Agent Network Journeys Toward the Last Mile: A Cross-Country Perspective

Agent networks are a critical interface between poor customers and digital financial services providers, and enable cash-in and cash-out (CICO) transactions. Given that a majority of the world’s financially excluded and underserved customers live in rural areas, extending rural CICO agent networks is critical to further financial inclusion.  CGAP and its partners did deep dives into five financial markets that have significantly expanded their rural agent networks despite very different contexts: China, Colombia, India, Indonesia, and Kenya. This Focus Note reveals three distinct journeys country stakeholders have taken to extend the reach and quality of rural agent networks.