Banking the Unbanked Technolo gy#213;s R ole in D eliverin g.pdfVIP

Banking the Unbanked: Technology’s Role in Delivering Accessible Financial Services to the Poor Janine Firpo SEMBA Consulting The Microdevelop ment Finance Team (MF T) carried out p ilot p roj ects in Uganda to determine the role technology could p lay in increasing the reach of microf inance. The team envisioned a “data transaction backbone ” that would link microf inance clients to their f inancial institutions and bey ond. The resultant technology was known as the Remote Transaction System (R TS) . The conclusions drawn f rom the study (and similar initiatives conducted in other p arts of the world) include: that business process change and the imp lementation of new technology should p roceed in tandem; creative technology solutions are required to be tailored to the unique and often challenging needs in emerging markets and local contexts; and p artnership s between MFIs and local comp anies assist in reducing inf rastructure costs. Technologies such as the R TS can evolve and p rovide f unctionality that serves to build bridges between MFIs and thef ormalf inancial sector. Introduction The goals of attaining economic development in many How can microfinance have macro impact in the world more countries around the world is unlikely to be such that billions of today’s urban and rural poor gain realized while 1.7 billion working adults make less than access to financial services? This is the question that a US$2 a day1 and have little or no access to basic conso