Mobile-based branchless banking has become a key mechanism for enabling financial inclusion in the developing world. A key component of all branchless banking systems is a mechanism to provide receipts to users after each transaction as evidence for successful transaction completion. In this paper, we present results from a field study that explores user perceptions of different receipt delivery mechanisms in the context of a branchless banking system in India. Our study shows that users have an affinity for paper receipts: despite the provision of an SMS receipt functionality by the system developers and their discouragement of the use of paper, users have pro-actively initiated a practice of issuing and accepting paper receipts. Several users are aware of the security limitations of paper receipts but continue to use them because of their usability benefits. We conclude with design recommendations for receipt delivery systems in branchless banking.

1. “The Paper Slip Should be There!”
Perceptions of Transaction Receipts in Branchless
Banking
Saurabh Panjwani*, Mohona Ghosh#, Ponnurangam
K#, Soumya Vardhan Singh#
*Bell Labs India
#IIIT
Delhi

2. Branchless Banking
• Extends banking services to low-income
communities without installing physical branches
Branchless Banking
Traditional Banking
Bank Branch
(urban)
Mom ‘n pop shop
(peri-urban, rural)
Teller
Customer
Agent
(shopkeeper)
Courtesy: CKS
Customer
• Current reach: > 100M users (> 40M in India alone)

3. Our Partner – Eko
Courtesy: eko
• Leading branchless banking company in India
–
Business correspondent to State Bank of India (largest
Indian bank) + 2 private banks
• Main service offering: money transfer (remittances)
–
–
Target audience: unbanked urban migrant workers
Transaction volume: $1 million per day

4. Money Transfers in Eko
Bank Server
SMS receipts
(sent to both users)
“Transfer amount X
to account Y”
Agent
An SMS receipt
Customer
• SMS receipts are key part of the system (proves to
customer that transaction has been recorded by Eko)

5. Our Study
• A qualitative study to understand user perceptions
of SMS receipts in branchless banking
• Two points of investigation
– Usability concerns: What factors affect usability of the
SMS receipt technology?
– Security perceptions: How do customers view SMS receipts
in relation to transaction security?

6. Method and User Sample
• We used a combination of semi-structured
interviews and participant observations
– 87 real transactions observed in the field
• Sample:
– 67 users (15 agents, 52 customers) from New Delhi, India
– Customers were largely migrant workers living in slums,
employed as laborers, cooks, drivers, micro-entrepreneurs
– Limited education (75% without college degree)
– Limited exposure to banking
• In sum, > 100 man-hours spent in the field

7. Key Findings
• Users viewed SMS receipts as important but worried
about SMS delays and drops
– 16% of observed transactions experienced > 5-min delay
– SMS delays are a problem across systems e.g., M-Pesa [MM10]
• Agents started issuing paper receipts in response
– “Even if the SMS is late, this serves as proof that you made the deposit”
– 70% of the agents we visited had adopted this practice

8. The Paper Receipt Phenomenon
• Paper receipts became an instrument of convenience
– New agent strategy: Give receipt for cash now, do the
transaction later
– This increases operational efficiency but introduces new
risks: What if the agent doesn’t complete transaction?
– Eko discourages the strategy but it continues to persist

9. The Paper Receipt Phenomenon
• Customers report in support of paper receipts
“The slip should be there! [If] the SMS does not come, it’d be of use”
– Other benefits: more tangible, more accessible. Some even
find them more storable: “My phone can store only 20 [SMS
receipts].”
• Paper receipts affect customer attention towards SMS
– In shops with paper receipts, only 38% customers make eyecontact with SMS (compared with 86% in the rest!)
• Still, most customers don’t want SMS to be eliminated
“I have more trust in SMS. Even if I get a paper receipt, it does
not mean that the money has reached.”

10. Conclusion
• Branchless banking users desire reliability and security
for receipts
– Paper gives better reliability but SMS more secure
• Key design recommendations
– Increase reliability of existing SMS receipt technology
• Ongoing work: pull-based SMS receipts [Panjwani13]
– Use a (careful) combination of SMS and paper

11. Thank you

12. References
[MM10] M-Money Channel Distribution Case - Kenya, 2010.
http://www.microfinancegateway.org
[Panjwani-13] Panjwani, S. Practical Receipt Authentication for
Branchless Banking. In ACM DEV 2013.

13. For any further information, please write to
pk@iiitd.ac.in
precog.iiitd.edu.in