Barclays Motshelo Account Qorus Banking Innovation Awards 2014

Background: For decades African consumers have acknowledged the need to set aside some money for unexpected and emergence expenditures. The challenge has always been the discipline to do this as an individual. In many cases individuals lacked the discipline and could only turn to the community in cases of emergencies like sicknesses, and funerals. In response to the stress in the communities, community village heads started the concept of collective contributions to assist village members in need. The concept developed from larger community based groups to smaller groups comprising of family members, friends or people of similar affiliation like religious groups. For a long time these groups operated informally with nominated group members acting as treasures and keeping the money in their household exposing them to risks. It is estimated that in Africa the collective savings schemes are worth USD10 billion. Barclays identified a need to create a home for these savings balances and provide security for these groups. To this end a Group Savings Account was developed and first launched in Botswana named ‘Barclays Motshelo Account’ named in vernacular to resonate with how this concept is called and understood in Botswana. The Solution: The practice of keeping the savings group money at home led to many challenges as these groups lacked a safe place to keep their funds and proper funds reconciliation resulting in disruptions to the operation of these savings schemes. In Botswana alone the market value of these groups is believed to beUSD50 million. The other challenge particularly in Africa was that since these groups consist mainly women who are illiterate, unemployed and un-banked, they could not access a bank account due to lack of formal documentation. In addition, banks have been unable to assist them due to lack of a suitable product for this market. To provide a solution to the risks faced by these informal savers and ensure financial inclusion, the Barclays Group Savings Account (Motshelo Account) was developed after further engagements with the groups through focus group interviews to understand their financial needs. The Barclays Motshelo account is the 1st of its kind in the market to recognise informal savers and capture the essence of African tradition which is doing things together to achieve a common goal. The account allows group members to access the account for deposits and withdrawals as well as benefit from a free Funeral insurance cover. Since its launch, The Barclays Group Savings (Motshelo Account) has proved to be a success in the Botswana market with 21,160 customers with a balance sheet of USD2.2M. To date, Motshelo account is still the only account for group savers in the Botswana market. The Barclays Motshelo account, won the Barclays Citizenship Award. The Barclays Citizenship Awards recognises and celebrates colleagues for their amazing work in their local communities all around the world. After the phenomenal success in Botswana, Barclays Africa is now rolling out this product to other 11 Barclays Africa markets.