What is 'Float' in Agent Banking?

Float refers to the e-money balance an agent holds to facilitate customer withdrawals (Cash-Out) or the physical cash they hold to facilitate deposits (Cash-In). Managing the balance between these two is critical for uptime.

How does automated reconciliation help with float management?

Automated reconciliation tracks the real-time position of agents by matching their transactions against the core banking system. This visibility allows MFIs to predict when an agent is about to run out of float and trigger a rebalancing action.

Blog Post

MFI Operations
December 14, 2025

Managing Agent Banking Floats: A Guide for MFIs

For Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) expanding into rural areas, "Agency Banking" is the only viable strategy to bridge the last mile. However, managing a network of hundreds of remote agents introduces a complex liquidity problem: the Float. If an agent runs out of e-money, they can't accept deposits. If they run out of cash, they can't process withdrawals. This "stockout" halts operations and damages trust. In 2026, successful MFIs are moving beyond manual phone calls to automated float management systems.

The Float Paradox: Cash vs. Digital

Diagram showing the flow of liquidity between Agent, Super Agent, and MFI.

Dashboard showing real-time agent float levels.

An agent's business is a balancing act. They have two pockets:

1. Physical Cash: Needed for "Cash-Out" (Withdrawals).
2. E-Float (Digital Value): Needed for "Cash-In" (Deposits/Loan Repayments).

The Problem: When customers repay loans, the agent accumulates cash but depletes their e-float. They are now "long on cash, short on digital." Without a mechanism to rebalance, they must stop accepting repayments—a disaster for the MFI's portfolio quality.

Top Challenges in Management

Manual float management (spreadsheets and phone calls) fails for three reasons:

Latency: Head office doesn't know an agent is empty until the agent calls to complain.
Super Agent Fraud: "Super Agents" (aggregators) may claim to have rebalanced an agent but delay the transfer, using the float for their own trading.
Reconciliation Lag: The MFI's ledger and the Telco's platform (e.g., M-Pesa portal) are often out of sync, making it unclear how much money is truly in the system.

Best Practices: Automated Monitoring

To solve this, MFIs are adopting tools like Reconwizz to gain real-time visibility.

1. Predictive Alerting

Instead of waiting for a stockout, the system analyzes the agent's transaction velocity. If an agent typically does $500 in withdrawals on a Friday, and they only have $100 in cash on Thursday afternoon, the system triggers an alert to the nearest Liquidity Manager.

2. Integration with Mobile Money Rails

Modern Settlement Systems connect directly to the mobile network operators. This allows the MFI to "push" float to an agent instantly (converting bank balance to e-float) without manual intervention.

3. 3-Way Reconciliation for Trust

Just like with ATMs, agent transactions need verification. By matching the Agent's POS log, the Core Banking System, and the Mobile Money statement, MFIs can ensure that every rebalancing event actually occurred, preventing fraud by aggregators.

Conclusion: Liquidity is King

In agency banking, an agent without float is just a shopkeeper. For an MFI, ensuring your agents are liquid is as important as ensuring your loans are repaid. By automating the monitoring and reconciliation of these distributed floats, you transform your agent network from a chaotic liability into a reliable, always-on banking channel.

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