Capabilities in Digital Financial Services White Paper ONOW Myanmar

CAPABILITIES IN DIGITAL FINANCIAL SERVICES
Calming the Fears of Myanmar’s Unbanked
October 2019
Researched and Authored by Matthew Wallace
Edited by Adam Hunt
Design by Johnny Knox
Analysis by Nathan Temeyer
© Copyright 2019. ONOW Myanmar Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.
Capabilities in Digital Financial Services 1

Table of Contents
Executive Summary 3
Acknowledgements 4
Uptake and Use by the Unbanked 5

Inclusion 6
Digital Literacy 7
Financial Capabilities 9
Gender Gap in Digital Financial Services 11
Engaging Emotion and Rules of Thumb 13

Trust: Emotional Engagement 16
Skills: Build Capabilities 19
Action: Trigger Links 22
Insights from the Pilot 25

Engagement 25
Gender 28
Know Your Customer 31
Conclusion 33
Key Learnings 34
Call to Action 35
References 38

Executive Summary
Myanmar’s push to expand access to financial services is five years old.
Awareness of new digital tools has increased, and people are more prepared
to enter the financial system than at any point in history. However, Myanmar
still trails far behind the Rest of Asia in rates of participation in formal
financial services, financial literacy, savings rates, and the use of digital
financial services. This gap should close quickly, but financial institutions must
not miss the opportunity.
The barriers of digital literacy, financial capabilities, and the gap in gender
access stand in the way of full inclusion and financial health. Training people in
what value mobile phones can add to life and how to protect themselves in
the digital world is the forgotten foundation. Training people in how to wield
various financial channels to improve financial health is usually reduced to a
lecture delinked from reality. Considering how to balance out the gender gap
is often an afterthought.
Build3 is ONOW’s digital platform to rectify these issues. In the recently

completed six-month pilot, the system generated 25,000 capable leads for
financial institutions from a user base of 166,000 users. 52 percent of users
were women. And 90 percent of users had never made a purchase online.

Build3 will facilitate the entry of millions into Myanmar’s burgeoning digital
financial services system.
Acknowledgements
The idea for Build3 began in 2015, as ONOW began developing solutions for
the problem of low-quality financial education materials in Myanmar as part
of the USAID Private Sector Development Activity. Thanks to the United
States Agency for International Development for supporting ONOW to
deliver creative approaches to financial education, starting with the Maung Sa
Yin Kaing financial literacy chatbot and continuing into the Lu Mite Nae Ngwe
Ah Tu Ma Nay animation series.
Thanks to Visa Myanmar, Yoma Bank, and Ayeyarwaddy Farmers Bank for
the opportunity to pilot Build3 with your customer acquisition departments.
These organizations are strong advocates for financial health and literacy in
Myanmar.
Thanks to the amazing staff and management team at ONOW Myanmar.

Nearly every one of them has contributed to creating Build3. The team’s
talents run from trainers and coaches, content writers and project managers,
and all the way through to frontend and backend developers, graphic artists
and animators. The team is young, smart, curious, and committed to
alleviating poverty by building financial capabilities and launching new
enterprises in Myanmar.
Thanks to the ONOW Executive Team, including Adam, Johnny and May
Thinzar Aung. They each bring essential skills and unique perspectives to the
strategic guidance of ONOW Myanmar. ONOW’s unique culture, vision and
values reflect their passion for the work.

Uptake and Use by the Unbanked
Myanmar is in the midst of a strongly coordinated push to bring millions of
people into the formal financial sector. The broad uptake of digital tools at all
economic levels offers a unique opportunity to expand financial services to
the last mile. Bank and non-bank financial institutions alike are involved in the
effort to implement strategies to advance financial inclusion across the
country. Mobile wallets, payment platforms, and card technology are typically
the chosen methods to reach the unbanked population who have never used
anything but cash and informal channels.
Yet, in country after country, the push to onboard new populations into digital
financial services as quickly as possible has backfired in the form of account
dormancy, fraud and customer disillusionment. The strategies have failed to
consider the implications of neglecting the expansion of financial capabilities
alongside access to finance. Too often, in the rush to push new tech,
institutions have failed to consider the Gender Digital Divide, thus further
deepening the gender gap in Financial Inclusion.
To leverage the historic spike in digital access to achieve full inclusion,

financial institutions must develop strategies to build capabilities alongside
onboarding customers. Service providers simply must consider how to reach
the women who are typically less connected and less encouraged to take up
formal financial tools. These strategies must focus on building trust with new

customers, instilling essential skills for the use of financial services, and
establishing frictionless links to innovative digital products.
Inclusion
Myanmar is five years into a major effort to improve the financial health of its
people. The Myanmar Ministry of Planning and Finance’s Financial Inclusion
Roadmap, Making Access Possible1, has set out lofty goals to improve access
to finance, financial literacy, and the provision of digital financial services.
These goals are designed to build a savings-based resilience in the population,
root out endemic levels of informal money lending, and shift capital toward
productive uses.
Today, more services are available, awareness has increased, and consumers
have better alternatives to informal providers than ever before, but financial
account ownership continues to lag far behind the rest of Asia. While the
historic five-year spike in the ownership of smartphones and access to the
Internet has continued, the use of digital channels to open, access, or
transact through formal financial channels has not followed the same
trajectory.
Credit-taking from formal institutions has improved to similar levels with the
Rest of Asia, and the MAP Finscope 20182 demonstrated progress on other
indicators of access to finance, but financial health indicators continue to
3
trail. The World Bank’s 2018 Global Findex showed that Myanmar suffers
from drastically reduced levels of Financial Account Ownership, less Mobile
Money Account Ownership, less experience with Digital Payments, lower
levels of Domestic Remittances through Formal Accounts, and lower levels
of Formal Account savings, when compared with the Rest of Asia. As
illustrated in the graphic at right, only 25.6 percent of Myanmar people own
an account of any type with a financial institution, compared to 70.3 percent
in the Rest of Asia.4
1
Livelihoods and Food Security Fund. Myanmar Financial Inclusion Roadmap 2014-2020
https://www.lift-fund.org/myanmar-financial-inclusion-roadmap-2014-2020
2
Finscope Myanmar 2018 Launch Presentation
https://finmark.org.za/finscope-myanmar-2018-launch-presentation/
3
World Bank. 2018 Global Findex Myanmar Countrybook
https://globalfindex.worldbank.org/sites/globalfindex/files/countrybook/Myanmar.pdf
4
Ibid

However, driving account signups is only part of the challenge. A recent Asia
Development Bank blog post5 observed,
“Financial services and products are only good if they are being
used. Yet many financial service providers still struggle with high
account dormancy, customer dropouts, and otherwise limited
service usage. Services and products must meet the real needs of
individual users. They should be intuitive to activate and use,
deliver promised features, and be affordable.
The Myanmar market has seen a well-coordinated, multi-stakeholder effort

to increase the formality of the financial sector, and an intense promotional
effort by individual players, to grow savings and digital financial services.
However, as the author of the blog post above further remarked, “Financial
inclusion constitutes access, use, and quality of a range of financial products
and services from multiple providers.” The problems of digital illiteracy, the
lack of financial capabilities, and the limited awareness of financial services
are restraining the achievement of full inclusion and financial health.
Digital Literacy
The need for strong Digital Literacy carries with it a unique opportunity to
increase financial inclusion. But it also carries the simultaneous risk of a large
share of the population falling behind if they do not obtain digital skills. The
World Bank Global Findex Report in 2017 recommended leveraging digital
technology among underserved populations. The report said, “Global Findex
data suggest that mobile phones and the Internet could go a long way toward
helping to overcome some of the barriers that unbanked adults say prevent
them from accessing financial services.”6 Mobile phones provide an untapped
opportunity for expanding financial services adoption, and it is now well
known that Myanmar has experienced one of the fastest smartphone
adoption rates in history. By 2016, mobile phone penetration reached 90
percent, and SIM cards cost only $1. According to GSMA Intelligence7, as of
2018 Quarter 4, SIM penetration reached 104 percent, there were more
5
Lotte Schou-Zibell. Asia Development Bank. Digital Solutions for FInancial Inclusion. March 2019.
https://blogs.adb.org/blog/digital-solutions-financial-inclusion
6
World Bank. Chapter 6: Opportunities for Expanding Financial Inclusion Through Digital Technology.
World Bank Findex 2017. Page 91.
https://globalfindex.worldbank.org/sites/globalfindex/files/chapters/2017%20Findex%20full%20report_c
hapter6.pdf
7
GSMA Intelligence. Data Dashboard for Myanmar. Accessed 8 July 2019.
https://www.gsmaintelligence.com/markets/2274/dashboard/

than 56 million connections, and 76 percent were using mobile broadband.
This classified Myanmar as a “Fast Grower” market in South East Asia.
However, to this point phones have been used primarily for the camera
function, for surfing social networks, for gaming, and for messaging friends
and family. According to a 2018 report on the digital landscape by consultant
firm Havas Riverorchid8, 70 percent of web traffic was on mobile phones, but
85 percent of all time on mobile devices was spent on social media,
entertainment and gaming, averaging more than two hours per day. Work
remains to promote the mobile phone as a financial access and management
tool, now that more mobile wallets and account management tools are
available on the market. Today more use cases for digital financial services
exist than ever before. The graphic at right demonstrates just how far the use
of Digital Financial Services is behind the Rest of Asia. Only 7.7% of Myanmar
people have sent a Digital Payment in the last year, compared to 58% in the
Rest of Asia.9
The shift to offering services in a digital world offers many opportunities to

increase the security of digital transactions, and increase the coverage area of
financial services, but consumers’ lack of sound understanding of how to
safely navigate the digital world may undermine the growth already achieved.
An article by the East Asia Forum recently pointed to the importance of
building digital literacy skills to achieve development objectives. The author
says,
“Digital literacy is...a person’s ability to locate, discuss and share

information in the digital world. Those who are not digitally literate
or lack access risk marginalisation in societies that are increasingly
defined by digital technologies. Many businesses, including banks,
are now forgoing physical branches and opting to deliver services
through digital means such as mobile applications.”10
Chief among the areas that should be developed are an individual’s

understanding of how to safely share personal information in digital spaces,
how to maintain the privacy and security of personal information, and how to
leverage digital tools to access information and improve productive skills.
8
Havas Riverorchid. ICT4 Development Workshop Presentation. March 2018.
https://themimu.info/sites/themimu.info/files/documents/Presentation_Falling_in_love_with_Technology_
Havas_Riverorchid_07Mar2018.pdf
9
10
East Asia Forum. ASEAN must embrace digitisation for development. Accessed 8 July 2019.
https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2019/05/03/asean-must-embrace-digitisation-for-development/

Financial Capabilities
The importance of planning, saving and using financial accounts as safe stores
of value are unrealized across Myanmar. A recent report titled Financial
Literacy Around the World by Standard and Poors11 found that financial skills
are generally weak among those who have formal accounts globally, but even
weaker among those who do not have formal accounts. The report says,
“59 percent of ‘unbanked’ adults say they do not have enough

money to use an account. In reality, most poor people make
payments and other financial transactions every day, but they do
so in informal and often more costly and less safe ways. If they
were more aware of accounts and how they are used, unbanked
adults might sign up for an account.”
If the unbanked were more aware of the growing number of relevant use
cases and the benefits of account ownership, they may better understand
how to use the financial products, and be more interested in opening
accounts. The chart at right shows the need to build the basic financial literacy
discipline of saving, and the importance of personal savings to increase
household resilience. Only 36.2 percent of Myanmar people saved any
money, but in the Rest of Asia, 53.1 percent of people saved.12
However, weak financial literacy skills are not limited to those without
accounts. The S&P study13 also found that 62 percent of those globally with
formal account ownership are not financially literate. The report observes,
“account owners who lack financial knowledge may not be fully benefiting
from what their accounts have to offer. One example is savings. Globally, 57
percent of adults save money, but just 27 percent use a bank or other formal
financial institution to do so.” The chart at right demonstrates the gap in those
who save in formal financial institutions. In Myanmar, 8.1 percent of people
saved at an institution, while slightly more than 30 percent in the Rest of Asia
saved in formal accounts.14
11
Standard & Poor’s Rating Services. Financial Literacy Around the World: Insights from the Standard & Poor’s
Ratings Services. 2016.
https://gflec.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/3313-Finlit_Report_FINAL-5.11.16.pdf?x22667
12
13
Standard & Poor’s Rating Services. Financial Literacy Around the World: Insights from the Standard & Poor’s
Ratings Services. 2016.
https://gflec.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/3313-Finlit_Report_FINAL-5.11.16.pdf?x22667
14

Though uptake remains low, there is evidence that more people have been
reached with the knowledge of the benefits of formal financial services. A
recent report from Visa Myanmar, Myanmar Consumer Payment Attitudes15,
found that the number of people who plan to own a bank account has
increased to 70 percent of those surveyed in 2018, up from 46 percent in
2017. Additionally, those who intend to acquire a payment card rose from 17
percent of those surveyed in 2017 to 70 percent of those surveyed in 2018.
Among those surveyed, cash continues to remain the preferred payment
option because it is seen as more convenient, and more widely accepted. It is
important that this growing awareness be converted to account ownership
quickly, and that use cases for digital payment be emphasized.
The data on Myanmar indicates much work remains to increase both savings,
and saving in institutions. The MAP Finscope 201816 may provide some
insight into why uptake of formal accounts continues to remain so low. The
graphic above, taken from the Finscope Myanmar 2018 Launch presentation,
indicates that the closest financial service infrastructure in urban areas has
fallen to between 18 and 24 minutes away on average for urban contexts. In
contrast, for rural populations, where the majority of Myanmar people live,
these services are between 43 minutes away (microfinance institutions) and
82 minutes away (ATMs). In general, financial services continue to be too
difficult to reach for most Myanmar people, reducing the likelihood of adding
value.
15
Wang, Lillian. Visa Myanmar. Myanmar Consumer Payment Attitudes Presentation. 25 June 2019.
16
Finscope Myanmar 2018 Launch Presentation
https://finmark.org.za/finscope-myanmar-2018-launch-presentation/

There is a persistent fear of the unknown when it comes to digital financial
services and formal banking. The barrier to entry feels too high for many
unbanked to give digital money a chance. Most have never entered a bank,
and think they do not have enough money to make use of bank and formal
financial services. Most adults are not equipped to make the mental
calculations to compare digital money to the risks and costs related to
informal channels. Digital Financial Services can drive significant
improvement in this situation, but few people are aware of the potential
benefits of these services.
Gender Gap in Digital Financial Services
In each of the areas described above–digital literacy, financial capabilities and

awareness of financial products–a gap continues to persist between how
different genders can access and use formal financial products. A recent blog
post at the website of the Asia Development Bank observed, “given the
expanding access to mobile devices, mobile banking should be a key tool to
closing gender gaps, particularly on financial access.”17 Investing in access to
Digital Financial Services and Financial Capabilities is a clear instance of
leveraging ICT to provide real value to women and lessen the gender gap in
both technology and financial inclusion.
In the area of Digital Literacy, a 2017 study by IREX18, which analyzed

Myanmar’s digital gender gap in ICT access, skills, and benefits, found that
women have less control over digital devices, and less perceived and real
benefits of ICT use. The report found that women are 29% less likely to own
their own phone, and a major challenge to overcoming the digital divide is
breaking down social norms which indicate that women have no use for digital
devices. A key recommendation of the report was to invest more in digital
literacy training, and to align more content with women’s needs. A direct
outcome of this effort would be an increased likelihood of engaging in
e-commerce, online credit, and financial services.
17
Lotte Schou-Zibell. Asia Development Bank. Digital Solutions for FInancial Inclusion. March 2019.
https://blogs.adb.org/blog/digital-solutions-financial-inclusion
18
Scott, Sheila. Center for Applied Learning and Impact. IREX with Swathi Balasubramanian and Amber
Ehrke. Ending the Gender Digital Divide in Myanmar: A Problem-Driven Political Economy Assessment. 2017.
https://www.irex.org/sites/default/files/node/resource/gender-digital-divide-myanmar-assessment.pdf

In the area of Financial Inclusion, women in Myanmar are less likely to have
access to formal financial services at rates of 46 percent formal inclusion for
women and 50 percent formal inclusion for men, according to the Making
Access Possible Refresh Myanmar Diagnostic 201819. Women are more likely
to use non-bank providers such as microfinance institutions, whereas men are
more likely to use formal banking services. An important observation of the
Diagnostic was that, “men and women are likely to have different financial
needs, and that interventions to improve access to financial services will have
different effects on men and women.20” In order to effectively achieve
financial inclusion, target groups need to be viewed independently of each
other in messaging style, use cases and training content. This requires a
granular approach to target users, rather than a billboard approach in which a
cookie-cutter message is standardized across all channels and all audiences.
19
Ministry of Planning and Finance, Finmark Trust, and UNCDF. Making Access Possible Refresh Myanmar
Diagnostic 2018.
http://finmark.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Myanmar_Diagnostic_2018_CB3_repro.pdf
20
Ministry of Planning and Finance, Finmark Trust, and UNCDF. Making Access Possible Refresh Myanmar
Diagnostic 2018. Page 33.
http://finmark.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Myanmar_Diagnostic_2018_CB3_repro.pdf.

Emotional Engagement and Heuristics:
the Build3 Capabilities Platform
In an article by Microsave, titled Breaking Free From the Myths of Financial
Education, 21 which analyzed financial programs for characteristics of
effectiveness, the authors commented,
“Skill refers to the ability to use the products and attitude refers to
the commitment and motivation to use the product. Skill and
attitude development is not necessarily a linear process. That is, it
is not necessary that skills lead to attitude or vice versa.”
Removing the barriers to full inclusion and reaching beyond account signups
requires meeting consumers at multiple points along the customer journey,
and deploying a strategy that mixes technology and touch. In the Accion
Insights report The Tech Touch Balance22, the authors commented on the
usefulness of technology to promote financial services:
21
Microsave. Briefing Note #141: Breaking Free from the Myths of Financial Education. May 2013.
http://www.microsave.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/BN_141_Breaking_Free_From_Myths_Of_Finan
cial_Education.pdf
22
Accion Insights. The Tech Touch Balance: How the Best Fintech Startups Integrate Digital and Human
Interaction to Accelerate Financial Inclusion. October 2018.
https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/1122_TechTouch-RO6-Singles.pdf

“Technology has brought disruptive and welcome changes to the
financial service sector, particularly to how customers engage with
financial services. Compared to traditional models, digital
customer engagement tends to be more convenient and efficient.
Technology can automate processes, create more predictable and
consistent customer experiences, and allow startups to ‘do more’
with fewer resources.”23
As technology becomes ubiquitous and Myanmar’s people become more

digitally literate, the viability of technology that replaces touch increases, thus
further reducing the costs of new customer acquisition. At that point,
Myanmar consumers will be better-versed in the use of multiple digital
financial products and services to meet their household and business needs,
this freedom of informed choice being the true aim of financial inclusion.
In the meantime, an engaging digital tool that builds trust, financial services
skills, and links to real world action can significantly expand the reach of
digital financial services. As the Accion Insight report says, “a mixture of tech
enabling and imitating touch will drive customer acquisition.”24 Well-designed
technology can smooth the consumer path to full engagement with the
financial institution. In the article Fintechs and Financial Inclusion, by CGAP25,
the author points to examples of fintech companies which,
“...use information and communication technologies to make

complex financial services like credit, insurance, and pensions
easier to understand and to use. In each case, the customer has
greater access to information and an easy access point of contact
should they have issues with their service.”26
This accessibility is precisely what is necessary to foster a sense of reliability

with digital financial services. The connection bolsters consumer confidence
in those institutions which are resilient to the minor challenges and
knowledge gaps inherent in the unbanked entering the formal system.
ONOW Myanmar’s Build3 capabilities platform combines algorithm, user

segmentation and behavior-driven financial education to seamlessly connect
consumers to financial institutions in a completely digital interface. First,
Build3 builds Trust with consumers through emotionally engaging story
which is designed to stoke interest and calm fears about digital financial
23
Ibid Page 3.
24
Ibid. Page 25.
25
CGAP. Fintechs and Financial Inclusion: Looking Past the Hype and Exploring Their Potential Focus Note. M
ay
2019.
https://www.cgap.org/sites/default/files/publications/2019_05_Focus_Note_Fintech_and_Financial_Inclus
ion_1_0.pdf
26
Ibid. Page 12

services. Second, Build3 builds Skills and Capabilities through simplified
learning with friendly messaging and rules of thumb. Third, Build3 triggers
consumer Action by linking to financial service providers and streamlining the
onboarding process. The Build3 system is optimized to:
● Equip customers to open an account
● Combat account dormancy, and
● Facilitate Customer Sentiment Measurement
This process, based in an extensive body of research conducted in multiple

contexts and iteratively field testing during a six-month Myanmar pilot,
generates capable leads and locks in financial learning.
The following section will service three objectives. First, we will explore the
approaches to building Trust, Skills and Action as recommended in notable
literature. Second, we will unpack the resultant methodology ONOW has
followed in the design of the Build3 platform. Third, we will overview a
snapshot of the financial inclusion impacts achieved in the six-month
Myanmar pilot of the Build3 capabilities platform.

Trust: Emotional Engagement
Literature
Any introduction of new financial products, digital interfaces, or financial

service providers requires the establishment of trust with the potential
consumer base. This is especially true for Myanmar and its persistent cash
economy. The history of currency devaluations and bank failures may seem
long ago to foreign entrants to the Myanmar economy, but the lost family
savings and debt crises persist in collective memory. Because of this history,
few people naturally grasp the opportunity presented by new financial
products which disrupt the status quo, and few see banks and digital services
as obvious value-creators in their economic lives.
To counter this actuality, research suggests convenient and entertaining

financial capabilities training to correct these strongly held negative
perspectives of formal financial services. In Beyond the Classroom, a program
brief of Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA)27, researchers found that,
“bringing financial education programs into people’s homes, by integrating
them into daily activities or letting people access them whenever it’s
convenient, may be one solution to improving take-up.”28 Rather than asking
people to attend a physical training to introduce new products, or asking them
to come to a bank branch to learn a bank process, the product could be
presented digitally, and on the consumer’s own terms.
Financial capabilities training can also be designed to be more appealing. IPA

recommended that, “Making programs entertaining may also help keep
participants engaged. Entertainment media is therefore one option for
reaching and engaging a broad captive audience...Despite the initial high
production cost, the marginal cost of offering financial education through
mass dissemination, like television, is likely low because such a large audience
can be reached.”29 This unique approach to financial education would grab
attention and build trust through engaging story.
27
Innovations for Poverty Action. Beyond the Classroom: Evidence on New Directions in Financial Education.
https://www.poverty-action.org/sites/default/files/publications/Beyond-the-Classroom-Financial-Educati
on-Brief.pdf
28
on-Brief.pdf. Page 6.
29
Ibid. Pages 6-7.

Methodology: Entertain and Provoke Emotion
In designing the user-facing portal of Build3, ONOW chose Story to frame the
issues surrounding digital financial services. Some have assumed that
animation alone will increase interest and hold attention, choosing to
decorate a lecture with bright colors and moving pictures, rather than telling
engaging story. This approach fails to grab and hold attention, and fails to lock
in the necessary emotion to build trust. When education defaults to lecture or
simply nice formatting and skips emotional engagement, intended learnings
are rarely retained, and the target learner’s behavior is rarely modified for
long.
As noted above, Story has the ability to capture attention and communicate
emotional cues, which are an essential foundation for financial capabilities to
take root. The topics of finance and money are often considered frightening,
complicated, and boring. In response, the Build3 platform uses a series of
friendly animated characters which calm fears and provoke laughter.
Examples of common pain-points faced by the characters include:
● Needing a place to store money safely
● Inconvenience of everyday purchases
● Keeping private information secure
● Carrying cash safely for market purchases
● Sending money to a family member
● Keeping records of transactions overtime

Rather than pushing a series of theoretical principles and commands, the
story is used to frame the issue in everyday life, break down barriers to using
a formal service provider, and express the benefits of digital financial services.
Methodology: Be Relevant and Quick
The most important feature of quality marketing is widely recognized to be

quality messaging which demonstrates an understanding of the target
audience. The stories used in Build3 are designed to be applicable to the lives
of users, and demonstrate a familiarity with the challenges they face on a daily
basis. Target users view characters in the same real-life situations familiar to
viewers, while empathizing with the characters’ hesitations and anxieties
when first encountering digital financial services. This signals to the customer
that the platform is relevant, and service providers have taken the time to
learn and understand everyday realities and concerns.
Animations are kept short for a variety of purposes. Due to the high cost of
animation, short attention spans in mobile technology, and the potential
complexity of the topics, each animation is approximately one minute or less
and designed to be viewed as part of a series over the span of a few days. This
structure allows users to continue with their busy days, while still receiving
continuous engagement and cohesive messaging over the course of multiple
days. The UX design of the digital tool is optimized to bring users back
through timely notifications and reminders, moving the user through the
content in bursts, rather than requiring extended focus, time and attention.
Methodology: Choose the Best Channel of Engagement
A corollary to demonstrating an understanding of the audience is meeting

them where they spend most of their time. In digital Myanmar, this means
messaging in Facebook is currently the most effective channel for brief
interactions, though alternative channels will be added in the future. The
experience can be initiated in an engaging social media ad or boosted post
which captures attention, then triggers a Messenger prompt upon clicking to
finish the interesting animation. Future timed notifications and reminders are
then triggered directly in the Messenger app.
Methodology: Measure Sentiment
A final step to effectively building trust is measuring User Sentiment. As users

engage with the chatbot interface, they are surveyed about how they feel
toward digital financial services. Measuring this over time can indicate

evolving attitudes, and allows the messaging to be adjusted to reflect the
progress and familiarity with digital financial services.
Skills: Build Capabilities
Literature
For new digital products to become successfully integrated in an economy,

considerations for how to build the skills of target consumers is a must.
Customers who fail to buy into the span of available use cases will stick with
old habits and the status quo; in other words, the known and comfortable.
Customers who fail to understand important security considerations may
develop a distrust in digital transactions and contribute to a culture of
discouragement toward any “early adopters”. Financial service providers who
effectively guide new users to capability are best positioned to succeed,
having understood that the most effective form of this guidance is structured
as Heuristics, also known as Rules of Thumb.
Numerous studies have found that training programs rooted in practical

advice are far more effective at behavior change than intensive or extensive
training programs which cover every conceivable scenario. Heuristics are
simple to implement and reduce procrastination. One article observed, “the
success of this program suggests that simplifying financial education into
concrete, actionable steps may be more effective at changing consumer
business practices than traditional concept-based accounting training.”30 To
further illustrate the point, Ideas 42, a consultant firm focused on behavioral
insights in financial services, remarked, “a single, easy-to-remember rule is
more likely to be recalled and thus acted upon than a complex explanation of
the underlying theory.”31
The article further stated, “Having a lot of secondary information (“clutter”)

around key information can make people less likely to absorb the key
messages. This effect has even been shown to be important even for experts
such as financial professionals.”32 This would indicate that for people who are
entering the digital financial space for the first time, it is important to provide
a few clear pieces of advice in “dribs and drabs” to give some context and set
30
Page 4.
on-Brief.pdf
31
Ideas 42. The Power of Heuristics.Page 3.
http://www.ideas42.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ideas42_The-Power-of-Heuristics-2014-1.pdf
32
Ibid.

expectations. The author observes, “Such heuristics make it easier to respond
well when there is little time to deliberate, weigh up all the relevant
information, and then reach a decision about what they will do.”33 A tool that
acts as a companion, consistently guiding the user into the world of digital
financial services is most effective, rather than feeding all the information
before entry.
Methodology: Heuristics
Following each animation, Build3 follows a heuristics approach to training

design. The training is meant to be completed in 45 seconds and covers topics
raised in the animation. The heuristics deal with issues of:
● Benefits of financial institutions
● Keeping PINs secure
● Mobile agent networks
● E-commerce
● ATM use
● Responding to Errors
● Digital Remittance
● Payment cards
● Mobile wallets
● Monitoring accounts
To further set the heuristic apart from standard messages in the app, the
heuristic is placed on a graphic which can be downloaded, shared on social
media, or recalled in later reminders. Following are examples of some of the
simple rules of thumb used in Build3.
33
Ibid.

Methodology: Concept Retention Check
Following the heuristic and overview of issues raised in the animation, Build3
asks two questions, which are designed to check if the user understands the
key issue. Below is an example of a Concept Retention Check, dealing with the
security of bank cards, and the importance of protecting the secret PIN.
Question 1:
If you lose your ATM card is your money safe?

Answer Option 1: Yes, it’s still in the bank
Answer Option 2: No, it’s lost
Correct Answer response: ✅

That's right! Call them right away, so the
bank can help you get a new card, and you can access your money again.
Incorrect Answer response: ❌

Actually, your card may be gone, but
your money is safe with the bank. Call the bank to get a new card!
Question 2:
True or False: It is safe to give your friends your ATM PIN.

Answer Option 1: True, it is SAFE
Answer Option2: False, it is DANGEROUS
✅
🔑
Correct Answer response: Exactly. It is not safe to give your friends
your PIN. Your PIN is your password to your ATM card. It is like the
that opens a safe. You should not share it with others.
Incorrect Answer response: ❌

Sorry, incorrect. It is not safe to give
🔑
your friends your PIN or password. Your PIN is your password to your
ATM card. It is like the that opens a safe. You should not share it with
others.

The quiz should be somewhat challenging and not leading, requiring the user
to think carefully about the issue from an alternative perspective. A correct
answer reinforces the learning and restates the idea in a different form. An
incorrect answer presents an additional teaching moment, and also follows
with a restatement of the main idea.
Action: Trigger Links
Literature
Behavioral research has shown that people are often prone to short-term
mindedness and faulty decision-making. Innovations for Poverty Action, in a
brief titled Nudges for Financial Health34, states that people are present biased,
tend to lack self-control, and are inattentive to the future. This results in a
tendency to put off complex decisions and a failure to return to important
decisions which have been delayed. The research recommends that product
design use the tools of Commitment Devices, Defaults and Reminders to help
them make better decisions and stick to them. These tools help users
overcome inertia and follow through on important actions, such as signing up
for an account, cashing-in to their account, or making a loan payment on time.
Additional research from Microsave35 argues that providing access to and

promoting consistent use of financial products helps people develop and lock
in knowledge and skills. If learning is not removed from everyday life and
remains practical, it can be accomplished more effectively with the benefit of
building habitual use of financial tools.
Introducing a relevant product through a training module, followed by an

immediate, frictionless offer to begin using the financial product results in a
high likelihood of uptake and use of the account. A recent study by Women’s
World Banking found that 85% of those who had opened a digital financial
services account had never transacted. The researcher reported, “this
revealed a missed opportunity to properly onboard customers immediately
after account opening.”36 Linking learning to account practice is an essential
34
Innovations for Poverty Action. Nudges for Financial Health: Global Evidence for Improved Product Design.
https://www.poverty-action.org/sites/default/files/publications/Nudges-for-Financial-Health.pdf
35
riefing Note #141: Breaking Free from the Myths of Financial Education. May 2013.
Microsave. B
http://www.microsave.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/BN_141_Breaking_Free_From_Myths_Of_Finan
cial_Education.pdf
36
Women’s World Banking. Acquisition and Engagement Strategies to Reach Women with Digital Financial
Services. F
eb 2019.
https://www.womensworldbanking.org/insights-and-impact/acquisition-and-engagement-strategies-to-re
ach-women-with-digital-financial-services/

step in nurturing confidence and forming strong habits, and digital interfaces
are uniquely suited to leverage behavioral tools to promote sound use of
financial services.
Methodology: Call to Action
In Build3, the third step in the process is to share a Call to Action that links the
user to a real financial institution who has partnered with the Build3 platform.
Every learning opportunity should be followed by a call to simple action that
can serve to move the user toward a decision to open a digital financial
services account within a short period, or to explore other use cases of a
recently opened account. This Call to Action could take the shape of:
● contact information for a financial institution,
● a live person chat conversation
● a link to submit Know Your Customer information at an external

secure website
● an opportunity to share customer feedback on an experience the

user previously had with a financial institution, or
● a download of a mobile wallet application
Through geolocation services, users can be notified of nearby agents, bank

branches, ATMs and points of sale to facilitate the use of digital financial
services. As one might expect, the services designed with the least friction in
the sign-up process typically see the highest lead conversion rates.
Methodology: Customer Feedback
Because Build3 is a trusted neutral partner for consumers who begin using
digital financial services as a result of engaging with the platform, Build3 is
able to gather unique perspectives on User Sentiment and Customer
Experience. This information can be shared with financial institutions to
improve products and services, and solve customer complaints.
User Sentiment data is collected throughout the user interaction, and is

gathered using user preference questions, emoji-based attitude surveys, and
questions about user capabilities. This data provides unique insights into
consumer trends, and industry blind spots. Customer Feedback data is
gathered after Calls to Action have been engaged by the user. This data is
meant to:

● Analyze how the experience with the institution was perceived by
the customer,
● Identify inefficiencies in institutional processes,
● Uncover endemic industry level issues, and
● Establish an aggregate perspective of common customer fraud and

abuse trends.
User data is anonymized to protect consumer privacy, and can be made

available to partner financial institutions, regulators and law enforcement to
improve operations and establish customer response mechanisms.

Insights from the Pilot
Engagement
The chief challenge of any digital platform is to maintain engagement
throughout the customer interaction. For Build3, the user journey follows this
path in approximately two minutes:
● Animation
● Subscription Offering
● Training Module
● Concept Check (Quiz)
● Call to Action (Module Complete)
● Call to Action Click
● Customer Feedback.

Animation Views
The chart above shows a count of animation views. During the six-month
pilot, more than 127,000 unique individuals viewed a single animation.
Nearly 20,000 unique individuals watched two or more animations,
including more than 1,000 who watched four animations.
Subscription Messaging
If a user opts-in to Subscription Messaging, she is pulled back to the platform

over the course of several days through notifications and reminders.
Willingness to subscribe to receive messages over time is an indicator of
platform stickiness.
The chart above indicates that 90% of Build3 users opt in to receive
messages, and remain reachable.

Training Module through Customer Feedback
The User Journey is designed to quickly move users through training and to
the Action point of digital financial services. The above graphic shows a count
of total users who progress through each phase of the Build3 platform. More
than 93,000 users completed a training module, more than 35,000 users
have completed quizzes, more than 25,000 users have been served Calls
to Action to specific financial institutions, and 22,000 were referred to those
institutions.
The Build3 Platform has very little friction, and the full journey takes
approximately two minutes. Take note of the following rates of conversion for
each of the transitions:
● 62% of those who watch an animation finish the training module
● 16% of those who watch an animation are served a Call to Action
● 88% of those who are served a Call to Action indicate Commitment
A financial institution that is prepared to seamlessly receive these highly

engaged leads has a high likelihood of establishing the account opening.
Content Retention Check
The Quiz section is the least sticky section of the Build3 platform, but is an
important piece of creating Capable Leads for financial institutions. On
average, only 35 percent of individuals who complete the Training Module
will complete the Content Retention Check section, which consists of two
quiz questions. However, if a user can finish the quiz, they indicate that they
understand the important pieces of the message and are ready to begin a
relationship with the financial institution.

The graphic below demonstrates the likelihood of clicking a Call to Action and
signaling intention to begin using digital financial services. If a user completes
the two-question Check after viewing only one animation, they are 60% likely
to become a Lead. If future Animations and Training Modules are completed,
the Lead becomes more reliable, reaching a likelihood of 80% after two
modules, and 93% if three modules are viewed.
The results on Build3 Engagement demonstrate that the platform has very
little friction and effectively guides a user to the decision point of the Call to
Action. A financial institution with a digital portal closely aligned with the
expectations of these capable users has a high likelihood of converting them
to new customers.
Gender
Given the extent of the Digital Divide and Financial Divide between
genders, it is important to disaggregate user data by gender and consider its
implications. Though women in Myanmar are 29 percent less likely to own a
phone, 52 percent of users on the Build3 Platform are female.

The chart above demonstrates the difference between genders at each stage
of the User Journey by Unique User Count. More than 48,000 women have
completed training modules, and more than 11,000 women have identified as
Committed Leads for financial institutions. Slightly more women than men
complete each step of the journey.
The chart above demonstrates how many women complete each stage of the
User Journey, as a share of total individual users. The rate of 52 percent holds
steady throughout the journey, until a slight dip in share of generated leads.
Also notable is the reduction to 43 percent of users who share customer

feedback. This deserves further study, but this may be due to the fact that
fewer women actually own the devices they use, and Customer Feedback is

cued at a future point by notifications and reminders which may appear while
the woman does not have the phone.
The graphic above looks at the likelihood of lead generation in relation to quiz
completion. Leads are light colors and non-leads are darker. For women,
Leads have completed on average 3.49 quizzes. For men, Leads have
completed on average 3.35 quizzes. This confirms that women are slightly
more engaged than men.
As indicated in this paper, many studies have found that women on average
are less financially literate than men. The research indicates that women have
been left behind. However, the Build3 platform data presented below
indicates that women perform at least as well as men on the Concept
Retention Checks. When provided with an engaging platform, based in story,
women have easily grasped complex concepts that result in the closing of the
financial inclusion gap between men and women.

Know Your Customer
During the six-month pilot, ONOW ran a secondary pilot with Ayeyarwaddy
Farmers Bank users to determine if users are willing and able to use the
Build3 platform to submit Know Your Customer data. After clicking the Call
to Action, users were asked to share the initial information to facilitate the
efficient on-boarding of these new customers into the bank’s system. The
data showed that users had no difficulty submitting Know Your Customer
information during the shortened pilot period.
Important to note is the far higher number of women who submitted Know
Your Customer information. This issue should be further investigated, but it
may be that a digital platform is ideal for bringing more women into formal

financial systems because of the convenience digital platforms offer. A digital
tool would allow a woman to overcome issues with travel, and concerns about
entering bank branches.

Conclusion
Our experience in creating Build3 has confirmed much of the research about
effectively building financial capabilities. The global issue of financial inclusion
stretches beyond access to finance and account sign-ups. When sufficient
attention is not given to building financial capabilities, new accounts are often
abandoned as consumers fail to see the usefulness of formal financial
services, are confused by new digital issues, or become disillusioned with the
digital financial services experience.
When consumers have been engaged emotionally as part of the on-boarding

process, they become more psychologically open to new ways of managing
their finances in formal digital spaces. They develop an attitude of trust that
results in acceptance of the new experience. Even when the experience of
digital financial services is uncomfortable, the affinity which has been built
creates resiliency in the consumer to continue the journey.
When training on financial services takes the form of simple heuristics,

consumers digest the information in manageable units, and can more broadly
explore the relevant use cases of digital financial services. Short instructions
are easily internalized and applied, requiring little complex thought and

limited attention. The memorable instructions allow for safe experimentation
with minimal-risk, which leads to the most durable form of learning.
When training and emotional engagement are embedded into the user
journey, consumers become increasingly likely to embrace new financial
management behaviors. Education should be immediately followed by
multiple opportunities for onboarding and be designed for continued
engagement, allowing the new customer to experience continued success
with the new financial tool and related offerings. This bias toward action in
the design of the educational system, rather than a tendency to explain
abstract theoretical concepts, encourages the real-life integration of digital
financial services in the lives of new, timid customers. This is necessary for
continued confidence in and further adoption of products in the formal
financial system.
Key Learnings
Digitize Onboarding
In view of the bias toward action discussed above, it becomes essential to

streamline as much of the customer on-boarding experience as possible.
Users who complete the financial capabilities training modules will already
have a tendency toward action, having developed the necessary trust for
adoption and the rules of thumb guiding their next actions. Immediate
on-boarding through digital ecosystems, rather than physical bank branches,
phone calls or other physical agent entities, will increase the likelihood of
immediate adoption. The possibility of “KYC-lite” options and increasing
availability of mobile wallets with entry tiers is an encouraging development,
as it allows the new customer to experiment, explore and experience success
in the new system.
Engage Beyond Marketing
The issue of dormancy requires that financial service providers rethink the
marketing strategies of the past. New and powerful technology necessitates a
complete reworking of traditional approaches, allowing for a combination of
brand awareness building, client profiling, education and continued
engagement with converted customers. A technology-led marketing channel
can now be more engaging than traditional above-the-line marketing efforts,
less expensive than below-the-line marketing efforts, and seal the lead with
continuous messaging. As data science infuses the technology, and
approaches based in behavior science facilitate engaging interactions, the

goal of achieving full financial inclusion resulting in financial health becomes
attainable.
Close the Gender Gap
Different user segments have varied use case needs and financial tendencies.
This is especially true for gender. The ability to personalize every step of the
user journey is an especially important feature of new technologies that
should be leveraged to reduce the gender gap in financial service access.
Using segmentation algorithms to understand the profile of each user allows
the financial capabilities training to include messaging related to the most
likely use cases of different users, and creates the opportunity to personalize
based on financial habits, tendencies, and attitudes toward new tools. These
forms of analysis increase the likelihood of conversion for every user because
they allow for the design of a compelling message which reduces loss of the
lead, prevents leakage throughout the funnel, and eliminates irrelevant
messaging.
As stated above, because women are less likely to own a mobile phone, the
increasing emphasis on digital financial services will result in a widening gap in
female usage of formal financial services. Advertising, message design, and
targeting should especially be designed with a gender lens to increase the
numbers of converted leads for digital financial services, in order to correct
for the present unequal gender distribution of digital users. This is possible
through the creation of effective target user segmentation and personalized
user journeys. Technology and user data allow for this personalization
without the steep cost of face to face or personalized coaching.
Call to Action
User Segmentation to Increase Acquisition and Deter

Dormancy
Effective messaging requires insight into the unique lifestyles of individual

users. Moving forward, Build3 will leverage scoring algorithms and behavioral
analytics to create user profiles. These profiles will provide deep insights into
target user attitudes and tendencies concerning:
● Financial management habits

● Digital financial services use

● Openness to new technologies
● Tolerance for risk
● Visionary nature, and more.
Much existing research exists to use as a starting point for user profiling,
including country level data for Myanmar through The Human Account37, a
public information resource with financial health profiling data on six
countries, and The Missing Middles38, a report with global profiling data on
small and growing businesses. Beyond these available sets, and for countries
which do not have existing data sets, machine learning that uses unsupervised
clustering can begin to construct segmentation profiles on customer bases.
Better user segmentation will achieve three objectives. First, customer

acquisition rates and service quality are improved. In other words, by shaping
messages to each user through profiling insights, the efficiency of conversion
increases and the consumer can be more closely matched to the most
appropriate financial product or use case. Second, the user insights gained
through profiling in Build3 can help financial institutions better identify those
customers who are candidates for lending products, and model target
customer risk to the institution. This is especially needed in an environment in
which digital-only financing will become increasingly commonplace.
The final objective achieved by better user segmentation is further reduction

of account dormancy in digital financial services. Account dormancy is
primarily a function of institutional failure to convince customers of the
applicability of DFS in day-to-day life and perceived transaction costs. By
collecting quality user data, analyzing that data for user behavior trends, and
comparing to available financial diaries, the applicability of specific financial
products to the lives of consumers can be pinpointed. When the customer
journey is seen through a gender lens, age lens, geography or educational
lens, the day-to-day message timing, content and featured use cases of DFS
can also be delivered at a granular level.
The unique products, use cases and user acquisition funnels will require
industry partnerships with financial institutions, e-commerce providers,
37
The Dalberg Group. The Human Account. https://www.thehumanaccount.com/myanmar
38
The Dalberg Group. The Missing Middles: Segmenting Enterprises to Better Understand Their Financial
Needs.
https://www.dalberg.com/our-ideas/missing-middles-segmenting-enterprises-better-understand-their-fin
ancial-needs

non-profit institutions and more. The data and segmentation capacity
provided would inform the services of each of these stakeholders, improving
service quality in multiple industries, especially if stakeholders further
develop their capacity to receive consumers who can be onboarded digitally.
Build3 has already begun nurturing these partnerships for future
development.

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gles.pdf
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CAPABILITIES IN DIGITAL FINANCIAL SERVICES

Calming the Fears of Myanmar’s Unbanked

Researched and Authored by Matthew Wallace

Edited by Adam Hunt

Design by Johnny Knox

Analysis by Nathan Temeyer

© Copyright 2019. ONOW Myanmar Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Capabilities in Digital Financial Services 1

Uptake and Use by the Unbanked 5

Engaging Emotion and Rules of Thumb 13

Insights from the Pilot 25

Capabilities in Digital Financial Services 2

Build3 is ONOW’s digital platform to rectify these issues. In the recently

Capabilities in Digital Financial Services 3

Thanks to the amazing staff and management team at ONOW Myanmar.

Capabilities in Digital Financial Services 4

To leverage the historic spike in digital access to achieve full inclusion,

Capabilities in Digital Financial Services 5

Capabilities in Digital Financial Services 6

The Myanmar market has seen a well-coordinated, multi-stakeholder effort

Capabilities in Digital Financial Services 7

The shift to offering services in a digital world offers many opportunities to

“Digital literacy is...a person’s ability to locate, discuss and share

Chief among the areas that should be developed are an individual’s

Capabilities in Digital Financial Services 8

“59 percent of ‘unbanked’ adults say they do not have enough

Capabilities in Digital Financial Services 9

Capabilities in Digital Financial Services 10

Gender Gap in Digital Financial Services

In each of the areas described above–digital literacy, financial capabilities and

In the area of Digital Literacy, a 2017 study by IREX18, which analyzed

Capabilities in Digital Financial Services 11

Capabilities in Digital Financial Services 12

Capabilities in Digital Financial Services 13

As technology becomes ubiquitous and Myanmar’s people become more

“...use information and communication technologies to make

This accessibility is precisely what is necessary to foster a sense of reliability

ONOW Myanmar’s Build3 capabilities platform combines algorithm, user

Capabilities in Digital Financial Services 14

● Equip customers to open an account

● Combat account dormancy, and

● Facilitate Customer Sentiment Measurement

This process, based in an extensive body of research conducted in multiple

Capabilities in Digital Financial Services 15

Any introduction of new financial products, digital interfaces, or financial

To counter this actuality, research suggests convenient and entertaining

Financial capabilities training can also be designed to be more appealing. IPA

Capabilities in Digital Financial Services 16

● Needing a place to store money safely

● Inconvenience of everyday purchases

● Keeping private information secure

● Carrying cash safely for market purchases

● Sending money to a family member

● Keeping records of transactions overtime

Capabilities in Digital Financial Services 17

Methodology: Be Relevant and Quick

The most important feature of quality marketing is widely recognized to be

Methodology: Choose the Best Channel of Engagement

A corollary to demonstrating an understanding of the audience is meeting

Methodology: Measure Sentiment

Answer Option 2: No, it’s lost

Incorrect Answer response: ❌

Answer Option2: False, it is DANGEROUS