Fighting Poverty Profitably Full Report

Distribution outlets
Consumers use four primary types of cash distribution outlets, which exist in varying combinations
in different countries – bank branches, remote ATMs, merchants, and agents.
Agents rarely exist in developed systems but are increasingly common in developing ones.
• Bank branches provide withdrawals to, and accept cash deposits from, consumers
and small businesses. Consumers interact either with a human teller or an automatic
teller machine (ATM). Some banks gives consumers the choice, while others only
have tellers or else require that people use ATMs (e.g., as in Belgium).
• Remote ATMs are located away from bank branches and allow consumers or small
business to withdraw cash. More advanced machines also accept deposits, but these
are less common in some developing countries 3 . Some remote ATMs are owned by
banks, while third parties own others. Restrictions around third party ownership vary
by country.
• Merchants can allow consumers to withdraw cash when making an in-person purchase.
In general, the transaction is processed using a card point-of-sale terminal,
which routes through a traditional card payment network or a proprietary payment
system that is set up with the system provider. In some countries this option is common
while elsewhere it does not exist or is rare.
• Agents are individuals designated by a payment system provider to distribute and
accept cash on its behalf, operating on a commission. Depending on the system,
agents either operate from a fixed location or are “roaming,” traversing a pre-determined
route and schedule. Generally agents are responsible for making sure that they
have sufficient cash, travelling to a bank or a “super agent” when they need to deposit
or withdraw cash to support their business. In other instances, the payment system
provider picks up and drops off cash at the agent. To authenticate and record transactions,
agents often use a mobile device. However, other devices are also possible (e.g.,
a point-of-sale machine where users swipe a card 4 .)
3 The most advanced ATMs also offer multiple non-CICO functions including transferring money between linked accounts
(e.g., savings and chequing accounts) paying bills, or initiating other transactions (e.g., credit transfers), buying pre-paid
minutes for mobile phones, loading credit onto stored value cards, cheque processing, as well as sales of items (e.g.,
stamps, movie or event tickets)
4 Procedures vary. In some cases (e.g., Kenya’s M-PESA) consumers enter a PIN on their mobile phone. In others (e.g.,
India’s Banking Correspondents) consumers identify themselves with a card and/or biometric information on an agent’s
mobile device.
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