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Information technology giant IBM is to help microfinance institutions better serve poor communities by improving the software they use.
IBM will provide technical assistance through a partnership with the Grameen Foundation, which has developed a microfinance software application called ‘Mifos’ for use by lenders.
IBM will build ‘additional functionality and robustness’ into the software in the hope that it can make lending more straightforward while reducing operational and technology costs for the institutions involved. This should make it easier for them to expand their lending.
The Grameen Foundation, which started in Bangladesh and now works on four continents, says that many microfinance institutions cannot expand their operations ‘because they lack a flexible, cost-effective technology infrastructure’. Often they are still using pen and paper.
A 2004 study by the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor found that microfinance lenders that do have automated information systems – around half – often find them costly and difficult to maintain.
The idea for the new partnership came out of last year’s IBM ‘Innovation Jam’, a global brainstorming initiative involving clients, partners, and employees in 104 countries.
IBM will provide technical assistance through a partnership with the Grameen Foundation, which has developed a microfinance software application called ‘Mifos’ for use by lenders.
IBM will build ‘additional functionality and robustness’ into the software in the hope that it can make lending more straightforward while reducing operational and technology costs for the institutions involved. This should make it easier for them to expand their lending.
The Grameen Foundation, which started in Bangladesh and now works on four continents, says that many microfinance institutions cannot expand their operations ‘because they lack a flexible, cost-effective technology infrastructure’. Often they are still using pen and paper.
A 2004 study by the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor found that microfinance lenders that do have automated information systems – around half – often find them costly and difficult to maintain.
The idea for the new partnership came out of last year’s IBM ‘Innovation Jam’, a global brainstorming initiative involving clients, partners, and employees in 104 countries.
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