Case studies

Inclusive banking case studies

• Hello Money

  Hello Money, launched in India, Kenya and Botswana, allows customers to carry out secure transactions via mobile phone.

  Customers can check their balances, transfer money and pay bills via a user-friendly PIN code-protected menu.

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  • Hello Money

• Absa's CashSend service

  Launched in 2008, CashSend allows people to access funds via ATMs, even if they don't have a bank account.

  Instead, when Absa customers transfer money, recipients receive a personal code, sent to their mobile phone. They can then enter this code at an ATM to access the transferred funds.

• Absa's growth

  The majority of the 92 new Absa branches which opened in South Africa in 2008 were in disadvantaged areas.

  Of these, two included small business advisory centres, and 14 included Micro Enterprise Service Centres.

• Supporting small businesses in the UK

  We provide extensive banking facilities for small business customers in the UK.

  We also work closely with the community finance sector, which supports businesses that mainstream banks are not able to serve directly.

  Barclays also runs a programme of free seminars for small businesses and in 2008, 913 ‘Let’s Talk Start Up in Business’ events took place, attracting more than 8,000 delegates. Since September 2008, all UK businesses – regardless of whether they are Barclays customers – can now have basic access to Barclays innovative Credit Focus product, enabling business owners to check the credit rating of suppliers or customers.

• Absa Small Business Enterprise Development Centres

  Absa Small Business runs 12 Enterprise Development Centres across South Africa, offering non-financial business support to entrepreneurs.

  This includes advice on issues from compiling convincing business plans to understanding basic technology.

• Absa Micro Enterprise Finance (AMEF) in South Africa

  Absa has established 20 Micro Enterprise Service Centres across South Africa, serving more than 7,000 clients and employing 215 colleagues.

  AMEF provides loans to small businesses with a minimum annual turnover of R15,000, approximately £1,000. More than 80 per cent of the clients are unbanked, so Absa also opens savings accounts for its business customers too.

  Other AMEF services include the Group Lending Account, which allows people to pool their savings together, and a Weekly Hawker Loan was launched on a trial basis in 2008, offered at points where informal dealers purchase goods, such as fresh produce markets, wholesalers and flower markets. All these loans are unsecured.

• Kutumb Account in India

  The 'no-frills' Kutumb (meaning family) Account, launched in India in 2008, allows up to five members of the same family to draw on a common balance while maintaining separate accounts

  A domestic employee referred by the family can also open a savings account with no minimum balance. Many domestic staff in India traditionally keep their savings with their employer.

• Absa's Club Account

  Many people in South Africa choose save their money together.

  The Absa Club Account allowing several account-holders to pool their savings in one place.

• Entry-level accounts in emerging markets

  Barclays offers simple bank accounts dedicated to low-income people in developing countries around the world, including Zimbabwe, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Ghana, Kenya and India. Accounts in these countries reach more than 300,000 customers.

• UK Cash Card Account

  In the UK our work on improving access to financial services is focused on developing the Cash Card Account, our basic bank account for entry-level customers.

  Suitable for anyone not wanting access to credit, it is ideal for people on low income or state benefits.

• Absa's Mzani and Sekulula Accounts

  Absa, majority owned by Barclays, is South Africa's market leader in entry-level banking, with a 33 per cent market share.

  Its key products for previously unbanked people are Mzansi, a basic current account, and Sekulula, a transactional product for recipients of social grants.
  

• Low income savings accounts in Africa

  We have launched a host of savings accounts in African countries, offering people an opportunity to save their money in a secure place.

  In Ghana, the Aba Pa Savings Account can be opened with 40,000 cedis, equivalent to approximately £2. In Uganda, the Sanyuka Savings Account operates on a similar principle and in Zambia, customers can open a Tonse Savings Account with an initial balance equivalent to approximately £5.