 In order to capture the on-the-ground perspectives of some of our partners who are offering use-saving products, I'm speaking with Lukas Mwangi, who's a marketing officer with Kenya Post Office Savings Bank. And I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit more about your use-saving product and specifically on the marketing side of things. What are some of the features of your account? Thank you. For any product to be successful, for any organization, the component of research is very important. So for our use-saving product, we did start with the research that added in July 2011. Then from then, we started our pilot. Pilot is where you use the research data and now you test them in the field with the respondents. And in this case, we did our pilot from July 2011 or the way to May 2012. And during the pilot, we were able to pick out a number of issues. We evaluated them from the youth themselves and we were able to incorporate them to the product that we had first developed as for pilot. So those features we took, the issues we took from them, we used to refine our product for rollout. Therefore, after incorporating what the pilot had said, learning from pilot, we came up now with a product that is well-packaged, ready for the market. And we did an official launch on the 12th of July. But prior to the launch, we had already started doing a rollout after ensuring this good training to our staff. We had ensured that the systems are okay and they are working and they are ready for the product. And therefore, the actual rollout started on the 6th of May. This product that we developed, the youth gave it a name. We branded the product. And the name is Smatter Account. Smatter means to be smart. Smatter means are you on top of things. Smatter means that in your peer group, you are seen as a leader. You are seen as an opinion person. And therefore, the youth really liked that name. And through the pilot, it was actually a confirmation that the name that a few people had already given, who are in the target group, was now being accommodated and adopted by even a larger group during pilot. And therefore, our product has a name. We call it the Smatter Product. Great. And so, on the subject of your youth customer and your youth client, describe who they are and who is your typical youth customer. Thank you. The Smatter Account is specifically targeting youth who are between the ages of 12 years up to 18 years. And this youth may be in school or may be out of school. This youth can be girls or boys. And this product now covers them on that age bracket. Now, therefore, the bank has ensured that we do not lose the youth even after they are 18. And therefore, Kenya Post Office Savings Bank, otherwise trading as Post Bank, has another product called Step Account that takes them up from 18. Actually, there is a transition code in the system that it transits the youth. But when the youth now visits the branch, he's told you are being 18 now. We have these various other accounts that you could switch to. And also for the young ones who are below 12 years, we have BD Junior Account as Post Bank. Therefore, we have covered the whole youth spectrum. Now, the other feature to this product that's also very attractive to the youth, and we also got it from the research we did, is that the account opening is only $0.6 or Kenya Shieldings 50. And that is very affordable. It's a very attractive feature so that any time you present this account to anyone, it becomes very easy for them to open, very friendly to the target group. And also this account, we do not have any maintenance fee. Remember, our key objective as a bank is not only to have the account numbers, but more to have the youth have a savings culture. We want to inculcate that behavior in them so that they become responsible citizens in the future. And that means that the youth will not only have savings in terms of money in the account, but their behavior, the way they carry out their lives, the way they do things will have been changed so that we are giving a financial education. So you'll also realize that one of the components when we visit the youth, whether in schools for those who are in school or in out of school and where they congregate, one of the key things we do as a bank is to ensure that the financial education is disseminated to them. There are many times we have forums just to go and give financial education because we are more interested in what changes in their life. This product, this account should change their lives and the way they handle their activities. That was really helpful in providing not only a sense of the customer, but also of the product and how those features match up with some of the needs. I guess my final question for you is, what two pieces of advice would you give to another financial institution who are looking to open and looking to pilot youth savings accounts? Maybe I can respond to that from our research findings that one, we found out the youth can save. We found out that the youth are looking for somebody to also educate them on the discipline of savings. We found out that they have money. Unlike a common belief that youth may not have money enough to support a product and therefore I would like to say that this product, the youth segment, is a viable segment. When you look at it mostly from the point of the long term, not today, because in the long term it means you have built a good base and through the financial education that you've given them, then these are the same people who will make your future customers. Even when they get beyond their youth age, then they have already got your education, you have inculcated their behavior, you have impacted on their lives and therefore in the long term, even to a banking institution, it's a great viable product. And the other thing is that the customer service is key also to sustaining this youth because there is the emotional contact, the emotional element of you providing a product other than the account being opened, rather than the money coming to the bank, what other thing changes in them into your customers. And when you have grown with these youth, when you give them good quality customer service, then it is that service element that will make them keep and remain with you. And therefore in the long term, you will be able to get all your initial costs done, you will be able to have a new generation into your bank that can stay with you even longer and therefore the viability of the product that is proven. Great. Well Lucas, thanks so much for the insightful conversation. We'll be talking next with a branch manager at Kenya Post Office Savings Bank, but thank you for your time. Thank you. So I'm here with Oscar Atindo. He's a branch manager from Kenya Post Office Savings Bank, and he was one of the most successful branch managers for You Save in terms of number of accounts opened. And I thought he could provide a really on-the-ground perspective around what it takes to be a successful branch manager and really have increased outreach around some of these low-income youth-focused products. And so if I'm a youth interested in Smata account, what are some of the features and benefits that you would tell me about in order to get me interested in the account? One of the benefits of holding a youth account is that what will give you the first experience to hold an account, because most of the youth in between the 12 and 18 years in Kenya don't hold accounts which they control by themselves. But here is an opportunity for you to hold an account by yourself that you control, although with some limited supervision from their trusted adult. Great. Great. And so are there any sorts of features when it comes to being able to start savings at a low amount that would be of interest, or that you've highlighted to youth, or is it really just this ownership idea that's been most pronounced? Okay, because most of the youth are not, at the moment you're selling them the product in schools, most of them are not making income in any way. So we have subsidized the product in the sense that we're giving a free debit card. Great. We are giving a free debit card. And okay, we are also encouraging them to open their accounts with 50 Kenya shillings which is approximately $0.5. Great. So the product is so subsidized to encourage. We are accepting deposits as low as $0.5. Great. Okay, which customer, which you can deposit at any of our large networks? You've had success on growing this product offering. Now I was wondering what two pieces of advice would you give to other branch managers who are looking to open youth savings account or pilot youth savings accounts? To own the product. The product has an advantage in the sense that it will be easy to increase sales in the branch. That is one of the reasons. Because this is a group of people that when you go to talk to, nobody has ever talked to them before. An opportunity to grow business because they have money, to legal money, the product is so subsidized. So the chances of opening many accounts is very high and attracting more customer base within an area. Because this is an unbanked population in Kenya. We invite you to join us on the You Save website at usave.org to hear updates on this project and others.