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Good practice Imported

GanaSol — Gamified Mobile Banking to Drive Digital Adoption Among Low-Literacy Microfinance Clients in Bolivia

Bolivia · La Paz · See the Bolivia profile · See the La Paz profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 9% 96/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

BancoSol's AppSol added GanaSol, a gamified points-and-prizes layer, to nudge low-literacy microfinance clients into digital banking. Three years after its March 2021 launch, users passed 500,000, with double-digit gains in logins, bill payments and loan repayment.

500,000+
Registered GanaSol users (3 years after March 2021 launch)
21%
Increase in app logins
48%
Increase in mobile bill-payment transactions
36%
Improvement in on-time loan repayment
over one million
Total BancoSol clients reached by digital transformation
GanaSol — Gamified Mobile Banking to Drive Digital Adoption Among Low-Literacy Microfinance Clients in Bolivia

Details

Maturity
Scaling
Promoter
BancoSol, with Accion and Mastercard; gamification technology by Flourish Fi
Period
March 2021 – 2024 (three-year results)
Keywords
financial inclusion, gamification, microfinance, digital literacy

Context

BancoSol, Bolivia's first regulated microfinance bank, partnered with global nonprofit Accion and Mastercard from 2019 to accelerate the digital transformation of its services for micro and small entrepreneurs, many with limited formal education. The partnership established CIBSOL, an internal innovation hub, to lead the effort.

Objectives

Early research found that clients were not opposed to technology as such, but hesitated to switch to BancoSol's mobile app, AppSol, because they saw no clear advantage over visiting a branch or a loan officer in person. Rather than adding more features, the bank set out to address this behavioural barrier directly.

Activities

Working with gamification vendor Flourish Fi, BancoSol launched GanaSol within AppSol in March 2021, letting customers earn points for maintaining or growing their savings balance, paying bills through the app, making on-time loan payments, and correctly answering short financial-health trivia questions. Points can be redeemed for a virtual-roulette game or prize draws, turning routine account activity into something clients wanted to repeat.

Results

Three years after launch, BancoSol reported more than 500,000 registered GanaSol users, a 21% increase in app logins, a 48% rise in mobile bill-payment transactions, and a 36% improvement in on-time loan repayment, within a broader digital transformation that reached over one million BancoSol clients in total.

Conclusions

Independent trade coverage (MicroCapital) corroborated the mechanics and stated purpose of the tool, though the published figures are self-reported by BancoSol and its partners rather than externally audited.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k)
Time to results
Medium (1–3 years) — Partnership formed 2019; GanaSol launched within AppSol in March 2021; results reported three years post-launch.
Staffing & skills
BancoSol (bank), Accion (global nonprofit partner), Mastercard (partner), Flourish Fi (gamification technology vendor), CIBSOL -- internal innovation hub

Conditions for success

  • behavioural research to identify the perceived-value barrier before building features
  • partnership with a specialised gamification vendor
  • integration within the existing mobile app (AppSol) rather than a standalone product

Commonly funded by

Philanthropic / foundation funding

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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