In a recent poll conducted by Financial Insight Zambia, 75 percent of Zambian professionals who took part in it indicated that Village banking offered better returns compared to most products offered by financial institutions.
The survey which was conducted on fizambia.com’s LinkedIn platform that has over 10,000 professionals shows a growing trend by most professionals to seek out higher returns from Village banking solutions which have minimal transaction costs when compared to financial institution’s savings and investment products.
With some village banks boasting interest rates that until recently were below the monetary policy rate and far above what most financial institutions offer on a month by month in interest on a cumulative basis, the village banking solution has continued to increase its allure for professionals who use it for a plethora of options that include construction, investment in small businesses, savings for holidays, among other desires.
Many financial institutions have followed the potential pot of gold that village banking has to offer with some of them offering bespoke village banking solutions. However, for start up village banks, control is one of the key determinants of whether they will seek out financial institution solutions to host their ‘virtual banks’. This is because many fear of unwarranted charges that motivated them to start up the village banks in the first place.
However, as annual cycles continue to grow with subsequent rounds of investment seeing more people seeking out village banking solutions, the need for prudential services begins to arise. Herein is where the opportunity lies for financial institutions to carve out solutions that are not only bespoke but also capture of the essence of why the village bank was set up in the first place. Preserving the original value preposition is key for participants of village banking to accept the offerings being developed by financial institutions.
