Call for Microfinance Institutions to Test the New Research Tools for Evaluation of Clients’ Digital Readiness

Have you been asking:

  • How you can reach more clients online?
  • How you can increase sales through online channels?
  • What additional business services you can offer clients online?
  • How you can improve your internal efficiency?

If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these, a partnership with the MFC will offers you the tools you need to find the answer!

MFIs assume that clients demand a digitalized experience, but few MFIs verify whether this is really the case. Ask your clients the right questions about their digital practices to inform your digital product and service design.

Under the Microfinance Client Digital Financial Service Readiness project MFC has developed qualitative and quantitative research tools to help microfinance institutions understand clients’ readiness for digital services. You can use these to conduct one-off or regular research with existing and potential clients in order to react to the evolving digital habits of your target market.

Help us field test these new tools! In doing so, you will gain access to:

  • Ready-to-use research tools
  • Staff training on those tools
  • Research results on your clients’ digital readiness.

With your help, we’ll use this project to refine and adapt our research guide, which will be disseminated among MFC members following the project.

Here are the specific details on what we will offer, and what we require from our partners:

MFC will offer: Partner MFIs will offer:
  • A review of existing practices in researching clients on their digital readiness
  • Research tools adapted to the microfinance context
  • Training for staff on how to conduct qualitative and/or quantitative research
  • Assistance in conducting the research
  • Data analysis with final report (in English)
  • No costs for partners
  • Willingness to conduct a small-scale survey among clients, and/or
  • Willingness to organize at least two groups of 8 clients each to conduct the research, including:
  • Meeting room for 8 clients for 2 hours, water and snacks
  • Client recruitment
  •  1—2 staff willing to build their capacity in conducting research
  • Translation of collected data

 

What does the cooperation process look like?

Step 1: MFC and partner MFIs collaborate online to adapt and translate the research guide to the MFI’s clients’ context

Step 2: MFC visits partner MFIs to train staff in conducting the research and assist in research delivery (remote or on-site support)

Step 3: Partner MFIs translate the collected information from the local language into English

Step 4: MFC analysis the data and provides MFIs with their final report in English.

Timeframe: July–October 2019

Are you interested? Want to learn more? Join us for a webinar on 9 July 2019 at 11.00 CET. Register in advance for this meeting or contact Justyna@projekt.mfc.org.pl.

*Due to restricted funding, on-site MFC support only is possible in: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, United Kingdom and Albania, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey, Republic of North Macedonia, Norway. Off-site support is not limited to any geographical location within the ECA region.

This initiative has received financial support from the European Union Programme for Employment and Social Innovation “EaSI” (2014-2020). For further information please consult: http://ec.europa.eu/social/easi