Financial Inclusion for RMG Workers & Community | Sarathi

The RMG sector contributes 11% of Bangladesh's total economy and covers 80% of total exports, employing 4-5 million people. However, RMG workers lacked proper education and awareness about banking benefits, keeping them away from formal financial services. The lack of financial resilience often put workers in positions of financial desperation, forcing them to seek loans from neighbors, family members, and local loan sharks. Many garment companies still paid workers in cash, perpetuating financial vulnerability and preventing workers from building financial security. There was a critical need to improve workers' financial health and lifestyle through education about efficient salary management via mainstream banking.

Enroute International Limited worked as an implementation partner in the Sarathi project (2016-2020), launched by Swisscontact to create more involvement of RMG workers in banking. The solution included:

- Financial Literacy Training: Conducted 242 literacy sessions for 17,850 RMG workers, educating them on salary management, household budget management, formal savings, and credit opportunities.
- Bank Account Facilitation: Assisted 76,000 RMG workers in opening their first bank accounts, fostering financial security and formal banking engagement.
- Awareness Campaigns: Conducted demand generation activities and awareness campaigns reaching around 200,000 people to educate them on the importance of associating with formal banking.
- Stakeholder Partnerships: Implemented the project through partnerships with 49 RMG factories and 4 commercial banks, designing and testing sustainable business models together.
- Key Contribution: Enroute's primary focus was bringing as many RMG workers as possible under the sphere of formal banking to improve their financial health.

The Sarathi project achieved remarkable success in the first phase:

- 76,000 RMG workers opened bank accounts through Enroute's facilitation
- 17,850 RMG workers received financial literacy training through 242 literacy sessions
- Around 200,000 people learned about the importance of formal banking through awareness campaigns and demand generation activities
- Workers gained knowledge about managing household budgets, formal savings, and credit opportunities
- Sustainable business models were designed and tested with RMG factories and commercial banks
- The project surpassed success parameters remarkably in the first phase

Enroute successfully integrated RMG workers into the formal banking system, improving their financial health and creating sustainable partnerships between banks and factories.