In India, almost 25% of women in economically backward areas, still do not have a bank account. A lack of education, complex paperwork, and less accessibility to banks are key barriers.

So they save cash inside a rice dabba, which they believe is auspicious. But their savings are vulnerable to the men in the family who take it away.

The brief from ESAF Small Finance Bank, was to make these marginalised women a part of the formal banking system.

Our objective was to get these savings to the safety of a bank and give them an opportunity to grow their money. In turn empowering these women and making them part of the banking system.

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 the women’s cash. So that they can continue their tradition of saving, without the men in the family taking it away.

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.

While these women could definitely benefit from a bank account, it was clear that they needed to keep it a secret. How do we distribute these Dabbas to the women without attracting the attention of the men in the family? How do we integrate formal banking into their village lifestyle?

We figured there is a women-only village gathering they attend monthly. They also frequent their neighbourhood rice shops to restock rice. These places could be our touchpoints to integrate banking facilities for the women.

For the sake of their privacy, we also wanted to keep the whole project a secret amongst the women – with absolutely no publicity.

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.

We also created an easy withdrawal system for the women - at the rice shops they frequent in the neighbourhood. We equipped the rice shopkeepers with 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 or publicity – so the women could keep it a secret amongst themselves.

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 felt 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.

A traditional, intimidating bank is now a friendly woman representative who is a regular at their village meetings. ESAF Small Finance Bank is now enjoying an image of a very understanding and trusted partner to these rural women.

We broke into this tough market – using their own traditions.