by Zoran Stanisljevic -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: CGAP and WIZZIT Collaborate to Expand Mobile Technology Services to Provide Branchless Banking to Poor Citizens in Rural South Africa

CGAP has recently announced that they intend to collaborate with WIZZIT to expand mobile technology services to provide branchless banking to poor citizens in rural South Africa.  CGAP insists that mobile services, for the first time, will link poor citizens in small towns and rural areas to banking services and local agents who manage cash.

by Yanni Hao -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Omidyar Network Grants $4.5m to Opportunity International to Scale Technology-Based Microfinance Services in Africa

Opportunity International announced it received a 4.5 million USD grant from Omidyar Network, a philanthropic investment firm. According to PR Newswire, the grant will be used to create and implement new electronic and mobile banking technologies that will reduce transaction costs and make microfinance services available to more people in Sub-Saharan Africa. Specifically, it will launch an “electronic wallet” strategy in Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda – countries where Opportunity has significant operations already, including banks and financial institutions. The strategy aims to develop the optimum mix of electronic banking technologies needed in each of these countries.

by Scott Everett -

TECHNOLOGY FOCUS: Mobile Finance – Indigenous, Ingenious or Both?

Originally reported in PCWorld by Ken Banks.

In Ghana, it’s popularly known as susu. In Cameroon, tontines or chilembe. And in South Africa, stokfel. Today, you’d most likely call it plain-old microfinance, the nearest term we have for it. Age-old indigenous credit schemes have run perfectly well without much outside intervention for generations. Although, in our excitement to implement new technologies and solutions, we sometimes fail to recognize them. Innovations such as mobile banking — great as they may be — are hailed as revolutionary without much consideration for what may have come before or who the original innovators may have been.

by Scott Everett -

TECHNOLOGY FOCUS: Mobile Banking in India – hyped or popular? A CGAP Interview

The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), the leading microfinance think tank housed at the World Bank, recently posted an interview with with Naushad Contractor about India’s mobile banking trends in their technology blog. Naushad heads marketing for mobile commerce at Vodafone Essar ltd., India. He is also on the regulatory committee of the Mobile Payments Forum of India. He was a member of the core team that launched and made Remit2India.com the World’s No.1 Independent Money Transfer Portal for Non Resident Indians.

by Scott Everett -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Google Grants $710,000 to Harvard Microfinance Technology Research

Harvard’s Entrepreneurial Finance Laboratory (EFL) received a grant from the philanthropic arm of Google last week. The grant totals $710,000 and will be used by EFL to develop ways to screen loan applicants in developing nations. Professor Asim ljaz Khwaja of the Kennedy School of Government, and Bailey Klinger, a fellow at the School’s Center for International Development, were the recipients of the grant. The two created the EFL in 2007 and have since directed its research.

by Scott Everett -

TECHNOLOGY FOCUS: Rural users yet to take a call on mobile banking

SOURCE: Business Standard

Original story available here.

Mobile banking (m-banking) in India, viewed by the government as a potent tool for financial inclusion, is yet to clear many hurdles before it can fulfil its objective of reaching the unbanked masses. Primarily so, say analysts, since the mobile density in tier II and III cities, is 11 percent and 10 percent respectively.

by Greg Casey -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Indian Technology Company, Comat, Raises $12.5m from Omiydar Network and Unitus Equity Fund of the United States

Comat, a technology company providing services to rural India, recently raised INR 60 crore (USD 12.5m) from the Omidyar Network and the Unitus Equity Fund (UEF). According to a Business Standard article, the new investment will allow “Comat to expand to new States, accelerate service delivery for training and financial services [and] strengthen management bandwidth.”

by Greg Casey -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Foromic Conference, hosted by the Inter-American Development Bank, to Focus on Responsible Finance, Response to International Crises, Rural Finance, Housing, Technology, Venture Capital and the Importance of Networks

On October 8-10, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) will host the sixth edition of the Forum on Microenterprise (FOROMIC). Aside from a general discussion on microfinance in Latin America and the Caribbean, the conference will focus on responses to international crises, rural finance, housing, technology, venture capital and the importance of networks. To learn more about this event, please read this previous MicroCapital story.

by Ryan Benson -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Indian Information Technology Firm Gradatim Launches Microinsurance Technology Platform

India-based information technology firm Gradatim IT Ventures recently announced the launch of “MF-Insure”, a new technology platform designed to consolidate and simplify various business operations of microinsurance providers. Details on MF-Insure’s design features are not yet available. However, a platform that appears to be a predecessor is described on the company’s website as a product that streamlines business processes in the areas of Billing and Collection, Insurance Policy Servicing, and Claims.

by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Microfinance Insights Publishes Webcast of Vodafone, FINO, IIT, BASIX Leaders on Microfinance Regulation, Mobile Banking, Technology & Financial Inclusion

Through August 3, a webcast is freely available of the July 3 Microfinance Insights panel titled: “Technology and Financial Inclusion: What Works? A Discussion about Microfinance, Regulation, M-banking, Technology & Financial Inclusion.” Speakers include:

– Vijay Mahajan, Founder, BASIX

– Rajesh Dongre, Head, Mobile Business Commerce, Vodafone India

– Ashok Jhunjhunwala, Professor, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Chennai

– Manish Khera, CEO, Financial Information Network & Operations (FINO)

The panel event was sponsored by FINO, a provider of technologies such as smart cards and biometric devices to financial institutions.

by Sarah Knapp -

MICROFINANCE EVENT: Agency of Transfer of Financial Technology (ATTF), Appui au Développement Autonome (ADA) and Risk Management Professionals (PRiM) Host Risk Management Excellence in Microfinance: Connecting Luxembourg to Leading MFIs Workshop to follow European Microfinance Week in Luxembourg

RISK MANAGEMENT EXCELLENCE IN MICROFINANCE: CONNECTING LUXEMBOURG TO LEADING MFIS WORKSHOP

17-21 NOVEMBER 2008, LUXEMBOURG CITY, LUXEMBOURG

This workshop on microfinance risk management is being hosted by; the Agency of Transfer of Financial Technology (ATTF), which was created by the Luxembourg Ministry of Finance to focus public funding in financial training, consultancy and technical assistance; Appui au Développement Autonome (ADA) a Luxembourg-based nongovernmental organization (NGO) that facilitates the microfinance development fund Luxmint and provides technical and financial support to Latin American, Asian and African microfinance institutions (MFIs); and Risk Management Professionals in Luxembourg (PRiM), an association that provides a forum for discussion, exchange and knowledge on global risk management topics.

by the MicroCapital Team -

NEWS WIRE: India: Boston Globe Reports on Mobile Payment Technology Flowing from Microfinance Institutions to Traditional Financial Institutions

The rise of cellphone banking in India highlights a new trend: technology developed in the Third World is flowing back to the First.

by Mary Fu -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: IBM and CARE to Streamline Microfinance in Africa through Grid Technology

IBM, a multinational computer technology corporation, recently announced in a press release that it plans to partner with CARE, a leading private international humanitarian organization, to jointly establish the Africa Financial Grid, an integrated data processing infrastructure that will curb costs currently incurred by microfinance institutions (MFIs) in providing financial services in Sub-Saharan Africa.

by Amy Rennison -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: 3 Million More Rural People to Benefit from Smartcard Technology That Enables Microfinance in India

The Government of Andhra Pradesh in India has proposed to roll out Smartcard technology to a further 3 million rural people in 8 districts in the state, giving them access to a bank account for the first time. The Smartcard technology provides access to banking facilities for low-income groups in areas without existing financial services infrastructure.