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Field
Trial Status
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Before
in_development
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on_going
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Abstract
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Before
We propose to study the impact of several novel mobile phone-based bank savings accounts in the northern part of Ghana’s Volta region, in partnership with North Volta Rural Bank (NVRB). The study will include both married men and married women. We plan to study the following forms of bank accounts:
-A basic m-savings account, which is fully liquid and accessible via the mobile money ecosystem.
-An enhanced version of the basic m-savings account where the user can specify automatic transfers from mobile money float to the m-savings account.
-An account that also adds “soft commitment”, in the form of changeable liquidity restrictions.
-An account that adds “hard commitment”, in the form of an irreversible liquidity restriction.
Given that these accounts are new products that have never previously been offered by NVRB, in phase 1, we will assess the extent to which customers are interested in these different financial products, and we will verify the extent to which customers actually use these new products.
In phase 2, we will incorporate successful products into a randomized controlled trial, which will be designed to compare the different forms of savings accounts to each other in terms of their impacts upon customer’s savings behavior, achievement of savings goals, intra-household transfers, and decision-making power.
In phase 2, we will also randomly vary whether a study participant’s spouse receives an “information treatment”, in which he or she is informed of the terms and conditions of the account that his or her spouse has just taken up.
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After
This study is designed to increase understanding of how intra-household dynamics and gender impact savings. As part of this study, we offer mobile-phone based bank savings accounts that are linked to mobile money to married men and women in Ghana’s Volta region.
In order to answer our research questions, we plan to randomly vary three elements: (i) whether a liquidity restriction on the account is binding; (ii) spousal information regarding which liquidity restriction is in place; and (iii) the value of incentive payments for choosing a binding versus non-binding liquidity restrictions.
The first set of research questions will look at the demand curve for hard vs soft commitment; the correlation between baseline characteristics and demand for hard vs soft commitment; the extent to which the spousal information treatment impacts demand for hard vs soft commitment; and how all of these vary by gender. The second set of research questions will look at impacts on savings, including: how the spousal information treatment impacts savings; how the hard commitment treatment impacts savings; the interaction between the hard commitment treatment and the spousal information treatment; and the impact of perceived (but not actual) binding commitment from the perspective of the spouse.
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Trial Start Date
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Before
June 01, 2017
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October 12, 2018
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Trial End Date
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Before
December 31, 2019
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After
December 31, 2020
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Last Published
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Before
March 16, 2017 11:40 AM
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After
October 24, 2018 10:37 AM
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Intervention (Public)
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Before
The study will be conducted in two phases: (i) a pilot and (ii) a large-scale study. During phase 1, we will inform people of the various mobile savings products, and elicit their interest in each of these. Then we will randomly assign each of these people to one of the mobile savings products described below, and collect data on product takeup and use. Phase 1 will involve four different products. The phase 2 randomized controlled trial may involve a sub-set of these, conditional on the phase 1 results, as well as power calculations, sample size, and budgetary considerations.
The four products are:
T1: A basic m-savings account, which is fully liquid and accessible via the mobile money ecosystem.
T2: An enhanced version of the basic m-savings account where the user can specify automatic transfers from mobile money float to the m-savings account.
T3: An account that also adds soft commitment, in the form of changeable liquidity restrictions.
T4: An account that adds hard commitment, in the form of an irreversible liquidity restriction.
In phase 2, we will also randomly vary whether a study participants spouse receives an information treatment, in which he or she is informed of the terms and conditions of the account that his or her spouse has just taken up.
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After
One-third of the sample will be offered accounts with a hard, fixed, and mandatory withdrawal restriction feature (henceforth referred to as “hard commitment”); one-third of the sample will be offered accounts with a soft, flexible, and optional withdrawal restriction feature (henceforth referred to as “soft commitment”); and one-third will be offered hard commitment accounts, but after account activation, their accounts will be switched to become soft commitment accounts. The spousal information treatment and incentive payments will be cross-randomized.
Account choice: After we explain the two forms of liquidity restrictions (hard and soft), we will inform study participants of the incentive levels being offered for each form of account (e.g. if they choose a hard commitment account they will be offered an opening bonus of X, and if they choose a soft commitment account they will be offered an opening bonus of Y). We also explain that they won’t necessarily receive their choice, but rather, will have a two-thirds chance of receiving their choice, and a one-third chance of receiving the other product. They will then be asked to declare their choice. Half of the sample will be asked to declare their choice in the presence of their spouse, and the other half will declare their choice privately, such that their spouse cannot hear it. X and Y will be randomly varied, independently of each other, across study participants.
Account offer and take-up: After study participants declare their preferred account (hard or soft commitment), we will randomize which account they are offered, with the randomization weighted by their declared preference. Then they will be offered the account to which they have been randomized and asked whether they wish to take-up this account. For half of the sample, this will be done in the presence of their spouse, and for the other half this will be done privately, such that their spouse cannot hear what account is offered nor whether they chose to take up the account. For those who wish to take-up the account, a team will be in place to immediately assist them with completing all steps associated with account opening and set-up.
Target-setting: The hard commitment group will be required to put in place a target during account opening. The target can either be an amount, or a date. When a target is in place, an account holder is unable to withdraw funds from the m-savings account until the target is achieved. The soft commitment group will be offered the opportunity to put a target in place during account opening but will not be forced to set a target. And the soft commitment group, in contrast to the hard commitment group, will have the capability to remove a target after it has been set but before it has been achieved, and can thus cancel the liquidity restriction at any time.
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Field
Intervention Start Date
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Before
July 01, 2017
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After
October 12, 2018
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Intervention End Date
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Before
December 31, 2019
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After
December 31, 2020
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Field
Primary Outcomes (End Points)
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Before
Savings behavior; commitment account settings and targets; goal attainment; investment; expenditures; transfers of money; income; intra-household decision-making power over savings; usage of financial products and services
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After
Account choice; account take-up; savings behavior; goal attainment.
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Primary Outcomes (Explanation)
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Before
Savings behavior: deposits and withdrawals into mobile money and mobile-money based savings accounts, other cash savings, and non-cash savings, and how savings allocation across different places shifts in response to treatment.
Commitment account settings and targets: deposit targets setting (in terms of amount and frequency), withdrawal restrictions setting, the extent to which the soft commitment on the deposit side is broken due to lack of funds, and the extent to which the soft commitment on the withdrawal side is broken by the participant. Interactions between targets set and subsequent savings behavior. Evolution of people’s target setting, and the extent to which their behavior with respect to violating targets and breaking soft commitments evolves over time.
Goal attainment: here we will link baseline and endline data to measure the extent to which a respondent achieves his or her savings goals (e.g. investment, purchase of asset, paying school fees, etc.).
Investment: purchases of productive and non-productive assets, as well as investment in human capital (e.g. children’s education).
Expenditures: here we will measure outlays by study participants on themselves, spouses, other family members, and non-family members, both within and outside the household.
Transfers of money from study participants to spouses, other family members, and non-family members. We will also measure transfers received by study participants from others.
Income by source, including wage labor, self-employment income, and agricultural income.
Intra-household decision-making power over savings.
Usage of financial products and services: e.g. debt, bank loans, and other financial products for which bank account ownership could serve as a gateway.
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After
Account choice: Prior to being offered an account, which account type would the study participant prefer to be offered? A hard commitment or a soft commitment account? Varied financial incentives for selecting one vs the other will allow us to map a demand curve.
Account take-up: After being offered an account, does the study participant proceed with opening that account, and complete account opening?
Savings behavior: deposits and withdrawals into mobile money and mobile-money based savings accounts, other cash savings, and non-cash savings, and how savings allocation across different places shifts in response to treatment.
Goal attainment: The baseline survey will include a goal setting exercise. Then, at the time of the account set-up, the goal expressed during baseline will be used to prime the study participant to set up a liquidity restriction. This outcome will capture whether the study participant achieved their goal, irrespective of target set within the m-savings product.
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Experimental Design (Public)
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Before
Our key research questions are:
- How does setting a default amount to save regularly, with the assistance of auto-deposit, impact key outcomes?
- What is the impact of allowing individuals to specify self-imposed, non-binding withdrawal restrictions on their mobile-money savings?
- What is the impact of requiring individuals to specify self-imposed binding withdrawal restrictions on their mobile-money savings?
- How does disclosing the degree of mobile-money savings account liquidity to an account-holders spouse impact key outcomes?
The study will be conducted in two phases: (i) a pilot and (ii) a large-scale study. During phase 1, we will inform people of the various mobile savings products, and elicit their interest in each of these. Then we will randomly assign each of these people to one of the mobile savings products described below, and collect data on product takeup and use. Phase 1 will involve four different products. The phase 2 randomized controlled trial may involve a sub-set of these, conditional on the phase 1 results.
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After
As part of this study, we offer mobile-phone based bank savings accounts that are linked to mobile money to married men and women in Ghana’s Volta region.
In order to answer our research questions, we plan to randomly vary three elements: (i) the liquidity restriction; (ii) spousal information regarding which liquidity restriction is in place; and (iii) value of incentive payments for choosing different levels of liquidity restrictions.
The first set of research questions will look at the demand curve for hard vs soft commitment; the correlation between baseline characteristics and demand for hard vs soft commitment; the extent to which the spousal information treatment impacts demand for hard vs soft commitment; and how all of these vary by gender. One of the baseline characteristics that we will use for this heterogeneity analysis is spousal alignment on spending and savings priorities (well versus poorly aligned). The second set of research questions will look at impacts on savings, including: how the spousal information treatment impacts savings; how the hard commitment treatment impacts savings; the interaction between the hard commitment treatment and the spousal information treatment; and the impact of plausible (but not necessarily actual) commitment.
The study sample will be comprised of 1,000 married couples (for a total of 1,000 men and 1,000 women) – or more, if budget constraints allow for it. All 2,000 individuals must be age 18 or older; must be in a monogamous marriage or union and live together with their spouse and partner; and must have a valid ID. Sample creation will begin with a listing of people interested in the product. The spouse who initiates the couple’s entry into the sample by participating in the listing (we will refer to this person as the “primary spouse”) must also must also already have their own MTN sim card that is registered in their own name, and that is registered for MTN mobile money – as both of these are pre-requisites for activating the m-savings product. The study sample will be recruited from the communities near partner bank branches. The branches are located in Nkwanta, Krachi, Kadjebi, and Jassikan Districts within Ghana’s Volta Region.
We will begin by conducting public outreach sessions in communities surrounding our partner bank’s branches. The outreach sessions will address in general terms the features of the mobile-savings accounts. During these, as well as other mobilization efforts, interested individuals will be screened for eligibility, and their contact information will be recorded. Eligible, interested individuals will then be scheduled for an appointment during which they and their spouse will participate in an information session about the products, will both complete baseline surveys, and will both be offered m-savings accounts.
All randomizations will be stratified by gender, community, and whether or not the primary spouse has a pre-existing account with a formal bank.
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Randomization Method
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Before
Randomization done in office by a computer.
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After
Randomization done in advance by computer in office for spousal information treatment, and opening bonus incentive levels.
Randomization done on the spot by tablet for commitment type (hard or soft)
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Randomization Unit
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Before
Individual person level randomization.
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After
Individual person level - commitment type (hard or soft) and opening bonus incentive levels
Couple level - spousal information treatment
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Planned Number of Observations
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Before
The phase 1 study sample is planned to be approximately 300 individuals. The phase 2 study sample is tentatively planned to include 3,000 individuals, although we expect to adjust this based on phase 1 findings.
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After
The study sample is anticipated to include approximately 1,000 couples, for a total of approximately 2,000 individuals (1,000 women, and 1,000 men).
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Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
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Before
For phase 2, we anticipate a total of 8 experimental cells. We plan to test four different savings products (or product variants), each described above under "intervention". Each variant will be offered to 750 people. This will create 4 treatment cells. And within each treatment cell, we will also randomly vary whether a study participants spouse receives an information treatment (with half receiving, and half not). This will thus result in a total of 8 treatment cells, each with 375 individuals.
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After
We will have 3 main experimental cells: (i) Hard commitment; (ii) Soft commitment; (iii) Hard -> Soft commitment. Within each of these cells we will have approximately 666 individuals.
And within each treatment cell, we will also randomly vary whether a study participants spouse receives an information treatment (with half receiving, and half not). This will thus result in a total of 6 treatment cells, each with approximately 333 individuals.
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Power calculation: Minimum Detectable Effect Size for Main Outcomes
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Before
Note: the final sample size and study design will make use of updated power calculations based on phase 1 results. Tentatively, our power calculations are as follows: For cell-to-cell comparisons between our 8 treatment cells, we have targeted a standard minimum detectable effect size of 0.25, assuming 85 percent take-up. For some specifications we will be able to pool across the two information treatment arms, thus reducing the total number of cells to 4, and our power for these is 0.18 SMDE, again assuming 85 percent take-up. To put these numbers in context, suppose 35 percent of the control group meets their savings goal. A 0.18 SMDE translates to an 8.6 percentage point increase in goal attainment and a 0.25 SMDE translates into a 0.12 percentage point increase in goal attainment.We believe our take-up assumption of 85 percent is justified because it is conditional on someone attending an information session, receiving general information regarding NVRBs mobile-savings accounts, and then expressing interest in opening one of the accounts. Past experience gives us reason to believe that take-up conditional on a formal expression of interest will be high. However, we will validate our take-up assumptions during phase 1, and will adjust the phase 2 sample size and study design accordingly.
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After
Our power calculations target 80 percent power using a two-sided test of size 0.05. For the information treatment we assume the within-couple correlation in outcomes is 0.60, and that attrition from baseline to endline is 0.10 (this is only relevant for outcomes that use survey data). We will have power to detect a 0.16-0.18 standardized effect size of the information treatment on demand for commitment/savings outcomes, depending on whether genders are pooled or analyzed separately. This translates into a 7-8 percentage point effect on demand for the hard commitment account, assuming 30 percent of individuals prefer hard commitment in private.
For the account type treatments we will be able to detect a 0.22 standardized effect size on savings outcomes when comparing one arm to another: e.g., hard versus soft commitment (this assumes we pool information arms, limit attention to one gender, and that one third of the sample prefers soft to hard commitment). This amounts to a 10 percentage point increase in monthly active use of the account, relative to a 30 percent mean in the soft commitment group that we observed in our pilot.
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Intervention (Hidden)
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Before
More details on the four products:
T1: M-savings only: individuals in this group will be signed up for an MTN mobile money account (if they do not already have one) and will receive an offer to open an m-savings account with NVRB. The m-savings account will function as a separate labeled “wallet” on the basic MTN mobile money menu. Deposits and withdrawals into this wallet must be done via the mobile money menu. There will be no fee to move money back and forth between the primary MTN wallet and the NVRB wallet, but individuals will incur MTN’s standard fees when cashing out their savings. NVRB will also charge m-savings customers an additional fee to cover the cost of offering this service. This fee will be finalized once development of the m-savings products is complete, but the aim is for it to be easily affordable.
T2: M-savings + auto-deposit: individuals in this group will receive the same set of services as those in T1, but they will also be asked to specify an amount and frequency with which funds will be auto-deposited into the NVRB m-savings account (e.g. GHC 2 every two weeks). Once auto-deposit is enabled, the pre-specified amount will be automatically transferred from an individual’s main MTN wallet to the NVRB wallet at the pre-specified frequency as long as there are sufficient funds in the main MTN wallet. If an individual does not have sufficient funds in the MTN wallet the transfer will not take place (there is no fee for missed deposits and missed deposits will not be “recouped” should an individual top up her MTN balance in the future). Individuals will be able to update their auto-deposit amount and frequency as often as they like. Withdrawals are not restricted in this arm.
T3: M-savings + auto-deposit + “soft” withdrawal restriction: individuals in this group will receive the same set of services as those in T2, except they will also be asked to specify a target savings amount or date. The individual will not be able to access funds in the NVRB wallet until this target is reached. However, the individual will be able to revise the target whenever wished, effectively making the commitment non-binding.
T4: M-savings + auto-deposit + “hard” withdrawal restriction: individuals in this group will receive the same set of services as those in T2, except the withdrawal commitment will be binding. Once the target is reached, the individual will have the option of setting a new goal.
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After
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