Joint Accounts India: Spousal Financial Decision-Making

This study revisits the topic of joint accounts and assesses how their terms, increasingly varied due to innovations in the fintech sector, affect allocation decisions. Through an experimental setting we assess the impact of labelling, transparency and spousal approval on expenditure allocations of spouses. We also assess the impact of personally earning money on subsequent expenditure decisions of couples under different joint account terms. To achieve this, we conduct a lab-in-the field experiment with a total of 1,000 couples. At the lab we collect behavioural/demographic characteristics (including preferences, decision making and bargaining power) for both spouses. Using a two-stage randomisation, we first randomise couples into a ‘task’ or a ‘gift’ stream, before randomising 200 couples into each of five treatment arms with differing joint account terms, under which spouses are asked to complete an allocation decision. We derive important insights in three ways as follows; (1) insights that inform consumers about how best to structure their finances between individual and joint accounts, (2) insights for traditional banks on how they might allow greater flexibility in terms and (3) insights for the fintech sector on how within account labelling, transparency and approval rules affect spousal decision making.

To apply to access this dataset, please email Dr Michael King kingm4@tcd.ie

Flexible Loans and Locked Savings for Female Market Vendors in India

Small business growth is crucial for helping the poor improve their livelihoods, but expensive and inflexible financial products restrict business owners’ access to credit and constrain profits. Innovations for Poverty Action is supporting research that examines whether new financial products can help Indian female market vendors pursue borrowing strategies tailored to their business needs, while building up a reserve of savings they can use to finance week-to-week inventory purchases. The products feature increased flexibility in borrowing and repayment schedules, as well as an offsetting locked savings account that allows clients to build up savings while reducing interest rates on their loans.