MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BancoSol Adds “GanaSol” Game to Mobile App to Incentivize Financial Services Usage in Bolivia

Banco Solidario (BancoSol), a Bolivian commercial bank that primarily offers microfinance services, recently upgraded its mobile app to include “gamified” software intended to boost its customers’ usage of mobile banking. GanaSol allows users to earn points by “maintaining or increasing their savings account balances;” the points can be used to play “virtual roulette” or enter drawings to win cash prizes.

BancoSol’s National Deputy Manager of Corporate Social Responsibility and Marketing, José Luis Zavala, stated, “Through GanaSol, we will be able to provide digital banking to thousands of people who for different reasons have been marginalized by traditional financial services. We’re going to use the game as a tool to break down the psychological barriers between people and finance.”

BancoSol developed GanaSol with “customer engagement strategies and digital product development” support from two US-based partners, Accion Global Advisory Solutions, which is a unit of the NGO Accion, and the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, which is a unit of the financial services corporation Mastercard.

Banco Solidario was founded in the 1980s and became a commercial bank in 1992. It provides 1.2 million clients with savings, loans, insurance, remittances and financial education as of 2021. As of 2019, BancoSol reported total assets of USD 2.1 billion, a gross portfolio of USD 1.72 billion, customer savings of USD 477 million, 3,000 employees and 118 branches.

Founded in 1961, Accion is a nonprofit that seeks to alleviate poverty by offering services such as microenterprise loans and business training. The organization partners with 110 microfinance institutions (MFIs), providing financial services to entrepreneurs in 50 countries in Africa, the Americas and Asia. The NGO also conducts research via the Center for Financial Inclusion and provides investment and other services via Accion Venture Lab, Accion Global Investments and Accion Frontier Investments. As of 2019, Accion reports total equity capital of USD 433 million.

The Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth is a unit of the financial services corporation Mastercard. The Center utilizes Mastercard’s resources to conduct research and “advance actionable insights, global programs and thought leadership.” The Center also administers the Mastercard Impact Fund, which was established in 2018 and “advances financial inclusion and youth learning in Africa”. The Center defines inclusive growth as that which “ensures the benefits of a growing economy extend to all segments of society.”

By Harriet Ritchie, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

Accion press release
https://www.accion.org/bancosol-launches-ganasol-a-new-gamified-banking-tool-that-aims-to-improve-financial-inclusion-in-bolivia

BancoSol homepage
https://www.bancosol.com.bo/

BancoSol 2019 financials
https://www.bancosol.com.bo/sites/default/files/documentos_pdf/bancosol_memoria_2019_final_om-_1.pdf

BancoSol app on the App Store
https://apps.apple.com/bo/app/banco-sol/id1077578902

BancoSol app on Google Play
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=tsmbo.bancosolapk.presentacion&hl=es_DO

Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth homepage
https://www.mastercardcenter.org/

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