The Agent Network Accelerator (ANA) is a four-year research project implemented in 11 focus countries. MicroSave and the Helix Institute of Digital Finance have managed and conducted the project. ANA is the largest research initiative in the world on branchless banking and mobile money agent networks, designed to determine their success, transformations, and scale. India has been one of the most dynamic DFS deployment ecosystems in the world, and is among the 11 African and Asian countries that participated in this research project.

We conducted the second wave of the ANA survey India in 2017. This wave of ANA builds on the findings of the first wave undertaken in 2015. Since 2015, India has witnessed a large push from the government to promote financial inclusion, while new players have emerged in the field. A nationally representatives sample of 3,048 agent interviews forms the basis of the ANA survey. We conducted these interviews across 12 states as well as four metro cities. MicroSave designed the survey to generate valuable insights on the agent network model in India and provide recommendations for developing sustainable agent networks in the country.