Objectives

The YouthSave Consortium has worked closely with one financial institution and one research partner in four countries – Colombia, Ghana, Kenya, and Nepal - to achieve three major objectives towards its vision of success.

First, the Consortium sought to deliver sustainable savings products< for low-income youth (12-18) in each country through partnerships with regulated financial institutions (FIs): Banco Caja Social (Colombia), HFC and its microfinance subsidiary Boafo (Ghana), Postbank (Kenya), and Bank of Kathmandu (Nepal). In order to accomplish this objective the Consortium and its partnering financial institutions carried out market research, product design, piloting, delivery, and refinements as needed.

Second, the Consortium sought to document the uptake, savings outcomes, and impacts of these youth savings accounts (YSAs) on clients and financial institutions through project-generated evidence with the support of our local research partners: UniAndes (Colombia), ISSER (Ghana), KIPPRA (Kenya), and New Era (Nepal). Through this objective, the project explored four key research questions: What combinations of product and service characteristics and marketing strategies can lead to profitability, sustainability, and commercial adoption of YSAs by different types of financial institutions?

Which youth client, household, and savings product characteristics are associated with positive savings outcomes?

What are the impacts of YSAs on developmental outcomes for youth and on household finances, and well-being more generally?

How do the implementation and functioning of youth savings inform its potential as a social and economic development strategy in each country?

Third, the Consortium has shared findings and lessons learned on the YouthSave website through the combined work of the Consortium and its partners. We hope that this shared learning will foster awareness and inform action on youth savings among developing-world financial institutions, social service providers, scholars, and policy makers.

To learn more about YouthSave programs, financial institutions, and research partners please visit the country pages for Colombia, Ghana, Kenya, and Nepal.