Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth launches the premiere of an innovative tool to empower Indian small businesses
Delhi – 21 December 2017 – In partnership with ACCESS Development Services and the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) South Asia, the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth will premiere the first video in a four-part series, called BuddhiMoney. BuddhiMoney is an iconic, animated character who will provide entrepreneurs with the tools and resources to improve their business and financial acumen, and as a result increase their productivity and profitability.
Mr. Ajay Sawhney, Secretary of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) opened the premiere with a keynote address to an audience of senior government officials, corporate leaders, and civil society stakeholders. MEITY is the nodal ministry focused on digital payments and is spearheading the expansion of financial inclusion through technology.
The short BuddhiMoney animation videos will be used as a teaching tool by ACCESS Development Services in Jaipur, Rajasthan. ACCESS will also disseminate short key messages from BuddhiMoney via social media to micro and small business owners. J-PAL will measure the effectiveness of BuddhiMoney in helping entrepreneurs to grow their businesses by assessing their recall and application of the knowledge learned. The impact of BuddhiMoney in helping over 10,000 micro and small businesses to become more productive, and therefore more profitable, will be shared publicly.
Ms. Shamina Singh, President of the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth says, “Growing a business is a powerful way for an individual to take control of their economic future and to create jobs in their communities. Micro and small businesses are striving to succeed and should be empowered with the knowledge and tools to expand their market access and tap into tailored financial services. Access to these types of critical networks will unlock their full productivity and will lead to a growing, equitable and sustainable Indian economy. The Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth is proud to support ACCESS and J-PAL South Asia on the launch of BuddhiMoney.”
The BuddhiMoney video series, created by ACCESS, is a new pedagogy to provide business and financial skills to entrepreneurs. The approach leverages technology and taps into the natural desire to be entertained. Mr. Vipin Sharma, CEO of ACCESS Development Services says, “Through BuddhiMoney we hope to increase the stickiness of business and financial skill training and to explore ways in which we can accelerate our outreach to the millions of micro and small business owners, who need support to expand their profitability.”
Ms. Shobhini Mukerji, Executive Director of J-PAL South Asia says, “Measuring how and when BuddhiMoney is successful in helping targeted micro and small businesses to grow their revenue is important to building the evidence-base around what does and does not work. Making these scientific learnings available to all stakeholders, who are dedicated to strengthening micro and small businesses, will accelerate the achievement for a more inclusive Indian economy.”
View the inaugural Buddhimoney video
https://mastercard.sharefile.com/d-s74f4b98c4a9470ab
About The Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth
The Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth focuses on promoting equitable and sustainable economic growth and financial inclusion around the world. As an independent Mastercard subsidiary, it combines data, expertise and technology with philanthropic investments to empower a community of thinkers, leaders and innovators on the frontlines of inclusive growth. Follow us on Twitter @CNTR4growth and subscribe to receive our latest insights.
About ACCESS Development Services
ACCESS is a national livelihoods support organization, with focus on incubating innovations for sustainable livelihoods of the poor. With support from DFID (Govt. of UK), ACCESS was established in March 2006 as a professional new generation agency to contribute to and support poverty reduction in India. ACCESS is uniquely structured to work at all levels of the development sector value chain, from implementing programmes on the ground, working with the Civil Society Organizations, Government Departments, Corporate Sector and Multilateral / Bilateral Agencies, and also supporting policy at the national level.
About the J-PAL South Asia at IFMR
The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) is a global network of over 160 affiliated researchers who use randomised evaluations to answer critical policy questions in the fight against poverty. J-PAL affiliates have been working on evaluations in South Asia for over a decade with more than 170 on-going or completed evaluations in the region. J-PAL South Asia is based at the Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR) and has over 170 employees across its offices in Chennai, New Delhi, and project offices in seven states. J-PAL’s mission is to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence. We do this through three main activities: Evaluating Social Programmes, Scaling-up Proven Interventions, and Building Local Capacity.
Contacts
For Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth:
Ms. Latika Taneja
Avian Media:
Aseem Tuteja – +91 9873177313,[email protected]
Mayuri Dahiya +918585925739, [email protected]
For ACCESS Development Services:
Ms. Sayantani Mukherjee
Website: https://www.accessdev.org
For J-PAL South Asia:
Mr. Gautam Patel
919998656813