Publication: Increasing Revenues for India Post through Expanding Channeling of Financial Services
Loading...
Published
2008-06
ISSN
Date
2013-03-25
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
This report analyzes possibilities for increasing revenues for India Post through expanding channeling of financial services. The Indian postal network is among the largest networks in the world in terms of area covered and population served, and constitutes an important mechanism of achieving transportation and communication. Within India Post, the Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) is one of the oldest and largest financial institutions (with largest deposit base) in the country. The key objective of POSB is to provide people living in rural, semi-urban, remote and inaccessible areas of the country with an easy and reliable means of making investments, making remittances and operating savings accounts. It is of strategic importance for POSB to increase market-based revenues so as to gain better control of its market orientation and revenue structure. In addition, though POSB still retains competitive advantages over commercial banks, it will not be long before the competition replicates these advantages. Hence, in order to better leverage the vast network of the post offices and huge customer base, India Post requires evaluating the introduction of a wide range of products and services in the financial services area. This will also lead to improvement of the earnings from savings related products vis-a-vis the total earnings. Banks (e.g. foreign, private banks) lack the network infrastructure to reach underserved segments in semi-urban and rural areas. There is a demand for expansion of financial service offerings by the post office. Some products and services which will help India Post increase its revenues have been identified. Some of these products and services have been introduced as localized initiatives by individual circles. However the experience of these local initiatives needs to be shared and, based on India Post's experience, rolled out to other locations.
Link to Data Set
Citation
โWorld Bank. 2008. Increasing Revenues for India Post through Expanding Channeling of Financial Services. ยฉ World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/12914 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.โ
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Worldwide Landscape of Postal Financial Services : Asia Region(Washington, DC, 2012)Postal networks in the nine countries in the Asian region profiled here have 289,067 post offices. In many of these Asian countries, post offices have provided payments and savings services for more than 130 years. At the end of 2002, 335 million Asians had postal savings accounts, for a total balance of USD 83 billion (about 20 percent of the adult population). In China and Vietnam, postal savings have only been recently established, but are growing quickly. In addition to payment services, it provides domestic money transfers, including collecting bill payments. In some countries, e.g. Thailand, the role of postal networks in the payments system is significant. In general, however, transaction volumes for savings and payments together appear low, suggesting that many of these accounts may be dormant and may play only a marginal role in the payment system. Vigorous reform is required to develop intrinsically strong and competent institutions. The issue is not limited to repositioning postal financial services in the financial sector (instead of the public postal sector), the issue is also repositioning the postal network as the front-end of the financial sector and the modern information services (instead of the back office for mail processing, collection, and distribution). A vigorous approach will therefore have to include assessment of options, such as participation of and/or alliances with privately managed financial institutions, cross-border co-operation, private postal agents, and a process and approach not necessarily dependent on the pace and course of postal reform.Publication The Role of Postal Networks in Expanding Access to Financial Services : Kazakhstan's Postal Finance Services(Washington, DC, 2004-01-01)This paper discusses the role of the postal network in expanding access to financial services in Kazakhstan. It reviews the public postal operator within the postal sector and within the broader context of the communications sector. The roles of the postal network and state and privately-owned banks are also reviewed from the perspective of the financial sector development, with particular focus on payments systems development and microfinance. While this country case on Kazakhstan can stand alone, it is an integral part of this large study of the potential of postal networks to coordinate with financial service providers in 7 countries (Egypt, Kazakhstan, Namibia, Romania, Sri Lanka, Uganda, and Vietnam) and 5 regions (Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East and Northern Africa). Within Central Asia and the other countries of the former Soviet Union, Kazakhstan's postal network is widely regarded as a leader and pioneer in postal innovation, setting an example for other postal operators in the region. An in-depth assessment of Kazakhstan's postal network development options could also be a model to guide other postal networks.Publication Egyptian National Postal Organization : Postal Financial Services and Access to Finance(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2007-08)ENPO is an organization employing 48,000 staff and operating a network of more than 9,000 access points (of which 3,500 post offices, 6,500 agencies, of which 1,500 are currently active). A commercial entity with management autonomy, ENPO is primarily a provider of basic financial services. Other services are mail (regular and express), parcels and Government services. Postal financial services, with three main business lines (savings, payments and giro services) and 15 million savings accounts, generate around 50% to 60% of ENPO s total revenue, and occupy an estimated 15% of ENPO s staff. Although available accounting and financial information are limited, it seems that postal financial services are operated at a profit. For ENPO which is currently in a transition phase from an administration-type of organization, moving towards a corporate-type of organization, the strategic option will play as an accelerator of change (in case the Government decides for a drastic move towards bancarization) or as a consolidator of incremental reform (in case the Government opts for a progressive approach, potentially using alternative approach to grab the business opportunities of growth, but likely avoiding social tensions within the organization). In any case, moving forward the postal financial services agenda will call for (i) a review of the legal, regulatory and institutional set-up, (ii) building capacity in the network and assessing the return on investments, (iii) rapidly identifying the postal financial services as a business unit within the organization and assess its contribution to profit, as well as (iv) getting a better understanding of the cost structure so as to enable ENPO to be in a strong position during negotiations of service level agreement.Publication Vietnam - The Role of Postal Networks in Expanding Access to Financial Services Country case : Vietnam's postal finance services(Washington, DC, 2004-01-01)This paper discusses the role of the postal network in expanding access to financial services in Vietnam. It reviews the public postal operator within the postal sector and within the broader context of the communications sector. The roles of the Vietnam postal network and post bank are also reviewed from the perspective of the financial sector development, with particular focus on payments systems development and micro finance. While this country case on Vietnam can stand alone, it is an integral part of this large study of the potential of postal networks to coordinate with financial service providers in 7 countries (Egypt, Kazakhstan, Namibia, Romania, Sri Lanka, Uganda, and Vietnam) and 5 regions (Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East and Northern Africa). Five years after its introduction, the Vietnamese Postal Savings Corporation (VPSC) can look back on an impressive record of successes. With its 920 post offices (of 3,000), VPSC operates the second-largest financial service network in the country. It developed as a channel for mobilizing small household deposits, nearly 400,000 individuals keep accounts with the VPSC, and it has mobilized about 1 percent of the nation's savings. It has also pioneered modern cashless payment services, and provides payroll and card-based services. The next step in its development is the integration of the postal payment services into its operations. However, after an initially fast growth track, VPSC currently faces increasing stagnation in its growth, mainly due to government limitations on its institutional and regulatory framework. Changes are required to enable sustainable growth of VPSC and including the post offices in its provision of low-threshold access to basic financial services.Publication Banking the Poor : Measuring Banking Access in 54 Economies(Washington, DC, 2009)Banking the Poor presents new data collected from two sources: central banks, and leading commercial banks in each surveyed country. It explores associations between countries' banking policies and practices, and their levels of financial access measured in terms of the numbers of bank accounts per thousand adults. It builds on the previous work of measuring financial access through information obtained from regulators, banks, and household surveys. It explores associations between countries' banking policies and practices, and their levels of financial access, measured in terms of the numbers of bank accounts per thousand adults. The extent to which people are banked depends primarily on how wealthy they are. Even in the poorest countries, rich urban customers get access to good banking. Although there are a range of financial services used by the poorest, these are usually provided outside the formal banking system. Banks are used by those above this threshold, usually by salaried employees who have the steady income. Naturally banks are more likely to seek out users with a steady, predicatable income. Expanding credit for enterprises leads to the creation of a salaried class that wants to bank: this is the primary way to increase bank access. While bank clients make up the largest part of those using financial services in most countries, incorporating other formal financial institutions would yield a more comprehensive picture of the population that enjoys access to modern financial services.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication World Bank Annual Report 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-25)This annual report, which covers the period from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, has been prepared by the Executive Directors of both the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA)โcollectively known as the World Bankโin accordance with the respective bylaws of the two institutions. Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank Group and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors, has submitted this report, together with the accompanying administrative budgets and audited financial statements, to the Board of Governors.Publication Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21)This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure studentsโ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.Publication Digital Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13)All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. "Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs" shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing, digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, it can support not only countriesโ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africaโs uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africaโs population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomesโin addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet servicesโand in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earningsโdampen peopleโs willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africaโs countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumersโ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforceโone projected to become the worldโs largest by the end of this century.Publication Argentina Country Climate and Development Report(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-11)The Argentina Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) explores opportunities and identifies trade-offs for aligning Argentinaโs growth and poverty reduction policies with its commitments on, and its ability to withstand, climate change. It assesses how the country can: reduce its vulnerability to climate shocks through targeted public and private investments and adequation of social protection. The report also shows how Argentina can seize the benefits of a global decarbonization path to sustain a more robust economic growth through further development of Argentinaโs potential for renewable energy, energy efficiency actions, the lithium value chain, as well as climate-smart agriculture (and land use) options. Given Argentinaโs context, this CCDR focuses on win-win policies and investments, which have large co-benefits or can contribute to raising the countryโs growth while helping to adapt the economy, also considering how human capital actions can accompany a just transition.Publication Digital-in-Health(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-08-18)Technology and data are integral to daily life. As health systems face increasing demands to deliver new, more, better, and seamless services affordable to all people, data and technology are essential. With the potential and perils of innovations like artificial intelligence the future of health care is expected to be technology-embedded and data-linked. This shift involves expanding the focus from digitization of health data to integrating digital and health as one: Digital-in-Health. The World Bankโs report, Digital-in-Health: Unlocking the Value for Everyone, calls for a new digital-in-health approach where digital technology and data are infused into every aspect of health systems management and health service delivery for better health outcomes. The report proposes ten recommendations across three priority areas for governments to invest in: prioritize, connect and scale.