LOTUS :

LOTUS ROOTS

ENTRANT COMPANY :

MCCANN WORLDGROUP INDIA, MUMBAI

TITLE :

DABBA SAVINGS ACCOUNT

BRAND :

ESAF SMALL FINANCE BANK

ADVERTISER :

ESAF SMALL FINANCE BANK

AGENCY :

MCCANN WORLDGROUP INDIA, GURGAON

CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER :

JAVIER CAMPOPIANO/PRASOON JOSHI/ADRIAN BOTAN/
VALERIE MADON

EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR :

ASHISH CHAKRAVARTY/SAMBIT MOHANTY/SHARATH KUTTIKAT

CREATIVE DIRECTOR :

UNNIKRISHNAN R

ART DIRECTOR :

GOKUL M T

COPYWRITER :

BHARATH S KULKARNI/INÊS BARROS

CLIENT SERVICE DIRECTOR :

VISHAL AHLUWALIA

FILM PRODUCTION COMPANY :

VIRTUAL EYE FILMS, KOCHI

DIRECTOR :

VINOD A K

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR :

SUMESH CHANDRAN

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY :

PRAMOD A K

PHOTOGRAPHER :

RATHEESH R NAIR

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR :

VIPIN OSCAR

MUSIC DIRECTOR :

VIMALJITH VIJAYAN/DHANUSH HARIKUMAR

CULTURAL CONTEXT EXPLANATION :

India is largely still a patriarchal society. The education, financial growth, and decision-making power of men is many times prioritised over that of women. Indian women, especially in under-developed rural areas, are raised to be homemakers. They lack formal education, lack empowerment, and take over a daily routine of chores at home.

Many rural Indians belong to farmer families. Rice is a staple food in most parts of India. And for families like these, rice is God-like. They believe it brings prosperity.

The belief that rice is auspicious, coupled with barriers that stop them from banking (lack of education, complex paperwork, less accessibility to banks) led to rural women saving their loose cash in steel rice Dabbas in their kitchens. A saving tradition they’ve had for generations.
But the men in their homes know their hiding place and take away their money.

Therefore, the women don’t experience much financial independence and empowerment.

CAMPAIGN SUMMARY :

25% of rural Indian women don’t have bank accounts. They save cash in a ‘Dabba’ (a steel rice canister) in their kitchens, believing it is auspicious. But their men take it away.

ESAF Bank catering to the marginalised, wanted to take banking to them.

Dabba Savings Account is a banking product we tailored to get these women into the formal banking system. We first re-created the rice Dabba with a hidden partition for cash. So the women could continue saving, safely.

Further, to get these micro savings to the safety of the bank, we built a whole banking system for them in the village and around their rural lives.

Our female employees infiltrated their women-only gatherings in the village to distribute the new dabbas, open savings accounts, and accept their deposits regularly. We placed micro-ATMs at village rice shops, for easy withdrawals.

For the first time, rural women started formal banking. But we did not publicise any of it – for their privacy. ESAF Bank empowered these women by making them part of the banking system.

INSIGHT :

Many marginalized women in rural India do not bank. A lack of education, complex paperwork and less accessibility to banks are key barriers. Instead, they save their loose cash in steel rice Dabbas in their kitchens. An auspicious saving tradition they’ve had for generations. They believe rice is God-like and brings prosperity.

But the men in their homes know their hiding place and take away their money.

ESAF Bank wanted to tap into this existing tradition. And make their belief a reality, by growing their money in the safety of a bank.

STRATEGY :

While marginalised rural Indian women could definitely benefit from a bank account, it was clear that it needed to be kept a secret.

ESAF Bank, catering to the marginalised, aimed to bring these savings safely to the bank and make the women a part of the banking system.
We started by making their existing saving tradition safer, by re-designing the rice Dabba. And further created a whole banking system for them around their rural lives in the village.

We used traditions and spaces where the women felt safe or in control, as our touchpoints to integrate simple banking facilities. We identified their women-only village gatherings, to reach out to them and collect their deposits without the men knowing. We also figured it is important to provide an easy withdrawal facility for them, which we placed at their frequented neighbourhood rice shops.

For the sake of their privacy, we wanted to keep the whole project a secret amongst the women.

CREATIVITY IDEA :

Introducing the Dabba Savings Account – the secret savings bank account in the kitchen. To make the women’s saving tradition safer, we re-created the steel rice dabba to have a partition hidden in plain sight. While the top section continues to store rice, the hidden bottom section could safely store their cash.

Further, we provided a Savings Bank Account for them. We also facilitated easy deposit and withdrawal systems that were a part of their daily rural lives. So they don’t have to forego their household chores, while spending a day traveling to the town, just to go to the bank.

EXECUTION :

We began by manufacturing rice Dabbas having an additional partition for cash, hidden in plain sight.

To distribute them, our female bank employees began attending the women’s monthly gatherings. We demonstrated how the new Dabba works and where they could hide their cash. We distributed these Dabbas to them while opening ESAF Savings Accounts in their names.

The women continued their habit of saving, now with safety. They brought these savings to the subsequent meetings, which we collected and deposited in their accounts.

For an easy withdrawal system in the neighbourhood, we tied up with rice shop owners to place our micro-ATMs having India’s unique biometric technology - Aadhaar. The women could authenticate with a fingerprint, and the shopkeepers handed them the cash.

We launched this project in eight of the under-served districts in Southern India as the first phase. However, we did not to do any advertising, publicity, or PR – so the women could keep it a secret amongst themselves.

RESULT :

Within the first few months, we managed to get 121,670 women to open accounts, secretly.

They started doing bank transactions for the first time, no longer fearing banking formalities.

The feedback we got was very encouraging. Thanks to their new Dabba, they felt their savings reached the bank safely. They were content in knowing that the money they saved for their children is now growing. All without visiting a bank. They felt empowered, no longer depending too much on their husbands.

ESAF Small Finance Bank is now enjoying an image of a very understanding and trusted partner to these rural women.