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Impact of Motivational Workshop on Financial Inclusion of Rural People in Bangladesh: Evidence from Randomized Controlled Trial

Author

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  • Md Monzur Morshed

    (International Economic Development Program, Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima 739-8529, Japan)

  • Keshav Lall Maharjan

    (International Economic Development Program, Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima 739-8529, Japan)

Abstract

Despite the expansion of financial institutions and the proliferation of mobile financial services, reaching the unbanked and bringing them under formal financial services has become a policy concern in many developing countries. Due to the lack of financial accounts, unbanked people prefer informal, risky, and inconvenient mechanisms for receiving, sending, and transferring money. Previous studies rely much on common interventions like no account maintenance and opening fees, easy documentation processes, and money subsidies for opening financial accounts. This study aims to examine the impact of the motivational workshop on opening savings accounts through causality among the unbanked people in a setting where the respondents are unbanked despite having all the requirements and many institutional offers to open savings accounts. We encouraged the unbanked people through a one-hour-long motivational workshop to open savings accounts. Based on our cross-sectional data and randomized controlled trial experiment among the 505 unbanked rural people at Dhubil union under Sirajganj in Bangladesh, we have evidence that motivational workshop positively impacts opening accounts by 32.33 percent. However, the account opening rate differs in terms of respondent’s preference for financial institutions. Our study also finds that unbanked people have the highest preference for mobile financial services for opening accounts resulting in 15.33 percent. The result of this study has some policy implications for adopting effective strategies for universal financial access in many developing countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Md Monzur Morshed & Keshav Lall Maharjan, 2023. "Impact of Motivational Workshop on Financial Inclusion of Rural People in Bangladesh: Evidence from Randomized Controlled Trial," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-19, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijfss:v:11:y:2023:i:4:p:151-:d:1301056
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Asli Demirgüç-Kunt & Leora Klapper & Dorothe Singer & Saniya Ansar & Jake Hess, 2020. "The Global Findex Database 2017: Measuring Financial Inclusion and Opportunities to Expand Access to and Use of Financial Services," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 34(Supplemen), pages 2-8.
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    4. Trang M. T. Phung & Quoc N. Tran & Phuong Nguyen‐Hoang & Nhut H. Nguyen & Tho H. Nguyen, 2023. "The role of learning motivation on financial knowledge among Vietnamese college students," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(1), pages 529-563, January.
    5. Gitanjali Sen & Sankar De, 2018. "How Much Does Having a Bank Account Help the Poor?," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(9), pages 1551-1571, September.
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