Client goal
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is a private organization with vast ambitions; one of its goals is to reduce extreme poverty worldwide. The foundation has asked McKinsey to design a basic financial-services offering for residents in remote communities in Mexico.
Situation description
The majority of Mexico’s rural population is relatively poor, relying in part on government benefits for their livelihood. Since they tend not to have bank accounts, they usually collect those benefits in cash from a limited number of state-owned bank branches. These branches are often a long way from where the recipients live, so it can take a lot of time and effort to collect benefits. In addition, while traveling to the branches, people can be at risk of falling victim to crime.
The Mexican government also owns and operates a chain of 22,000 stores throughout Mexico, called Diconsa, which provide basic food, clothes, and other essential goods to rural populations. These stores are supplied through a network of central and regional warehouses and several thousand delivery trucks.
McKinsey study
McKinsey has been asked to investigate and assess the possibility of using the Diconsa network to provide a set of basic financial services to supplement the limited number of state-owned bank branches. This would start with dispensing benefit payments and would gradually grow to include savings accounts, bill payments, insurance, loans, and other financial products.
Helpful hints
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