Mobile Money Operational Assessment

Introduction

The first version of GSMA Mobile Money Operational Assessment is a toolkit designed for mobile money service providers to assess
their operation and identify operational barriers that might inhibit growth of their service. The Toolkit is an MS Excel spreadsheet,
where operators (1) fill in transaction data, and (2) complete three questionnaires about their operation. The toolkit aims to assess the
operation against global best practices, including:

(1)    Quantitative Assessment (Input data)

(2)    Qualitative Assessment (Questionnaires)
a.       Distribution assessment
b.      Organisational and operational structure assessment
c.       Marketing assessment
(3)    Operational dashboard

The current structure and scope of this assessment is based on foundational best practice captured through insights from working
with growing and scaled mobile money deployments.  The questionnaire will aim to compare your current practices against an agent-
based closed-loop mobile money service similar to the East African model.

This Assessment aims to be as generic as possible and applicable in multiple markets. It assumes that the regulatory environment in
a market is enabling and that the operator is well-versed on their competitive environment. What is currently not in scope are deeper
assessments around interoperability, ecosystem, companion cards, and apps, etc.

The estimated time to complete this assessment is approximately one day.

Input data: Quantitative assessment

The quantitative assessment provides a high level overview of how your mobile money service is performing based on quantitative
metrics like customers and agent activity rates.

In the “Input data” worksheet, put in the number of customers, products, transactions, distribution figures. This assessment provides a
snapshot on how you are performing against global parameters. When this worksheet is complete, the “Operational dashboard” will
show:
·         How the capacity of the agent network compared to global averages
·         How many of your customers are active customers
·         Product mix
·         Active customer growth rates on 30- and 90 day activity rates compared to global and regional growth rates.
·         Results of operational health assessment

To get a more comprehensive benchmark report for your operation, fill in the GSMA MMU Global Adoption Survey we send out every July. For more information please email mmu@gsma.com .

Questionnaires: Qualitative assessment

The operational health assessment covers distribution, organisational and operational structure, and marketing strategy (Worksheets:
“Distribution”, “Org structure” and “Marketing”). The questionnaires require involvement and input from the mobile money team,
especially those who are heavily involved in these different departments.

The questionnaires are designed to be binary, so either the question applies to your operation or it does not. After completing the
assessment, your a score will appear on the right hand side of the questionnaire, weighed after importance of question. Depending on
your answers, your results will either indicate that no further action is required, or a set of recommendations will be provided, which
aims to explain why you should look to address the issue. The recommendations will be displayed once you have completed the
questionnaire – and will be tallied into the "Operational Dashboard".

Terminology varies from provider to provider; for instance a provider may refer to agents as retailers, third party network, merchant,
etc. To eliminate confusion and ensure consistency the “Glossary” tab aims to clarify terminology. If in doubt if a word means the
same in your operation, you can easily check with the glossary.

Below each of the questionnaires there are resources to if you want to learn more about the topic addressed in the questionnaires.

Distribution questionnaire
Who should participate: Head of Distribution, Head of sales
This questionnaire assesses: how the distribution network is set up; how agents are selected, trained and monitored; how liquidity is
managed; and if agent incentives are sufficient to drive mobile money.

Organisational and operational structure questionnaire

Who should participate: Mobile Money Manager, Finance, Risk, Head of Operations

This questionnaire assesses how the mobile money business unit is positioned to grow. The section includes operations,
organisational structure, and call centre. Fraud and risk is covered within the separate GSMA Mobile Money Risk Toolkit. The GSMA
Code of Conduct for Mobile Money Providers covers the technical assessment of a mobile money operations.

Marketing questionnaire
Who should participate: Marketing Manager
This questionnaire assesses if the foundations of creating a well-functioning marketing strategy are in place.

Operational dashboard
The operational dashboard will give the results of the questionnaires and data, and resources to address potential barriers in the
operation.

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Glossary

Agent:

Agent outlet:

Aggregator

Anti-money laundering/combating the

financing of terrorism (AML/CFT):

Back office:

Cash-in:

Cash-out:

E-money:

Float:

Know Your Customer (KYC):

 Liquidity:

Masteragent:

Mobile money:
Mobile money account / mobile wallet:

Mobile money transfer:

Mobile network operator (MNO):
Mobile payment:

Monitoring, training, and quality control:

Off-net transfer:

Over the counter (OTC ) services:

Person-to-person (P2P) transfer:

Platform:
Point of Sale (POS):
Regulator:

Sales team:

Superagent:

Unregistered users:
A person or business contracted to process transactions for users. The most important of these are cash in and cash out (i.e.
loading value into the mobile money system, and then converting it back out again); in many instances, agents register new
customers too. Agents usually earn commissions for performing these services. They also often provide front-line customer s
—such as teaching new users how to complete transactions on their phone. Typically, agents will conduct other kinds of busi
in addition to mobile money. Agents will sometimes be limited by regulation, but small-scale traders, microfinance institutions,
stores, and bank branches serve as agents in some markets. Some industry participants prefer the terms “merchant” or “retai
avoid certain legal connotations of the term “agent” as it is used in other industries.

In the case of mobile money, an agent outlet is a location where one or several mobile money agents are contracted to facilita
transactions for users. An active agent outlet is an agent outlet that facilitated at least one transaction within the past 30 days

A person or business responsible for recruiting new agents. Often, this role is combined with that of a master-agent, and the t
terms are sometimes used interchangeably.
A set of rules, typically issued by central banks, that attempt to prevent and detect the use of financial services for money
laundering or to finance terrorism. The global standard-setter for AML/CFT rules is in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)

This team is responsible for the administrative support of the agent network, including commission payments, financial
reconciliations, and validation of customer and agent KYC. They will also respond to live support queries from mobile money
agents and master agents.
The process by which a customer credits his account with cash. This is usually via an agent who takes the cash and credits th
customer’s mobile money account.
The process by which a customer deducts cash from his mobile money account. This is usually via an agent who gives the
customer cash in exchange for a transfer from the customer’s mobile money account.
Short for “electronic money,” is stored value held in the accounts of users, agents, and the provider of the mobile money serv
Typically, the total value of e-money is mirrored in bank account(s), so that even if the provider of the mobile money service w
fail, users could recover 100% of the value stored in their accounts. That said, bank deposits can earn interest, while e-mone
cannot.

The balance of e-money, or physical cash, or money in a bank account that an agent can immediately access to meet custom
demands to purchase (cash in) or sell (cash out) electronic money.
Rules related to AML/CFT which mean providers must carry out procedures to identify a customer.
The ability of an agent to meet customers’ demands to purchase (cash in) or sell (cash out) e-money. The key metric used to
measure the liquidity of an agent is the sum of their e-money and cash balances (also known as their float balance).

A person or business that purchases e-money from an MNO wholesale and then resells it to agents, who in turn sell it to user
Unlike a super-agent, master-agents are responsible for managing the cash and electronic-value liquidity requirements of a
particular group of agents.
A service in which the mobile phone is used to access financial services.
An e-money account that is primarily accessed using a mobile phone that is held with the e-money  issuer. In some jurisdictio
money accounts may resemble conventional bank accounts, but are treated differently under the regulatory framework becau
they are used for different purposes (for example, as a surrogate for cash or a stored value that is used to facilitate transactio
services). An active mobile money account is a mobile money account that has been used to conduct at least  one transaction
during a certain period of time (usually 90 days or 30 days).

A transaction made from a mobile wallet, accrues to a mobile wallet, and/or is initiated using a mobile phone.
A company that has a government-issued license to provide telecommunications services through  mobile devices.
A transaction made from a mobile wallet, accrues to a mobile wallet, and/or is initiated using a mobile phone. Sometimes, the
mobile payment is used to describe only transfers to pay for goods or services, either at the point of sale (retail) or remotely (b
payments)
These field-based roles cover more routine activities in the agent network and can be handled by more junior staff or outsour
external vendors. Responsibilities include distribution of business tools (e.g. registration booklets, signage), initial training,
retraining for new services and handlers, and agent quality checks.
There are two types of off-network transfers: transfers that are initiated by registered mobile money users to unregistered use
and transfers between two accounts of  different but interconnected mobile money schemes. In the former case, the e-money
 need to be cashed-out at an agent of the sender’s agent network.
Some mobile money services are being offered primarily over-the-counter (OTC). In such cases, a  mobile money agent perfo
the transactions on behalf of the customer, who does not need to have a mobile money account to use the service.

A transfer made from one person to another person.

The hardware and software that enables the provision of a mobile money service.
A retail location where payments are made for goods or services.
In the context of mobile money, this typically refers to the regulator who has supervisory authority over financial institutions w
particular country—usually the central bank or other financial authority.
These are the individuals responsible for recruiting and driving activity within the channel. Sales staff are often assigned indiv
regions and held responsible for the overall performance of mobile money within that region. This is a feet-on-the-street posit
with the majority of time spent in the field pushing agents to improve performance.
A business, sometimes a bank, which purchases electronic money from an MNO wholesale and then resells it to agents, who
turn sell it to users.
Customers who use mobile financial services primarily over-the-counter. Unregistered users include  both people transacting
the counter in the case of OTC services, and unregistered recipients of off-net P2P transfers in the case of wallet-base servic
Input data
Deployment

Months since launch

Country population

Number of GSM customers

Customers

Number of mobile money registered customer accounts

Number of mobile money active customer accounts - 90 days
Number of mobile money active customer accounts - 30 days

Number of unregistered customers who have been transacting over the counter (OTC) during the month

Domestic P2P transfers

Number of on-net, off-net, and bank account to account P2P transfers excluding OTC transactions
Number of OTC P2P transactions
Number of international remittances sent or received into a customer account
Number of Bill payments including OTC transactions
Number of Merchant payments
Number of Bulk payments including OTC transactions
Number of Airtime top-ups EXCLUDING OTC transactions
Number of Cash-ins at an agent or ATM
Number of Cash-outs at an agent or ATM

DISTRIBUTION NETWORK

Number of Registered agent outlets (not including bank branches)

Number of Active agent outlets (not including bank branches)
Number of bank branches / post offices that can be used to cash-in and/or cash-out
Number of ATMs that can be used to cash-in and/or cash-out

Number of sales people

Number of masteragents/aggregators/distributors
Number of superagents
Sep-13 Dec-13 Mar-14 Jun-14 Sep-14
500 300

Sep-13 Dec-13 Mar-14 Jun-14 Sep-14

10 50 75 100 150
5 10 50 50 100
100

|
Dec-14
500

Dec-14
200
150
100

300

Dec-14

100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100

Dec-14
100
50
Dec-14
100
100
Dec-14
100
100
100
 Distribution Assessment
The distribution network is the most important part of a mobile money service, and traditionally has been the most difficult part to get right. Mobile money is not as easy as selling airtime, and an operation will
need to be configured in a way that addresses the added challenges. The Distribution Assessment covers distribution network management, agent selection, training and monitoring, in addition to liquidity
management and agent incentives.

To fill out this part of the Diagnostic Toolkit, information about agent performance and structure is needed. It may be useful to visit different agents and talk to them about their experience as a mobile money
agent. The objective is to understand what they think is challenging and attractive about being an agent. However, the most important aspect to understand is how agents are treating customers and if they are
explaining the service adequately, thus creating trust in mobile money.

After completing the questionnaire the recommendations and scores will appear, and feed into the Operational health dashboard.

No action required
Agent network
Answer Specific recommendation Score

1 Do you have a dedicated mobile money sales team 0

employed to visit agents to communicate new products,
campaigns and communicate information from your
operation?

### No action required 4

2 Are sales and monitoring activities performed by two 0
separate teams?

### No action required 1

3 Are there between 50 and 150 agents per salesperson? 0
### No action required
4 Do you use a tiered distribution model to manage your 0
agent network? For instance, do you rely on masteragents,
aggregators or distributors as part of your distribution
strategy?
### No action required
5 Do masteragents manage more than 200 agents? 0

### No action required

6 Is the agent distribution network aligned with where the 0
target customer segment lives and works?

### No action required

7 Is the agent-to-customer ratio above 300 customers per 0
agent? (see operational health dashboard)

### No action required

Score out of 13 possible: 0
Agent selection

1 When recruiting agents, do you have documented 0

identification and selection criteria?
### No action required
2 Are the majority of agents selected from outside the GSM 0
network (i.e. they are not airtime retailers)?

### No action required

Score out of 6 possible: 0
Agent training
1 Do you have an agent training program with a documented 0
curriculum?

### No action required

2 Do you have dedicated resources that are not part of the 0
sales and distribution team to conduct agent training?

### No action required

3 Does your agent training program conclude with an exam 0
or test before agents are approved to operate?

### No action required

4 Does the agent training program occur in a centralised hub 0
or main office?

### No action required

5 Does the agent training take at least half a day to complete? 0
### No action required
6 Is there a structure in place for re-training agents? 0

### No action required

Score out of 15 possible: 0
Agent monitoring
1 Are there documented processes with clear objectives to 0
monitor agents?

### No action required

2 Does agent have clearly communicated performance targets? 0
### No action required
3 Are agents regularly monitored onsite? 0

### No action required

4 Are agents regularly monitored online? 0

### No action required

5 Do agent visits happen at least every other week? 0
### No action required
6 Do agents get feedback on how they are performing 0
against their targets, and how they are performing against
their peers?
### No action required
7 Are agents being rewarded for reaching their performance 0
targets?
### No action required
Score out of 10 possible: 0
Agent liquidity
1 Are agents required to keep a minimum level of float? 0

### No action required

2 Are there specific float requirements depending on whether 0
agents are in rural or urban areas, or other differentiating
factors?
### No action required
3 Are agent float levels monitored on a daily basis? 0
### No action required
4 Are consequences in place for agents that do not maintain 0
sufficient float?

### No action required

5 Do agents have several options for rebalancing liquidity, 0
such as superagents or a bank?
### No action required
Score out of 11 possible: 0

Agent incentives
1 Does agent commissions exceed 50% of your mobile 0
money revenue?

### No action required

2 Are agents incentivised to activate customers (by not 0
receiving the full registration commission until the customer
transacts)?
### No action required
3 Do agents receive a commission for cash-in? 0

### No action required

4 Do agents receive a commission for cash-out? 0
### No action required
5 Are agent commissions paid out periodically? 0

### No action required

### Score out of 8 possible: 0

Sources and resources:

GSMA Publication: Building, Incentivising and Managing a Network of Mobile Money Agents:A Handbook for Mobile Network Operators
GSMA Publication: Mobile Money for the Unbanked 101 A guide to Commercial Best Practice
GSMA publication: Mobile money profitability: A digital ecosystem to drive healthy margins
Bridges to Cash: The retail end of M-PESA
GSMA: Designing & Delivering Agent Training for Mobile Money Deployments

Three keys to M-PESA’s success: Branding, channel management and pricing:

GSMA VIDEO: What should operators look for in a prospective agent?
GSMA Webinar on Mobile Money Pricing and Commissions
GSMA Blogpost: Accessibility of mobile money: How is the mobile money industry helping to increase access to financial services?
GSMA Publication: Managing a Mobile Money Agent Network
 Organisational and operational structure

Best practices in organisational and operational structure are the result of trial and error. Seasoned mobile money operators have identified the importance of establishing separate business units
for mobile money, creating separate sales and distribution teams to drive the mobile money business, and properly aligning the other MNO functions to create an environment in which mobile
money can flourish.

To complete the questionnaire having people that works closely with operation and organisation will add value to the discussion, and ease the process of filling in the questionnaire. After
completing the questionnaire the recommendations and scores will appear and feed into the Operational health dashboard.

No action required

Organisational structure Specific recommendation Score

1 Is the mobile money unit an independent business unit separated 0

from the GSM business?

### No action required

2 Is there a dedicated mobile money sales and distribution structure? 0

### No action required

3 Does the mobile money manager report directly to the CEO or 0
CFO?

### No action required

4 Does the C-suite have KPIs tied to mobile money performance? 0

### No action required

5 Do all members of the mobile money team have individual KPIs 0
that include an objective, a deliverable, and measurement criteria?

### No action required

6 Are there dedicated resources in the mobile money team to 0
address fraud and risk?

### No action required

7 Does Finance have at least a 2-3 year investment commitment for 0
mobile money?

### No action required

8 Does the mobile money operation control their own budget? 0
### No action required

Score out of 19 possible: 0

Operation
1 Is the back office sufficiently staffed to accurately validate and 0
activate agent and customer accounts within a few hours?

### No action required

2 For both a technical assessment and a fraud and risk assessment: 0
Have you committed to the GSMA Code of Conduct for Mobile
Money Providers?

### No action required

Score out of 5 possible: 0

Call centre
1 Are agents supported with a dedicated helpline? 0

### No action required

2 Does the customer call centre have its own set of guidelines that 0
are documented and shared with all members of the mobile money
management team and call centre staff?

### No action required

3 Do call centre staff receive training before serving mobile money 0
customers in the call centre?

### No action required

4 Does the call centre training program have an evaluation (i.e. exam 0
or test) before the call centre member can start serving customers?

### No action required

5 Does the call centre employ a CRM system to track calls and 0
resolutions, forecast future capacity needs?
### No action required
### Score out of 8 possible: 0

Sources and resources:

GSMA Publication: Organisational Design to Succeed in Mobile Money Author: Philip Levin
GSMA Publication: Platforms for Successful Mobile Money Services
GSMA Code of Conduct for Mobile Money Providers
IFC: Designing and Building a Call Centre for Mobile Money Financial Services
IFC: Measuring Call Centre Performance
GSMA: Managing risk in mobile money: a new comprehensive risk toolkit
GSMA Presentation: KPIs in Mobile Money: A Reference Guide
GSMA: Managing the Risk of Fraud in Mobile Money
 Marketing

To drive usage, service providers must guide customers on a journey from their first encounter with mobile money to habitual use of the service. Critical to this journey is marketing. Marketing is very
market specific, and some tactics which work wonders in some markets can be useless in others. The objective of this section is therefore not to assess if your current marketing efforts are right for your
market, but rather if the foundations of creating a well functioning marketing strategy are in place. This section assumes the mobile money operator has a deep understanding of what customers think of
the mobile money service.

To complete the questionnaire having people that works closely with marketing will add value to the discussion, and ease the process of filling in the questionnaire. After completing the questionnaire
the recommendations and scores will appear and feed into the Operational health dashboard.

No action required
Marketing strategy Specific recommendation Score

1 In your opinion, are customers aware of and do they

understand your mobile money service?
### No action required 0
2 Can you articulate what customer segment you are aiming
to reach with your marketing strategy?

### No action required 0

3 Are your marketing communications reaching your target
segment?

### No action required 0

4 Do your ATL campaigns explain how to use the your service
and what your service is?

### No action required 0

5 Does your marketing strategy include BTL activities?

### No action required 0

Score out of 10: 0
Market monitoring

1 Do you review the results of marketing campaigns against

success criteria such as: acquiring new customers,
activating customers and acquiring customers who remain
active over time?
### No action required 0
2 Are marketing activities shared and used by all functions in
the mobile money operation?
### No action required 0
3 Do you have a campaign strategy to activate inactive
customers?

### No action required 0

4 Do you have a live mobile money data dashboard that can
be used by all critical functions in the organisation?

### No action required 0

5 When budgeting for mobile money marketing activities, do
you allot more than half of your budget on customer
registration?
### No action required 0
###
Score out of 8: 0

Sources and resources:

GSMA Publication: Driving Customer Usage of Mobile Money for the Unbanked
GSMA Publication: Getting the Most Out of Your Data: Segmenting Your Mobile Money Customer Base to Drive Usage
GSMA Publication: The Customer Journey to Regular Usage
GSMA Publication: Top 3 challenges to marketing mobile money
VIDEO: Marketing Mobile Money: Top 3 Challenges
GSMA Blogpost: Mr. Patate – showing how mobile money is the easiest solution for everyday use

GSMA Blogpost: Beyond marketing: building trust and the value proposition for mobile money through consumer education

Blogpost: Mobile money transactions: What are people using mobile money for?
Accessibility of mobile money: How is the mobile money industry helping to increase access to financial services?
Operational Dashboard

Overall assessment score: 4 out of 125

Operational overall score: 4 out of 12

Distribution overall score: 0 out of 63

Organisational structure overall score: 0 out of 32

Marketing overall score: 0 out of 18

Distribution overall score: 0

Score of possible:

Agent network 0 out of 13 ( 0% )

Agent selection 0 out of 6 ( 0% )
Agent training 0 out of 15 ( 0% )
Agent monitoring 0 out of 10 ( 0% )
Agent liquidity 0 out of 11 ( 0% )
Agent incentives 0 out of 8 ( 0% )

Organisational structure overall score: 0

Score of possible:
Organisational structure 0 out of 19 ( 0% )
Operation 0 out of 5 ( 0% )
Call centre 0 out of 8 ( 0% )
Marketing overall score: 0
Score of possible:
Marketing strategy 0 out of 10 ( 0% )
Marketing monitoring 0 out of 8 ( 0% )

Agent network operational health

Your operation: Score against global averag

Agent activity rate: 50% Below average agent activity rate

Customers per agents ratio: 8.0 Low customer per agent ratio

Transactions per active agents is b

Transactions per agents per day: 0.2 range, the global average is 12.2

Masteragent per agent ratio: 1 Below average of agents per maste

Sales people per agent ratio: 1 Below average of agents per sales

*) MMU Benchmark reports 2014

Percentage of your GSM base using Mobile Money

Active
30%

GSM Base
60%

Registered
10%
 GSM Base
60%

Registered
10%

GSM Base Registered Active

Registered c
450.00%
400.00%
400.00%

350.00%

300.00%

250.00%

200.00%

150.00%

100.00%
50.00%
50.00%

0.00%
Dec-13 Mar-14

Global

Active
450.00%
400.00%
400.00%

350.00%

300.00%

250.00%

200.00%

150.00%
100.00%
100.00%

50.00%

0.00%
Dec-13 Mar-14
100.00%

50.00%

0.00%
Dec-13 Mar-14
 3% You have significant foundational issues in your operation

33% Your operation may struggle with foundational issues

0% You have significant foundational issues in your distribution network

0% You have significant foundational issues in your operation and organisation

0% You have significant foundational issues in your marketing strategy

out of 63 0% Resources: MMU Topics – Agent Networks

Sources for improvement:
GSMA Publication: Building, Incentivising and Managing a Network of Mobile Money Agents:
A Handbook for Mobile Network Operators
GSMA VIDEO: What should operators look for in a prospective agent?
GSMA: Designing & Delivering Agent Training for Mobile Money Deployments
GSMA Publication: Managing a Mobile Money Agent Network
GSMA Publication: Mobile Money for the Unbanked 101 A guide to Commercial Best Practice
GSMA Webinar on Mobile Money Pricing and Commissions

out of 32 0%
Sources for improvement: Resources: MMU Topics – Organisational Structure
GSMA Publication: Organisational Design to Succeed in Mobile Money Author: Philip Levin
GSMA Presentation: KPIs in Mobile Money: A Reference Guide
 out of 18 0%
Sources for improvement: Resources: MMU Topics – Customer Adoption
GSMA Publication: Driving Customer Usage of Mobile Money for the Unbanked
GSMA Publication: Getting the Most Out of Your Data: Segmenting Your Mobile Money Customer Base to Drive Usage

Product Mix - Transaction Volume

Airtime top-ups
core against global average*
Bulk payments
elow average agent activity rate
Merchant payments
ow customer per agent ratio
Bill payments
ansactions per active agents is below a healthy
nge, the global average is 12.2 International remittances

elow average of agents per masteragents P2P OTC transactions

elow average of agents per sales people P2P transactions

- 20 40 60 80

Column B
MMU Benchmark reports 2014

g Mobile Money Customer activity operational health

Your operation: Score against global average

90 day activity rate: 75% Higher than average 90 day activity

30 day activity rate: 50% Higher than average 30 day activity

GSM Base
60%
 GSM Base
60%

tive

Registered customers growth rate

50.00%
33.33%

Jun-14 Sep-14

Active 90 Day Growth

100.00%

0.00%

Jun-14 Sep-14

Global
 0.00%

Jun-14 Sep-14

Global
MU Topics – Agent Networks

MU Topics – Organisational Structure

MU Topics – Customer Adoption

r Base to Drive Usage

- Transaction Volume

100

100

100

100

100

100

100

40 60 80 100 120

Column B

operational health

Score against global average*

Higher than average 90 day activity

Higher than average 30 day activity

33.33%

Dec-14

50.00%

Dec-14
50.00%

Dec-14