Bolo - Banking for the Illiterate*

*Winner of a D&AD Pencil

Perspective

In rural India, there are more cell phones than televisions. The Government is on a mission to digitize the rural areas, starting with the ‘Digital Villages’ program that aims to provide 150,000 villages with free high speed internet.

Insight

The Indian government has provided every household with a bank account in an attempt to connect the entire nation to modern services. The problem is that there are hundred of millions of illiterate people living in rural areas, and banks are often miles from some villages. This forces 80% of the country's internal remittences to go through unofficial, expensive and illegal channels.

Idea

Introducing a new payment app, ‘Bolo’ meaning ‘Speak’ that works purely on voice commands and images to easily transfer and receive money.