Equity Bank

CASE STUDY
Increasing Sales, Improving Productivity
A Better Way for Agency Banking

2018
 Equity Bank
Increasing Sales, Improving Productivity - A Better Way for
Agency Banking
Equity Bank - supported by strategic partner ONBOARD and technology
partner Papersoft - created a new channel to market using agent networks
to reach clients living in remote regions in Democratic Republic of Congo.
The result: Equity Bank is generating better sales results, increasing
market share and selling higher value financial services to thousands of
new customers in Africa.

www.papersoft-dms.com
WHY READ THIS CASE STUDY?

Equity Bank DRC is one of the largest pan-African banks and part of Equity Group
Holdings Plc. Equity Bank turned standard agency banking models around - using design-
thinking to create new processes and technology to solve the challenge of delivering
financial services to underserved and unbanked populations in Democratic Republic of the
Congo (DRC).

By rethinking sales processes, improving skills and empowering agents, Equity Bank leverages
ONBOARD’s extensive agent network and Papersoft’s Digital Agent mobile application to
increase market share, reduce sales operating costs and expand its product portfolio.

This case study provides insight and practical guidance for Financial Service Providers (FSPs) and
Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) about how to build a successful agent network from the
start or to improve productivity of existing agency banking programs.

266,457k 31
customers branches

22k 676 93
current accounts agents ATMS

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The Game-Changing Initiative: Financial Inclusion

According to the World Bank, approximately 2 billion people don’t use formal financial services
and more than 50% of adults in the poorest households are unbanked. In the Democratic
Republic of Congo, fully 50% of the adult population is so deeply rural that they are not even
counted for financial inclusion survey purposes. Traditional banks often do not serve the bulk of
rural populations, and there are a number of barriers on both the demand and supply-side of the
market.

The result: a generation of adults without basic financial education.

Adults covered by FinScope

48% 28% 15% 10%

19m 11m 6m 4m

DEEP RURAL RURAL OTHER URBAN KINSHASA

SECONDARY EDUCATION 26.6% 46% 75% 71%

(highest for 41%) (highest for 56%) (highest for 55%)

AVERAGE MONTHLY INCOME 31.10$ 58$ 94$ 118$

OWN A MOBILE PHONE 70% 83% 89%

HEARD OF MOBILE MONEY 18% 18% 57%

AVERAGE TIME TO
NEAREST BANK BRANCH
126min 55min 58min

AVERAGE TIME TO NEAREST ATM 162min 49 min 57min

This is now changing thanks to financial inclusion initiatives, which are critical enablers for
reducing poverty and boosting prosperity. Expanding the market for transactional (payment-
facilitating) bank accounts and other financial services - such as credit, savings, insurance,
loans and investment - facilitates day-to-day living and helps families and businesses plan
for everything from long-term goals to unexpected emergencies. Account holders are able
to build a credit history with regular use of their bank account. This helps them gain access
to other financial products (such as credit and insurance), to start and expand businesses,
invest in education or health, manage risk, and cope with weather or financial shocks, which
can improve the overall quality of their lives. These accounts also facilitate participation in the
digital economy and are a critical building block for digital development.*

*Source: World Bank, Financial Inclusion Brief; September 26, 2017. www.worldbank.org/en/topic/financialinclusion

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 There is tremendous potential and motivation for both governments and enterprises to create
financial inclusion programs. Activating bank accounts for unbanked or underserved customers
benefits the customer, bank and overall economy. The new cash - which previously was not
circulating in official channels - enters the banking system in the form of deposits or payments.
These cash “injections” into the formal economy increase both the liquidity of the bank/financial
institution and the overall country GDP - in the end, benefitting both local communities and the
overall economy.

The Challenge:
A cost-Efective Model to Reach Unbanked Clients

However, financial
inclusion programs face
numerous challenges
in delivering services to GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION
underbanked clients in Infrastructure, Distance
& Political Situation
No Knowledge of Managing
Money & Finances
African countries.

PROOF OF IDENTITY TECHNOLOGY CULTURE

No Government ID Poor TELCO / MOBILE Perceived Threat
NETWORKS & Cost to Local Merchants

Digital technology - facilitated by the global spread of mobile phones - bridges some of
the gaps by expanding access to financial services to hard-to-reach communities and small
businesses at low cost and risk. However, technology alone is not a solution - and in some
situations can be counterproductive to initiatives to bring financial services to unbanked
customers.

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The Strategy: Close the “Last-Mile” Gap

To grow market share and reach new customers, Equity Bank realised they needed
to close the gap between the bank branch and the customer. Therefore, they turned
to an agency banking model which relied on agent networks to provide the personal
service and trusted client relationships to help close this “last-mile” gap”. In the process,
Equity Bank decided to rethink the way in which a financial services provider could
approach underserved populations, looking to bring a fresh perspective to successfully
deliver services to unbanked clients.

Many banks have their own systems to open what is termed a digital bank account.
These are not classic bank accounts with a wide variety of services, including debit and credit
facilities: these are very limited to basic deposit and payment transactions. Also, the field
sales personnel and agents of many financial services providers are limited in the services they
offer due to technology. Many applications which support bank processes often fail when
used in the field due to lack of network access, slow processing time and limited functionality.
It is not uncommon for agents to gather data in their app but then direct the client to a
bank branch to complete the transaction. And many trade merchants and field sales agents
complain about a lack of training and support for bank-provided technology.

Equity Bank changed the game in how they approached

agency banking. Instead of implementing a similar strategy
to other banks, they re-examined their portfolio of services
and redefined their sales operations: this was made possible
by partners ONBOARD (sales agent network partner) and
Papersoft (technology partner). With a skilled, trained sales
force and a feature-rich, secure application to onboard
customers and process information, Equity Bank is accelerating
much faster than their competition by providing a fast, easy
way to activate new client accounts and facilitate transactions.
This not only enables Equity Bank to provide transactional bank
accounts but also to offer a wider portfolio of value-added
services.
The Technology: Papersoft Digital Agent

Papersoft’s Digital Agent mobile application is an easy-to-install-and-use mobile platform that

provides a secure, feature-rich “on-ramp” for customer onboarding, seamless integration with
any customer system and detailed customer data which can be used for future cross-sell,
upsell and partner selling.

)
(

The mobile platform supports AML and KYC regulations through its digital scanning, data
capture and biometrics technology which recognises personally identifiable information (PII)
within the machine-readable zone of virtually every government-issued identity document
(e.g. passport, residency permit, driving license).

Features such as mobile signatures, secure digital file exchange and location-aware data
support market research, interactive customer onboarding, dynamics sales processes, agent
management and other field engagement.

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The Game-Changer:
Transforming the Sales Channel

To accelerate their go-to-market

strategy, Equity Bank needed industry
expertise and a proven agent network
to support their field operations. Enter
Djo Moupondo, Chief Executive Officer,
ONBOARD. Mr. Moupondo manages a sales
organisation of over 100 agents in DRC
and is responsible for the strategy, sales
operations, coordination and administration
for Equity Bank’s agent operations.
Established in 1987, ONBOARD is a Human
Resources outsourcing company with project
expertise and specialised, industry-specific
knowledge in brand introduction and activation,
including bringing brands to new markets and
accelerating brand performance. Their services
include sales training, market research and client
engagement services.

Mr. Moupondo is the driving force in building and managing a skilled team of top performing
agents which are fully trained to educate, promote, onboard, upsell and administer banking
services to Equity Bank’s customers. Leveraging the benefits of Papersoft’s Digital Agent
application, ONBOARD provides the added value that most sales forces lack - and that even many
large financial services customers don’t have.

HOW AGENTS ARE USING

PAPERSOFT'S DIGITAL AGENT APP

ONBOARD AND SELL COLLECT CLIENT INFORMATION CONDUCT MARKET ASSESSMENTS

new bank accounts in the pre-sales process and surveys

COMMUNICATE OFFERS EDUCATE Receive customer service

about new products & services and train customers FEEDBACK
The Project Launch:
A Business-Critical Initiative

There is enormous upside potential in successfully delivering services to unbanked

and underserved customers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), including the
opportunity to increase market share, improve liquidity and grow revenue. However, the
country’s size and scale posed a significant challenge: to reach a population of over 78.7
million in a country which is 2.34 million square km in size, Equity Bank and ONBOARD
needed to minimise errors during project launch, generate quick wins to peak interest,
rapidly onboard agents and scale operations, and show overall program success in a
short time. They also needed to generate and maintain trust with ONBOARD’s vast
agent network so agents would feel comfortable leveraging their local knowledge and
existing client relationships in selling Equity Bank services.

2.34
million km2

78.7
million

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Launching the Project
In June 2017, Equity Bank and ONBOARD launched the project and introduced a a new
application, Papersoft’s Mobile Capture, for field banking processes.

PROJECT LAUNCH OBJECTIVES INCLUDED:

Introducing the Training users on Promoting user

Digital Agent mobile the new technology adoption with agents
application in the field and process and team supervisors

The implementation team included ONBOARD’s Project Manager and Regional

Team Supervisors, Equity Bank’s key project stakeholders and Papersoft consultants.
ONBOARD’s initial sales team was comprised of approximately 100 agents.

Papersoft’s mobile application was welcomed by the agents from the start, many of whom
were already using tablets and smart phones. First and foremost, the agents and team leaders
loved the paperless aspect of the new, mobile app-driven process. Previously, applications
and other correspondence were hand-written and paper-based; the end result was that some
handwriting was illegible, causing delays, errors and duplicate effort if a new application
needed to be generated. With the previous process, team leaders were responsible for
collecting paperwork from the agents in the field and then delivering the documents to a local
bank branch office. Then in a second step, the client needed to visit an Equity Bank branch or
trade agent to activate the account, often providing more personal information, photos and
signatures before the account would be ready for the first transaction.

With ONBOARD’s new automated onboarding process, agents onboard new Equity Bank
customers directly at their kiosk or field location: time to onboard now averages 5 minutes
per new client. Built-in features in the mobile app enable agents to maintain connectivity
when processing transactions in difficult terrains or to work offline if needed: this overcomes
common issues such as poor infrastructure or lack of network access. Team leaders can view,
correct and validate client data in real-time, easily finding and reading data in their backlog
and quickly processing new applications. Whereas before, Equity Bank worked through a
multi-step, paper-and personnel-intensive process to open and activate a new account, now
the entire process is fully-automated and field-based. New clients can apply, receive approval
and activate an account with their first deposit - all in minutes and directly with the agent.

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How does Equity Bank onboard a new
customer?

The process is launched with the mobile application digitally scanning the
client’s government-issued identification, which captures data in the machine-
readable zone. Together with the customer, the agent completes the required
fields in the app, which sends the client’s data to the Equity Bank system. To
verify identity, the bank creates an account and sends an SMS text with the new
account number to the client. The client makes a deposit, which then activates
the new account. Within minutes, a new customer has a Equity Bank account.

NEW ACCOUNT IS
AGENT AND ACTIVATED
CLIENT

APP DIGITALLY CUSTOMER MAKES

SCANS ID CARD DEPOSIT

HOW DOES
EQUITY BANK
MORE DATA IS INPUT ONBOARD EQUITY CREATES ACCOUNT
sends sms to customer

A NEW
CUSTOMER?
TEAM LEADER VIEWS APP PUSHES DATA
APPLICATION TO EQUITY BANK

TEAM LEADER
REQUESTS MORE FIELD IS CORRECTED
INFORMATION process continues

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 Quick Wins and Project Studies
All parties agree that project is an overwhelming success. In the first 9 months after project
launch, ONBOARD’s agents opened more than 65,000 new Equity Bank accounts - an increase
of over 24% from the previous period. This is a remarkable achievement, especially as it includes
agent onboarding, training on processes and technology and market education for clients.
Today, ONBOARD’s 100-agent sales force is averaging 90 new applications each month per
agent, and ONBOARD has plans to increase its sales force by an additional 400 agents in the first
half of 2018.

How to Create A Market-Leading Model

EQUITY BANK ONBOARD PAPERSOFT

Customer-focused product Skilled sales team Robust, fast and easy-to-use
with “I go to you” presenting an educational technology
easy onboarding sales message delivering a great client experience

Client acceptance has been very positive. Initially, customers were surprised by how the mobile app
used technology to collect information and open their account; some were reluctant to provide personal
information or take photos to validate their identity. To overcome initial user anxiety and educate clients,
ONBOARD’s agents repeatedly visited communities to speak with clients and to demonstrate how
the application worked. Customers became increasingly interested in the technology - especially the
speed and efficiency of opening a new bank account. As a result, Papersoft’s Digital Agent now helps
ONBOARD win new customers due to its “WOW factor”: clients are amazed that within five minutes,
they receive an SMS with their account number, can make a deposit onsite with the agent and are
immediately holders of an active bank account.

Agents can receive real-time feedback

Benefits for Equity Bank:
New account openings have resulted in a 24% market
growth across DRC for Equity Bank
Account opening time averages 5 minutes, enabling
agents to process more accounts per day
Lower sales costs due to faster processing time and
fewer onboarding errors
Quicker account activation, which consequently
accelerates deposits and improves the bank’s liquidity
Better customer data, facilitating upsell /cross-sell
opportunities which are directly targeted to client
needs
Happy, new customers, leading to long term client
relationships
about orders to immediately correct mistakes
or add missing information. Supervisors can
accurately monitor, track and report on agent
performance using the app’s near-real time sales
data. Delighted customers are bringing family
and friends to the agent kiosks or location - one
new customer can potentially generate five or
more new referrals. And in communities where
there previously was resistance from trade
merchants who felt a threat to their existing
business, now many merchants are welcoming
the Equity Bank-affiliated agents. The merchants
now experience that when agents successfully
transact banking services in their community, it
brings them additional business as well as a
win-win for the entire community.
The Future of Agency Banking

With their partnership, Equity Bank, ONBOARD and Papersoft are building a secure,
scalable and virtually risk-free model which can be used as a benchmark for gathering market
research, for launching new agent channels and for expanding financial services in other
markets.

They are showing the possibility of extending beyond client onboarding processes for
basic bank accounts by providing an operating process and technology platform to deliver a
wide portfolio of financial services. There is a treasure trove of client data which is collected
by the application which can enable Equity Bank to determine which financial services best
suits the needs of an individual customer. The digital agent application also enables them to
collect valuable market data to help Equity Bank evaluate new products (e.g. a family-focused
group account) and client segments (such as students) to create tailored banking services.

This project is also changing the strategy for how ONBOARD provides services to its
enterprise clients. While other agent networks typically manage a part of an onboarding
process for a bank, ONBOARD is the first company in DRC to operate and manage an end-
to-end client services process. As Mr. Moupondo explains, “Many traditional banks, financial
services providers and other companies don’t yet fully understand the power and extensive
capabilities of the Papersoft Digital Agent application. When they do, watch out! This is
when our business will truly accelerate customer engagement and radically transform sales
operations from how we know them today into a powerful channel for sustainable, profitable

“
growth”.

Many traditional banks, financial services providers

and other companies don’t yet fully understand the
power and extensive capabilities of the Papersoft
Digital Agent application. When they do, watch out!
This is when our business will truly accelerate customer
engagement and radically transform sales operations
from how we know them today into a powerful channel
for sustainable, profitable growth
“
Djo Moupondo, Chief Executive Officer,
ONBOARD

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 About

Equity Bank Congo is part of Equity Group Holdings Plc (HQ in Kenya) and has
been operating in the DRC since 2005. Our objective is to facilitate access to banking
services for all, and to finance small, medium and large Congolese businesses. We offer
a full range of innovative and adapted services. Our operations are governed by key
principles: we advocate transparency in our communication with our customers and we
offer services that are based on a detailed understanding of the specific situation of
each client and a financial analysis. This responsible approach allows us to build a long-
term relationship with our customers based on mutual trust.

www.equitybankgroup.com

Established in 1987, ONBOARD is a business development, marketing and

management consulting firm that specializes in helping enterprises to create sustainable
growth through successful expansion into the African market. ONBOARD offers business
solutions including business development, market research and analysis, feasibility
studies, brand development, marketing and brand representation.

Papersoft is committed to providing a paperless and automated process to onboard

clients and “know-your-customer” in a customized way. Our Platform facilitates
service subscriptions and document ID checks for Digital Financial Services, Telecoms,
Banking, Insurance and Utilities industries by exploring new distribution channels.

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