Final evaluation of Banking on Change

Banking on Change was a partnership between Barclays, CARE International UK and Plan UK aimed at extending savings-led financial services to vulnerable individuals.

The programme had three core components: the introduction and expansion of the Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) methodology to low-income youth and adults, the delivery of various forms of training to the VSLAs, including financial literacy, enterprise, employability and bank literacy training, and to link a third of the Banking on Change VSLAs in Africa to Barclays and other formal financial institutions.

The programme was implemented in two three-year phases. Phase 2 had a greater focus on young people and was rolled out from 2013 to 2015 in Egypt, Ghana, India, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

Genesis was contracted by the partnership to conduct a final evaluation of Phase 2 to understand the achievements and impact of the programme and to document the key learnings that have emerged to inform future efforts in savings-led financial inclusion for the youth.

The research methods employed by the Genesis team included a desktop review of data and documentation, 45 stakeholder interviews at the global and country levels, and 12 focus-group discussions with savings group members in Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

The evaluation was an important validation of Banking on Change's achievements and highlighted lessons that informed each partner's future approaches to design and programming in the financial inclusion and youth economic opportunities sectors.