We use an intent-to-treat (ITT) analysis in all of our main specifications. There are several reasons why actual treatment and assigned treatment might differ. First, some individuals left the factory before being treated. While our policy was to only announce treatment status one month prior to the actual treatment date, we conduct our analysis on the full set of workers present in the factory before the first treatment phase was announced. Second, a small number of individuals opted out of receiving the direct deposit component of the payroll account. Third, the bank and mobile money partners rejected a number of account applications due to insufficient documentation.<sup>27</sup> Finally, in some cases, account opening took longer than one month, thus delaying the actual treatment date. In our panel analysis of the follow-up surveys, we therefore use intended rather than actual treatment date in our main regression specifications. We present the first-stage relationship between assigned and actual treatment in Appendix Table D.3. On average, 92% of individuals assigned to the bank or mobile payroll treatment received the treatment and 90% of individuals assigned to the account only treatment eventually received an account. The difference is not = statistically significant (p-value 0.407).

# **3 Data and Descriptive Statistics**

To analyze how exposure to payroll accounts affects behaviors and real outcomes, we combine multiple rounds of survey data with administrative records that capture the universe of financial transactions made through mobile and bank accounts assigned as part of our study. These data cover a time period of approximately two years, during which our field experiment was conducted.<sup>28</sup>

## **3.1 Survey Data**

Our main data source consists of a comprehensive baseline and endline survey, as well as five rounds of shorter midline surveys, administered over a period of approximately two years. Before being assigned to one of the experimental treatments, each worker completed a baseline survey that included modules on demographics, savings, consumption, household finances, financial literacy, and planning. In total 3,136 study participants completed the baseline survey, of which 2,749 were successfully assigned to one of the treatment groups. Workers then completed periodic followup surveys that were much shorter than the baseline survey and focused primarily on questions relating to ongoing expenditures and financial decisions. We administered a comprehensive endline

> potential benefits of payroll technologies under a best-case scenario and are likely an upper bound, relative to adoption in a less controlled setting.

> 27Both financial partners required all workers to pass a “know your client” (KYC) document review, mandated by the regulator, before opening an account. The most common reason for rejection at this step were inconsistencies in the worker’s national ID card. For example, some workers’ ID cards had their photograph, but an incorrect first or middle name, or different spelling than in other documents. The lack of unique identification and straightforward procedures for proof of identity is an important barrier to financial inclusion facing many developing countries.

> 28See Appendix B for a timeline of our intervention, survey rounds, and additional data collection.

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