Foundations of Retail and Rural Banking

Introduction

Banking is a central institutional mechanism through which savings are mobilised, payments are made, credit is allocated, risks are managed and economic opportunities are created. Although all banks perform broadly related functions, the nature of their customers, products, delivery channels, risks and social responsibilities varies considerably. Retail banking serves individuals and households; rural banking focuses on geographically dispersed communities and agricultural and non-farm rural activity; corporate banking serves firms and institutions; cooperative banking is organised around member ownership and mutual benefit; and inclusive banking seeks to ensure that financially excluded or underserved groups can use appropriate formal financial services.

These categories overlap. A rural customer may use a retail savings account, borrow from a cooperative bank and receive an inclusive digital payment service. Similarly, a commercial bank may operate corporate, retail and rural divisions. The categories are therefore analytical rather than mutually exclusive. Understanding their boundaries, connections and institutional logic is essential for banking managers, regulators, policymakers and financial-sector professionals.

This chapter establishes the conceptual foundation for the study of retail and rural banking. It examines their evolution, scope, terminology, economic role, business models and relationships with corporate, cooperative and inclusive banking.

Learning Objectives

After completing this chapter, the learner should be able to:

1. Explain the evolution and contemporary scope of retail and rural banking.
2. Distinguish retail, rural, corporate, cooperative and inclusive banking.
3. Analyse the economic functions and social significance of these banking forms.
4. Compare major business and delivery models.
5. Identify the principal risks, governance issues and regulatory concerns.
6. Apply the concepts to practical banking situations and managerial decisions.

1. The Meaning and Evolution of Banking

1.1 Banking as financial intermediation

A bank is an institution that accepts funds from surplus units and makes them available, directly or indirectly, to deficit units. Its traditional balance-sheet function is maturity transformation: short-term or withdrawable liabilities, such as deposits, are used to support longer-term assets, such as loans. Banks also transform risk by diversifying a portfolio of borrowers and transform information by assessing customers whose individual lenders may not be able to evaluate efficiently.

Modern banking performs at least five connected functions:

• Deposit-taking: accepting money from customers under agreed terms.
• Credit provision: lending to households, enterprises, farmers and public institutions.
• Payments and settlement: transferring value between individuals and organisations.
• Liquidity and risk management: providing access to funds and managing financial uncertainty.
• Information and monitoring: screening borrowers and monitoring their financial behaviour.

Banking is therefore more than the physical movement of money. It is an institutional system for reducing transaction costs, managing information asymmetry and allocating capital.

1.2 Historical movement from branch banking to digital ecosystems

The evolution of banking can be viewed through several broad phases. Early banking was relationship-based and concentrated in commercial centres. Industrialisation expanded the need for working capital, trade finance and payments infrastructure. The spread of branch banking brought formal finance to households and smaller businesses. Public policy subsequently encouraged rural branches, agricultural credit and targeted lending to underserved groups.

The late twentieth century saw automated teller machines, cards, electronic clearing and centralised core-banking systems. In the twenty-first century, mobile phones, biometric identification, application programming interfaces, digital wallets, agent networks and data analytics have changed the economics of distribution. A bank may now reach customers without maintaining a full branch in every locality.

This evolution has not eliminated the importance of physical presence. Rural customers may require assistance with documentation, financial literacy, cash management, grievance resolution and irregular income patterns. The contemporary model is consequently hybrid: digital channels are combined with branches, business correspondents, agents, self-help groups, cooperatives and community institutions.

2. Retail Banking

2.1 Definition and scope

Retail banking refers to the provision of financial products and services to individuals, households and, in many institutions, micro and small enterprises. It is often called consumer banking or personal banking, although the exact boundaries differ across jurisdictions.

Typical retail products include:

• current, savings and time-deposit accounts;
• payment cards and digital payments;
• personal, housing, vehicle and education loans;
• overdrafts and short-term consumer credit;
• remittance services;
• insurance and investment products distributed through banks; and
• financial planning and advisory services.

Retail banking is characterised by a large number of customers, relatively small average transactions, standardised products and extensive use of technology. However, standardisation is balanced by customer segmentation. A salaried professional, a pensioner, a student and a self-employed trader have different income patterns, liquidity needs and risk profiles.

2.2 Retail banking value proposition

A retail bank creates value by making financial services convenient, reliable and relatively low-cost. For customers, the value proposition includes safety of deposits, access to payments, credit availability and the ability to smooth consumption over time. For the bank, value arises from interest margins, fees, cross-selling, customer retention and economies of scale.

A simplified income identity for a bank is:

Interest income is generated mainly from loans and investments; interest expense is paid on deposits and other funding; and non-interest income includes fees, commissions and service charges. This identity is an analytical simplification. Actual profitability also depends on credit losses, operating costs, taxes, capital requirements, liquidity costs and market valuation changes.

2.3 Retail credit and household financial behaviour

Retail credit is influenced by income stability, employment, collateral, credit history, household obligations and behavioural factors. Banks use credit scoring, income verification, debt-service assessment and policy rules to make decisions. A common affordability indicator is the debt-service-to-income ratio:

Here, DSI is expressed as a percentage. Debt-service obligations may include principal and interest payments on existing and proposed debt. The ratio is meaningful only when income and obligations are measured over the same period and defined consistently. It is a screening measure, not a complete credit decision. A borrower with a low ratio may still face unstable income, fraud risk or excessive unrecorded obligations.

2.4 Retail banking business characteristics

Retail banking benefits from diversification: losses on one small account need not threaten the institution. It also benefits from recurring relationships. A customer who begins with a savings account may later require a housing loan, insurance, investment service or retirement product. This creates opportunities for relationship deepening, but it also creates conduct risks. Cross-selling must not become unsuitable selling, coercion or opaque bundling.

Retail operations require strong process control. Errors in identity verification, automated decision systems, interest computation, fee disclosure or complaint handling can affect thousands of customers simultaneously. Scale therefore increases both efficiency and the potential impact of misconduct.

3. Rural Banking

3.1 Meaning and distinctive context

Rural banking is the provision of financial services to people, enterprises and institutions located in rural and semi-rural areas, including farmers, agricultural labourers, rural households, artisans, traders, microenterprises and local public bodies. Rurality is not defined only by geography. It also reflects economic structure, population density, infrastructure, seasonality and access conditions.

Rural economies commonly display:

• dependence on agriculture and natural resources;
• seasonal and uncertain cash flows;
• dispersed settlements and higher delivery costs;
• informal employment and limited documentation;
• vulnerability to weather, commodity-price and health shocks; and
• strong reliance on social networks and community institutions.

These features make rural banking a specialised activity rather than merely retail banking conducted outside cities.

3.2 Rural financial requirements

Rural customers require both production and consumption finance. Production finance may support seeds, fertiliser, livestock, irrigation, machinery, inventories or small businesses. Consumption and emergency finance may be needed during illness, crop failure, unemployment or delayed payment. Savings, insurance, remittances and payments are equally important. A credit-only approach can increase indebtedness without improving resilience.

Agricultural lending is particularly affected by the production cycle. Repayment schedules designed for monthly salaried income may be unsuitable for a farmer whose revenue arrives after harvest. Appropriate products may use seasonal repayment, grace periods, warehouse receipts, crop insurance or value-chain contracts. Such adaptations must still preserve credit discipline and avoid assuming that every rural borrower has the same risk profile.

3.3 The rural credit ecosystem

Rural finance is supplied by multiple institutions: commercial banks, regional or specialised rural banks, cooperative banks, microfinance institutions, credit unions, self-help groups, fintech firms, input suppliers and informal lenders. Each has different strengths.

Banks may offer scale, regulated deposits and payment infrastructure. Cooperatives may possess local knowledge and member relationships. Microfinance institutions may be effective in group-based lending and last-mile delivery. Informal lenders may be fast and flexible, but they can charge high prices and provide weak consumer protection. Public programmes may reduce risk or expand access, but poorly designed subsidies can weaken repayment incentives and institutional sustainability.

4. Inclusive Banking and Financial Inclusion

4.1 Concept and dimensions

Financial inclusion is the effective access to and use of affordable, suitable and responsible financial services by individuals and businesses. Inclusion has at least four dimensions:

1. Access: whether an appropriate service is physically or digitally available.
2. Usage: whether customers actually use the service regularly.
3. Quality: whether the service is safe, convenient, transparent and suitable.
4. Impact: whether it improves resilience, opportunity or welfare without causing harmful over-indebtedness.

An account opened but never used represents access without meaningful inclusion. Similarly, a loan that is technically available but unaffordable or unsuitable does not necessarily constitute beneficial inclusion.

4.2 Inclusion versus retail and rural banking

Retail banking describes a customer and product segment. Rural banking describes a location and economic context. Inclusive banking describes an objective and operating principle. Retail banking can be inclusive, but it can also focus on affluent customers. Rural banking can promote inclusion, but rural customers may remain excluded because of distance, documentation, gender barriers or poor digital connectivity. Inclusive banking can occur in urban areas as well as rural ones.

The distinctions are summarised below.

5. Corporate Banking

Corporate banking serves companies, institutions and larger commercial organisations. Its products include working-capital facilities, term loans, project finance, trade finance, cash management, foreign exchange, treasury services and syndications. Corporate customers generally have larger transaction sizes, formal accounts, audited information and more complex financial needs than retail customers.

The relationship model is more customised and less dependent on mass automation. Credit assessment may include industry analysis, financial-statement analysis, covenant design, collateral evaluation and cash-flow forecasting. Corporate banking also faces concentration risk: the failure of one large borrower can materially affect the bank.

Retail and corporate banking should not be understood as a simple opposition between small and large customers. A growing small business may migrate from a retail or microenterprise product to a corporate relationship. Banks must manage this transition through appropriate segmentation, not arbitrary labels.

6. Cooperative Banking

Cooperative banking is based on cooperative principles, especially member ownership, democratic participation and service to members. Cooperative institutions may include credit unions, cooperative banks, agricultural credit societies and other mutual organisations. Their legal forms differ across countries, and some cooperatives are subject to banking regulation while others operate under separate frameworks.

The cooperative model can reduce information asymmetry because members share local knowledge and have repeated relationships. It may also support collective action and community development. However, cooperative governance can be weakened by political interference, weak professional management, connected lending, inadequate capitalisation and poor internal controls.

A cooperative bank must balance member service with financial sustainability. Low-cost or politically directed lending that ignores repayment capacity can impair the institution and ultimately harm members. Democratic ownership does not remove the need for prudential regulation, audit, risk management and competent boards.

7. Business Models and Delivery Architectures

7.1 Branch-led model

The branch-led model relies on owned or leased premises and permanent staff. It supports cash services, advisory work, documentation, relationship building and complaint resolution. Its disadvantages include high fixed costs, limited operating hours and difficulty serving thinly populated areas.

7.2 Agent and correspondent model

In an agent or correspondent model, authorised third parties provide selected services on behalf of a regulated institution. Agents may be merchants, post offices, cooperatives, mobile operators or community organisations. The model reduces distribution costs and improves proximity, but it requires agent liquidity, training, supervision, cybersecurity and clear responsibility for customer protection.

7.3 Digital and platform model

Digital banking uses mobile applications, internet platforms, electronic identity, digital payments and automated decision systems. It can reduce transaction costs and expand reach. Yet digital access depends on connectivity, device ownership, literacy, trust and data protection. A digital-only model may exclude customers who need assisted service or who face disability, language or network barriers.

7.4 Relationship, transaction and ecosystem models

A relationship model emphasises long-term knowledge of customers and customised solutions. It is valuable where information is soft and financial histories are incomplete. A transaction model emphasises standardised products, automated processing and high volume. It is efficient where data are reliable and customer needs are relatively predictable. An ecosystem model links banks with merchants, platforms, insurers, agricultural aggregators, government systems and financial-technology firms.

No single model is universally superior. Strategic choice depends on customer density, regulation, technology, risk, income patterns and the cost of acquiring and serving customers.

7.5 Basic unit economics

A bank evaluating an outreach channel may estimate contribution per customer as:

Expected credit loss is a risk estimate and may be represented conceptually as:

PD is probability of default, LGD is loss given default expressed as a proportion of exposure, and EAD is exposure at default measured in currency units. This simplified expression assumes the three inputs are appropriately defined for the same exposure and time horizon. Detailed accounting and risk systems may incorporate discounting, multiple scenarios, recoveries, collateral and changes in exposure over time.

A channel with low operating cost may still be unattractive if fraud, delinquency, agent commissions or customer-acquisition costs are high. Conversely, a branch with higher fixed cost may create profitable relationships and strengthen trust.

8. Economic Role of Retail and Rural Banking

8.1 Savings and capital formation

Banks aggregate many small savings balances into a pool that can finance productive investment. Safe savings instruments also help households manage irregular income, education expenses, emergencies and retirement. Rural savings reduce dependence on distress sales and informal lenders.

8.2 Credit allocation and entrepreneurship

Credit enables households to acquire housing, education and durable goods and enables enterprises to invest in equipment, inventory and employment. In rural areas, access to timely credit can influence technology adoption, productivity and market participation. Nevertheless, credit is productive only when combined with viable opportunities, adequate infrastructure, skills and fair market conditions.

8.3 Payments, remittances and market integration

Efficient payment systems reduce the cost and risk of transactions. Rural households benefit when wages, government transfers, remittances and sales proceeds can be received securely. Digital payments may connect remote producers to buyers, but interoperability, reliability and consumer protection are necessary for durable adoption.

8.4 Risk reduction and resilience

Savings, insurance, diversified income, emergency credit and reliable payments help households absorb shocks. Banks contribute to resilience when products are affordable and repayment structures reflect actual cash flows. Excessive or poorly designed lending can have the opposite effect by increasing vulnerability.

8.5 Monetary and developmental significance

Retail and rural banks transmit monetary policy through deposit and lending rates, although the strength and speed of transmission vary by market structure and liquidity conditions. They also support public policy objectives such as employment, regional development, poverty reduction and formalisation of economic activity. Developmental mandates must be designed carefully: they should expand opportunity without undermining prudential standards or creating permanent dependence on subsidies.

9. Regulation, Ethics and Governance

Banking combines private commercial incentives with public trust. Depositors expect safety, borrowers expect fair treatment and society expects financial stability. Core regulatory concerns include capital adequacy, liquidity, asset quality, governance, consumer protection, anti-money-laundering controls, cybersecurity and operational resilience.

Important ethical issues include:

• transparent disclosure of interest rates, fees and penalties;
• responsible lending and prevention of over-indebtedness;
• protection of customer data and informed consent for its use;
• non-discrimination by gender, location, language, disability or social status;
• prevention of mis-selling and abusive recovery practices; and
• accessible complaint and redress mechanisms.

Digital and AI-enabled banking introduces additional concerns. Automated models may reproduce bias contained in historical data. Alternative data can improve assessment of customers without formal credit histories, but it may also intrude into privacy or penalise people for characteristics unrelated to creditworthiness. Banks should use explainable governance, model validation, human review for material decisions, data minimisation and continuous monitoring.

10. Contemporary Developments and Strategic Challenges

The most significant developments include interoperable instant payments, biometric and digital identity systems, open banking, cloud computing, embedded finance, remote onboarding, satellite or wireless connectivity and climate-risk analytics. These technologies can lower costs and broaden reach, but they do not automatically produce inclusion.

Rural and retail banks face several persistent challenges:

1. High delivery costs: dispersed customers and low transaction values can weaken profitability.
2. Information asymmetry: informal income and limited records complicate underwriting.
3. Climate and agricultural risk: floods, droughts, pests and price volatility affect repayment.
4. Digital exclusion: connectivity, device, literacy and trust barriers remain significant.
5. Operational and cyber risk: scale can make small weaknesses systemically important.
6. Competition: fintechs and non-bank platforms may capture profitable payment or lending segments.
7. Mission tension: social outreach and commercial sustainability may conflict.

Best practice requires customer-centred segmentation, flexible but disciplined products, integrated physical and digital channels, strong partnerships, reliable data, portfolio diversification, staff capability and continuous impact assessment.

11. Applied Case: Sunrise Bank’s Rural Expansion

The following is an illustrative case, not a report of an actual institution.

Background

Sunrise Bank is a mid-sized commercial bank with a profitable urban retail franchise. Its management intends to expand into three rural districts where farmers, traders and microenterprises rely heavily on informal lenders. Mobile-phone ownership is widespread, but network reliability is uneven and many customers have limited experience with formal banking.

Problem

The bank initially proposes ten full-service branches and a standard monthly-installment personal-loan product. A feasibility review indicates that branch costs would be high, while monthly repayments would not match agricultural cash flows. The bank also identifies risks of agent misconduct, crop failure and low customer understanding of digital services.

Analysis

The target market is not homogeneous. Salaried rural employees may be served through conventional retail products. Farmers require seasonal finance and savings linked to harvest cycles. Traders need working-capital facilities and payment services. Women’s groups and producer organisations may provide useful channels for collective savings and information. Credit risk cannot be assessed solely through conventional payslips; cash-flow analysis, land or lease information, transaction history and value-chain relationships may be relevant, subject to law and privacy safeguards.

Approach

Sunrise adopts a hybrid architecture:

• two regional branches for supervision, cash management and complex services;
• trained local agents for basic deposits, withdrawals and payments;
• a mobile application with assisted onboarding rather than digital-only onboarding;
• seasonal agricultural loans with repayment dates linked to expected cash flows;
• savings products encouraging regular small deposits;
• partnerships with producer organisations and regulated insurers;
• a credit policy using conservative exposure limits and portfolio diversification;
• customer education in local languages; and
• agent monitoring, transaction alerts and a toll-free complaint channel.

The bank does not treat digital records as automatic proof of ability to repay. It combines data with human review and tests models for disparate outcomes. It also maintains contingency arrangements for network outages and cash shortages.

Outcome

After the pilot period, account usage and payment activity increase, while early delinquency remains within the bank’s approved tolerance. Some agents are replaced after monitoring identifies liquidity and conduct weaknesses. The bank learns that customer acquisition is not the same as active usage and that savings and payments create the foundation for responsible credit growth.

Learning points

The case demonstrates five principles. First, rural banking requires adaptation to local cash flows. Second, physical and digital channels are complements rather than simple substitutes. Third, inclusion must be measured by quality and usage, not account numbers alone. Fourth, partnerships expand reach but do not transfer regulatory responsibility away from the bank. Fifth, sustainable outreach requires commercial discipline alongside developmental purpose.

Chapter Summary

Retail banking serves individuals and households through deposits, payments, credit, insurance and related services. Rural banking serves customers in rural economic and geographic contexts where seasonality, distance, informal income and climate exposure shape financial needs. Corporate banking serves firms and institutions with larger and more complex requirements. Cooperative banking is based on member ownership and mutual service, while inclusive banking is an objective concerned with effective, affordable and responsible access.

Banks perform intermediation, maturity and risk transformation, payments, liquidity provision and information functions. Retail and rural banking contribute to savings mobilisation, capital formation, entrepreneurship, resilience, market integration and policy transmission. Their business models may be branch-led, agent-based, digital, relationship-oriented, transaction-oriented or ecosystem-based. Each model involves trade-offs among cost, reach, trust, control and risk.

The central managerial lesson is that access alone is insufficient. Sustainable banking requires suitable products, responsible lending, strong governance, reliable technology, consumer protection, data ethics and an understanding of customer cash flows. Retail, rural, cooperative and inclusive banking overlap, but their distinct analytical perspectives help managers design better services and evaluate outcomes more rigorously.

Key Terms

Banking intermediation: The process of channeling funds from savers to borrowers.

Retail banking: Banking services provided mainly to individuals, households and small businesses.

Rural banking: Banking for rural communities, agricultural activity and rural enterprises.

Corporate banking: Banking services designed for companies and institutions.

Cooperative banking: Member-owned banking based on mutual benefit and democratic participation.

Financial inclusion: Effective access to affordable, suitable and responsible financial services.

Maturity transformation: Funding longer-term assets with liabilities that may mature or be withdrawn sooner.

Transaction banking: High-volume, standardised banking based on routine payments and services.

Relationship banking: Banking based on continuing knowledge of and interaction with a customer.

Agent banking: Delivery of authorised banking services through third-party agents.

Seasonal finance: Credit structured around periodic income cycles such as harvests.

Credit risk: The possibility that a borrower will fail to meet contractual obligations.

Expected credit loss: An estimate of credit loss based on default probability, loss severity and exposure.

Information asymmetry: A situation in which one party has more relevant information than another.

Maturity mismatch: A difference between the maturities of assets and liabilities.

Responsible lending: Lending that considers affordability, suitability, transparency and repayment capacity.

Cross-selling: Offering additional products to an existing customer.

Digital exclusion: Inability to access or effectively use digital financial services.

Financial resilience: The capacity to withstand financial shocks and recover from them.

Embedded finance: Financial services integrated into a non-bank digital or commercial platform.

Review Questions

Short Answer Questions

1. Define retail banking and identify four typical retail products.
2. Why is rural banking more than retail banking conducted outside cities?
3. Distinguish access, usage and quality in financial inclusion.
4. State two advantages and two risks of cooperative banking.
5. What is the purpose of an agent-banking model?

Long Answer Questions

1. Explain the evolution of banking from branch-led systems to hybrid digital ecosystems.
2. Compare retail, rural, corporate, cooperative and inclusive banking using suitable dimensions.
3. Analyse the economic contribution of retail and rural banking.
4. Discuss the relationship model, transaction model and ecosystem model of banking.
5. Examine the principal ethical and regulatory issues in digital and inclusive banking.

Analytical / Application Questions

1. A bank plans to offer a standard monthly-installment loan to farmers whose income is received mainly after harvest. Analyse the weaknesses of this design and propose a more suitable product structure.
2. A digital banking programme has opened 100,000 accounts, but only 20 percent show transactions after six months. Evaluate whether the programme has achieved meaningful financial inclusion and recommend measures.
3. Design a channel strategy for a rural district with unreliable connectivity, dispersed settlements and strong cooperative institutions. Justify the balance among branches, agents, cooperatives and digital services.

Multiple Choice Questions with Answers

Question 1

Which statement best distinguishes rural banking from retail banking?

A. Rural banking serves only corporations located outside cities.

B. Rural banking focuses on rural economic and geographic conditions, including seasonality and dispersed settlements.

C. Rural banking provides no deposit or payment services.

D. Retail banking is always government-owned, whereas rural banking is privately owned.

Correct Answer: B. Rural banking focuses on rural economic and geographic conditions, including seasonality and dispersed settlements.

Question 2

Which of the following is a dimension of financial inclusion?

A. Access

B. Share-price appreciation

C. Branch decoration

D. Executive compensation

Correct Answer: A. Access

Question 3

A bank accepts short-term deposits and uses them to fund longer-term loans. This function is known as:

A. Maturity transformation

B. Market segmentation

C. Product bundling

D. Currency sterilisation

Correct Answer: A. Maturity transformation

Question 4

Which customer is most clearly a corporate-banking customer?

A. A student opening a savings account

B. A household seeking a vehicle loan

C. A manufacturing company requesting working-capital and trade-finance facilities

D. A farmer making a small cash deposit

Correct Answer: C. A manufacturing company requesting working-capital and trade-finance facilities

Question 5

In the simplified expected-credit-loss expression ECL = PD × LGD × EAD, what does LGD represent?

A. Liquidity growth differential

B. Loss given default

C. Loan generation duration

D. Long-term guarantee deposit

Correct Answer: B. Loss given default

Question 6

Why may a monthly repayment schedule be unsuitable for some agricultural borrowers?

A. Agricultural borrowers never require credit.

B. Agricultural income may be seasonal rather than monthly.

C. Banks cannot legally collect agricultural repayments.

D. Agricultural products have no operating costs.

Correct Answer: B. Agricultural income may be seasonal rather than monthly.

Question 7

Which feature is central to cooperative banking?

A. Member ownership and mutual benefit

B. Exclusive service to multinational corporations

C. Absence of governance requirements

D. Mandatory use of foreign currency

Correct Answer: A. Member ownership and mutual benefit

Question 8

Which is a principal risk of agent banking?

A. Agents eliminate all operational risks.

B. Agent misconduct, inadequate liquidity or weak supervision may harm customers.

C. Agents make regulation unnecessary.

D. Agents can provide unlimited credit without assessment.

Correct Answer: B. Agent misconduct, inadequate liquidity or weak supervision may harm customers.

Question 9

A bank’s interest income is 80 million currency units, interest expense is 50 million, and non-interest income is 10 million. Using the simplified identity in the chapter, net banking income is:

A. 20 million currency units

B. 30 million currency units

C. 40 million currency units

D. 140 million currency units

Correct Answer: C. 40 million currency units

Question 10

Which practice best reflects responsible use of AI in banking?

A. Allowing an automated model to make all decisions without monitoring

B. Using personal data without consent because it improves prediction

C. Validating models, monitoring bias and providing human review for material decisions

D. Rejecting every applicant without formal credit history

Correct Answer: C. Validating models, monitoring bias and providing human review for material decisions