An Assessment of the Effectiveness of Agency Banking Interventions in Deepening Financial Inclusion: A Case Study of Centenary Bank Uganda

Abstract

This study assesses the effectiveness of the agency banking interventions in deepening financial inclusion in Uganda. The study employed a descriptive research design and purposively collected data from 50 Bank customers and staff of Centenary Bank Ltd. in Kampala District. The data was collected using a self-administered research instrument with an overall Cronbach's reliability coefficient of 0.775 and was analysed using frequency analysis and the p-value approach. The study findings provided evidence that the following agency banking interventions: i) Providing information and ensuring that the excluded were informed about bank products and services, ii) Improving access to formal financial services for poor individuals by introducing delegated credit products to the existing savings groups with complimentary savings accounts. iii) Providing loans to savings groups later benefit individuals within the groups. iv) Encouraging the public to have personal contact with bank agents to obtain information about the banking system. v) Dispelling the myth that banks only exist for the rich had a statistically significant effect (p < 0.05) in deepening financial inclusion in Uganda. However, the agency banking intervention of using the electronic delivery of services to enhance service delivery to people with low incomes in rural areas did not significantly deepen financial inclusion in Uganda. The challenges agency banking faces in deepening financial inclusion in Uganda include unstable networks, liquidity problems, delayed or inadequate communication in case of failed transactions, cash shortages during periods of peak demand, the minimal role of bank agents, and fraud issues on the part of bank agents. It is recommended that the visibility of the agency banking outlets should be enhanced, banks should sensitize the public about agency banking, digital skills, and financial literacy, reduce the state public administration expenditure and channel the savings into infrastructural development in the rural electrification and connectivity improvements areas to enable enhanced delivery of electronic service systems in rural areas, banks in Uganda should closely work with the telecommunications companies for more reliable and stable networks that would guarantee improved delivery of agency banking services, the telecommunications companies should carry out more aggressive marketing campaigns to improve the telephone density in the country, people with adequate financial resources should be appointed as bank agents, comprehensive training in areas of business planning and management to the prospective bank agents before they are formally appointed, monitor the activities of the bank agents on a regular basis, and more due diligence should be exercised when appointing bank agents to avoid agents with questionable backgrounds.