Expanding Rural Outreach With Low-Cost Delivery Channels Experience from Access Bank Madagascar

To further expand and deepen services to other rural areas, Access Bank Madagascar (ABM) developed an alternative service delivery channel model, incorporating client acquisition centers in remote villages, and “micro branches” in small towns to cater to clients beyond the service zones of traditional branches. Both channels aim to establish and extend services to remote clients at minimum cost. With support from the Agriculture Finance Support Facility (AgriFin), ABM established two micro branches and five client acquisition centers on a pilot basis. The experience of the pilot has been positive and it has delivered promising results in increasing outreach to remote areas at low cost. This note aims to explore and explain ABM’s experience and the following sections discuss features of each delivery channel and lessons.