Responsible Bundling of Microfinance Services: A Mixed Method Evaluation of the Impact of Timing, Pressure, and Information

This study seeks to gain insight into the experience of rural clients when they are offered bundled financial services, including a relatively complex agricultural insurance product. It aims to better understand how to offer such products responsibly, generating take-up as well as supporting clients’ understanding and memory of product details. The authors hypothesize that bundling the insurance offer with the loan application may influence a client’s ability and interest in retaining information about additional products during the loan application, and his or her perception of any direct or indirect pressure to purchase the insurance.

To test this hypothesis, CGAP conducted a mixed methods evaluation of the delivery of a crop insurance product by a microfinance institution in rural Colombia. The study combined a randomized control trial with extensive qualitative research, exploring the purchase decisions, understanding, and perceptions of loan applicants who have been offered the product and collecting extensive qualitative feedback from the microfinance staff who offered it.