cases the bank will be doing the KYC and due diligence but will expect the CSP to (a) do the transaction (b) record the transaction ( card operations) and (c) handle cash up to the approved level. The CSP or the BC/BF will be compensated for this by way of commission or fees.

As of now the employees of BC or CSP do not have knowledge of banking and bank products. There is a possibility that there could be some mis-selling on account of lack of knowledge. Also unless they are educated in the aspects of banking they may not be able to handle financial advising even if it is in respect of issues such as opening of no frill account, taking a small loan etc. Currently the BC/BF firms and banks are giving some training inputs to the CSPs. It is however desirable that a structured training and certification program is offered to the CSPs which will help in offering quality service to the rural people. In this background IIBF has launched the following course. IIBF is working in the area of enhancing employability and enhancing career opportunities in the area of banking and finance. IIBF believes that training and certification will enhance the skill of the candidates and will make them useful in the process of financial inclusion. Accordingly IIBF has launched a Certificate course for Business correspondents, business facilitators. Unlike IIBF courses which are primarily distance learning courses this course is a training cum certification course. The course objective is to 1. Facilitate/arrange training and certification of CSP or employees of BC/BFs including those to whom banks have outsourced financial inclusion process who are actually involved in the financial inclusion work/process. 2. Create a cadre of qualified CSP executives by offering this course to unemployed rural youth and encourage them to work us CSP personnel. This will not only facilitate financial inclusion but also help in improving employment position. Target group: Xth passed unemployed people in rural/semi urban areas People who are working in the BC/BF domain including o Self employed who are involved in the activity o Angan Wadi workers who are involved in the activity o Retired bankers etc who are involved in the activity o Ex-servicemen who are involved in the activity o Women/housewives who are involved in the activity o NGOs and their staff who are involved in the activity The course could also be opened to Post Office staff and Insurance Agents as they are working in almost all the villages of the country. Course Coverage : Course will help the banks to train their outsourced persons and BC/BFs to train their staff to o Function efficiently as a CSP personnel o Get an overview of banking and financial activities o Understand and fill up various forms and documents used by banks o Details of various schemes of the banks which are targeted at the financially excluded o Nuances of basic banking transactions both deposits and lending

o The details of appropriate loan products and the underlying cash flow expectations. o Soft skills necessary to serve the customers o Understanding the issues of financial inclusion o Help in spreading financial literacy of rural population Highlight of IIBF Course : - Dedicated courseware; the institute has published a courseware titled inclusive growth. This will be brought out in other languages also. - Compulsory well designed- training through select accredited institutions. IIBF will do trainers training program for the faculty of accredited institutions to ensure that high quality training is imparted. - The qualification will be awarded through a process of internal assessment by accredited institutions for 40 marks on training inputs including soft skills and filling up of forms and documents and assessment by IIBF for 60 marks at the end of the training programme Support from NABARD : - NABARD has approved the Training Cum Certification course and has indicated that it will- on the receipt of application from IIBF- reimburse, fully/partially the course fee of Rs.4,000/- to all the successful candidates , of the course of IIBF, who are involved in financial inclusion. The support from NABARD will also be available to candidates who undergo the certification process of IIBF and get employed as CSPs with BC, BF Banks etc. Expectations : - The country needs a large number of CSP to reach out to nearly half of the population of 50 crores plus. The BC/BF model is expected to help the banks to reach the goals set by them. In this process the Certificate Course for Business Correspondents/Business Facilitators of IIBF is expected to complement the efforts of banks and other financial institutions.