A Technical Guide to Unlock Agent Networks at the Last Mile

Innovations in digital technologies have shown great potential to enable digital financial service (DFS) providers to reach low-income customers with products that help them become more resilient against individual and climate shocks and capture investment opportunities that improve their well-being. However, realizing this potential requires the setup of key building blocks. One of the most foundational is the development of inclusive and far-reaching Cash-In and Cash-Out (CICO) agent networks.

This guide discusses five key actions that rank as the most catalytical for DFS providers, policymakers, regulators and funders to unlock the expansion of rural CICO agent networks based on CGAP’s global experience.

• Key Action 1: DFS providers to build a vision for rural expansion.
• Key Action 2: Regulators to get lower-tier, Know-Your-Agent (KYA) requirements right.
• Key Action 3: DFS providers and policymakers to find optimal investment strategies for training rural agents and building a rural salesforce.
• Key Action 4: DFS providers to define a roadmap for outsourcing rural agent management.
• Key Action 5: All stakeholders to capture the potential of women agents by solving skill and asset gaps and designing around gender-restrictive norms.