Virtual Conference Day 1, Session 2: Should an MFI in a country without any existing m-banking infrastructure create its own m-banking system?

by Guest Blogger : Wednesday, September 8, 2010

The conference is taking place right here on the blog, no registration is required. Just post your comments using the “Leave a reply” option at the bottom of each thread.

This conversation is moderated by Aleksandr-Alain Kalanda, Chief Executive Officer of Opportunity Bank of Malawi.  Daryl Skoog, Chief Technology Officer of the Opportunity International Network, will also be participating.

When my team at Opportunity Bank first started considering m-banking back in 2007, there was no other m-banking system in the country.  Some banks were considering it, but in a very limited way where current customers could just check balances over their mobile phones.  We were very excited about a much bigger vision – a vision to bring our services and products to unbanked people (especially in rural areas) via their phones.  We decided to create our own system that was successfully launched in May of this year.  We are happy with our system but it took longer and was more expensive and complicated to implement than we had expected.

I’ve spoken with many of my colleagues in microfinance around the world about this topic and many find themselves in the same position I was in a few years ago. They are very excited about the potential of m-banking but there is currently no service in their country that they can easily link into.  Based on my experience, I would recommend that MFIs make sure they have substantial financial, technical and human resources before going down this path.  Specifically, some of the pre-requisites should be:

•    Proven track record to implement complex technology-based projects
•    A strong core banking IT infrastructure that is able to handle large volumes of data flow
•    Substantial financial resources to pay not only for the technological solution but also for the human resources, the agent network and a significant marketing campaign.

In order to start the discussion, here are some questions I’m interested in hearing your thoughts on:

1.    For all those MFIs like us who are in countries without an existing m-banking service, what approaches are you considering?

2.    Have any other MFIs started building an m-banking service on their own?  What have your experiences been?

3.    The paper discussed some alternatives to MFIs building a service on their own, especially the option of working as a group with other MFIs to combine financial and technical resources to launch a service.  Is anyone interested in pursuing this approach?

4.    For those MFIs who have decided not to build an m-banking service on their own, are you considering other ways of using phones to improve customer service (e.g., for clients to receive information, loan officers to track info, etc.)?

TAGS: Guest Blogger, Malawi, Microfinance, Mobile Banking, Technology

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52 Comments RSS 2.0

  1. September 8th, 2010 at 9:11 am, pranav ()

    Dear Sirs,
    Need to understand the regulations around MBanking and starting a system to facilitate remote payments. In various countries, banking regulations need to be conformed to which may inhibit cash tranfers. Request views on how this has been ‘tackled’ in your case

  • September 8th, 2010 at 9:13 am, Claudia McKay ()

    Thanks for joining us Aleksandr. I know many people are curious about your decision to develop an m-banking service from scratch. You’ve given a little bit of a highlight above. Can you tell us more about what your challenges were and what you would do differently if you were starting the process now?

  • September 8th, 2010 at 9:14 am, Claudia McKay ()

    Hi Pranav, thanks for your question. As you say, the regulations vary from country to country on what is allowed as regards to m-banking. Aleksandr, I know this was an issue for you in Malawi. Can you share how you ‘tackled’ the issue with the Reserve Bank of Malawi?

  • September 8th, 2010 at 9:22 am, Joen Moth-Poulsen ()

    Dear Alexandr-Alain. I presume that your company financed the entire setup in Malawi?
    At my university in Denmark we made an investigation on the M-Pesa system in Kenya, and what I found as the most striking thing about m-banking is the vast number of positive externalities such system creates. From economics we know that markets with externalities are unlikely to work efficiently due to private interest rather than societal interest – just like the unregulated m-banking business.

    My point is that, since m-banking and microfinance obviously add a lot of value – not only to the private enterprise and the customer, but to the society as whole – it seems logic that the national government and/or organizations should subsidize/support private initiatives to introduce such systems.

    Why do you think that is not the case?

  • September 8th, 2010 at 9:23 am, Aleksandr ()

    We did need to discuss the concept of m-banking with the Reserve Bank of Malawi after our initial research as they have to approve every product in the banking sector.
    Thankfully, they liked and approved the idea especially since it was a bank-led solution (we have a commercial banking license in Malawi).

  • September 8th, 2010 at 9:24 am, John Owens ()

    Compliance with bank regulations on electronic banking is important for MFI banks to understand and manage before they offer m-banking services. This is true even in counties where mobile money platforms exist that banks want to link up with. The e-banking checklist issued by the Central Bank of the Philippines is a good place to start with but each Central Bank has different regulations on electronic banking so make sure to check these out first. CGAP now has an excellent online library to check out what the regulations are in your country at http://www.cgap.org/p/site/c/template.rc/1.11.135547/

  • September 8th, 2010 at 9:29 am, John Owens ()

    Here is the electronic banking checklist issued by the Philippine Central Bank back in 2000 but I still think it is quite useful and relevant today for any MFI planning to start offer m-banking services:

    http://www.cgap.org/p/site/c/template.rc/1.9.44827/

  • September 8th, 2010 at 9:30 am, Claudia McKay ()

    Hi Joen,
    Interesting point. So far we have seen MNO-led implementations (like M-PESA), some bank-led implementations and an interesting MNO/bank implementation in Pakistan where Telenor purchased a majority stake in Tameer Microfinance Bank to offer an m-banking service. I have heard of some governments considering a public system but none has yet been launched.

    One of the reasons why it’s difficult for MFIs and small banks to start a system is the challenge of developing a wide-spread agent network. Have any organizations here started an agent network? Or Aleksandr could you tell us more about the merchant shops you use as agents for your service?

  • September 8th, 2010 at 9:30 am, Aleksandr ()

    Joen
    the bank used its capital to launch this service and relied on partnerships to do things which it could not do on its own from a funding and risk management point of view. The partnerships did not include direct Government subsidies because our business case showed that it is a sustainable business on its own.

  • September 8th, 2010 at 9:35 am, Eugene Amusin(Citi Microfinance) ()

    Hi Aleksandr,

    I think you raise an important component of making m-banking work, which is the involvement of partners.

    All stakeholders (MFI, regulator, MNO, bank, and retail agent network (if applicable)) should be partners in bringing m-banking solution to the market. The MFI is in a unique position to offer the point of view and understanding of behaviour of the underlying users of the m-banking solution.

  • September 8th, 2010 at 9:38 am, Aleksandr ()

    Claudia,
    Establishing an agent network is one of the most difficult things to do for many reasons. Our solution does not involve receipt of deposits through agents but withdrawal of cash from them by the clients. This appears to simplify things a little but it is still not easy to enlist agents with adequate liquidity to serve the clients. Establishing of agents has to be based on certain criteria and we found that most did not meet the needed criteria and thus we settled on using one big agent who has 68 retail/agri-shops across the country because they have liquidity and capacity to understand us as we share almost the same vision.

  • September 8th, 2010 at 9:39 am, Ms. Fabiana Pastor ()

    Hello Aleksandr, my name is Fabiana Pastor I am in charge of the Innovation area at BancoSol from Bolivia. The bank decided to start its mobile phone strategy with basic SMS information services for customers before introducing more complex m-banking transactions. Banco Sol’s 400,000 customers can use their mobile phones to check account balances, receive information on the date and amount of their next loan installment, and transfer funds from one of their accounts to another. For now, BancoSol wants to understand how their customers interact with this technology before considering full banking services via mobile phones. In this regard, we would like to hear your suggestions about the main indicators we must check and supervise Thank you.

  • September 8th, 2010 at 9:40 am, Sarah Rotman ()

    Aleksandr: I’m curious what transactions you actually offer with your mobile banking system. Are customers able to repay loans or is it mostly transfers between customers are this point?

  • September 8th, 2010 at 9:42 am, Kabir ()

    Hi, Alexandr and Daryl, thanks again for your time today. OI Malawi has a reputation for not only investing in technologies but also being open to new ideas and new ways to service customers and grow. OI Malawi is different from other MFIs and different from others in the OI family. So what is the secret sauce? I ask because clearly there is a link between how MFI’s approach all their technology decisions and the success they see when there is an opportunity to develop something new, like a service involving cell phones. Despite their size and position in their respective markets, their approach to technology investments is the one factor that binds MF providers like OI Malawi, Tameer, Equity, Xac…

  • September 8th, 2010 at 9:43 am, Michael ()

    Greetings and thank you for availing your time. I am interested to see to what extent the decision to go it alone for OI in Malawi was driven by your assessment of the Zain Zap system as a viable alternative. In other words did you consider leveraging what would (if in fact successful) be a pre-existing and widely distributed MNO agent network to provide the branchless banking function for OI’s clients? For instance in Kenya you have Equity Bank and Safaricom collaborating on the M-Kesho account.

  • September 8th, 2010 at 9:44 am, Milton Cevallos ()

    In Ecuador the first initiative about the mbanking is sponsored by the government. According to your experience, do you have advice on the models of success of this technology to initiate the steps of a possible implementation?

  • September 8th, 2010 at 9:45 am, Gabriel Metz ()

    Regarding regulations: m-banking does not necessarily imply electronic money and “Mobile e-money”. For instance, at XacBank, account-holders can directly transact out/from their accounts. Same for agents: each cash-in/ cash-out operations is immediately settled by debiting/crediting the agent account at XacBank (real time). A XacBank customer will also be able to send money to an unbanked person (provided the recipient has a mobile phone…).

  • September 8th, 2010 at 9:52 am, Luis Prieto ()

    Although currently we do not find ourselves specifically in one of the forementioned circumstances we have heard that successful cases in the past have been possible due to large investments and participation on the part of telephone companies/mobile network operators. We would like to know, in your experience (Opportunity Bank), how dependent are the MFIs on the support and participation of these companies when the MFI is the entity that wants to begin this initiative?

  • September 8th, 2010 at 9:53 am, Sarah Rotman ()

    Gabriel: But don’t you think that even in the case of immediate cash-in/cash-out that happens in real-time with an agent account, regulation will still come into play? The use of agents will always require some sort of clarity from the regulators.

  • September 8th, 2010 at 9:53 am, Daryl Skoog ()

    Kabir,
    I think what sets OIBM apart has been developed from the very beginning of the institution.
    1. They view technology as a way to serve their customers better than through traditional cash only delivery systems. The utilization of the smart card and biometrics helped their customers gain access to banking services at an affordable price. This started the reputation of service and trust.
    2. The stability of management at OIBM has been excellent. They have developed their staff from within and continue to promote the top achievers into more influential positions. The culture of the organization remains stable and the energy to contribute comes from staff that are confident that if they work hard and make a contribution, they will be rewarded.
    3. OIBM has a good working relationship with the regulator in Malawi. You must recognize that a business is not a standalone island, but a part of a community that requires cooperation between the private sector and the government.
    4. the customer trust in OIBM has come from seeing that they deliver on what they say. Adding to the delivery channels is enabled because the customers believe in OIBM.

  • September 8th, 2010 at 9:54 am, Joen Moth-Poulsen ()

    Milton: Thanks for providing a government sponsored example.

    Claudia: Do you have other examples?

    Fabiana: Interesting to hear about your case in Bolivia. I’m currently in Argentina, where the process is real slow and the mobile banking sector is at a very infantile state, although I spot great potential with only 30% banked, mobile penetration rate at 130% and great geographical barriers that MB should be able to overcome relatively easy. But still, people are very uninformed apparently.

  • September 8th, 2010 at 9:56 am, Gabriel Metz ()

    Regarding setting m-banking on its own: if it involves a network of 3rd party agents, it requires strong capacities, as pointed by Aleksandr. However, an MFI may start by more basic features (informational, account to account transfers, transfers between branches…). for mbanking with an agent network, a mobile-banking initiative started by a group of MFIs and possibly full-fledged banks may be more suited to microfinance. Telco-led systems are usually targeting money transfers and it takes a lot of time and negotiations to adapt the system to microfinance. For instance: in Senegal, Société Générale (a bank) has started to offer mbanking services (Yoban’tel), in close cooperation with a leading microfinance institution (CMS). The service is not tied to a specific MNO and it will be interesting to see how this new service will compete with the telco-led Orange Money services launched a few months before.

  • September 8th, 2010 at 10:04 am, Claudia McKay ()

    Joen, The Maldives Monetary Authority is trying to create a single, interoperable system in the Maldives. It is a very interesting project where all banks and all MNOs will be a part of the system. Also, it will be the first m-banking service tied into the national ID system. This means a customer can sign up from anywhere using their national ID number. It’s very exciting BUT the project has also raised issues about the business case for private sector companies to get involved in important functions like developing an agent network, etc. It has not launched yet but will be an interesting government-led system to watch.

  • September 8th, 2010 at 10:08 am, Gabriel Metz ()

    to reply to Sarah: indeed the use of agents will always require checking regulations and some constructive meetings with regulatory authorities. There are very good arguments to provide if the settlements are done real-time. I take the opportunity here to point to the very good arguments provided in a paper of B&M Gates foundation: Regulating New Banking Models that can Bring Financial services to all (downladable: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1664644).

  • September 8th, 2010 at 10:13 am, Sarah Rotman ()

    Michael, let me quickly address your question on Zap’s service in Malawi and let Alexandr fill in more details. We studied this case very closely while writing the paper.

    When Opportunity Bank of Malawi first thought about establishing a mobile banking system, Zap had not yet been launched and Zain’s plans for launch were still quite vague. Opportunity decided that it wasn’t practical to just “wait around” for Zain to get its system up and running, and decided to start on its on. Zap has subsequently launched in Malawi, but it has had a slow start.

    Another reason for not linking to Zap was that Opportunity didn’t want to be dependent on third parties. While it could have been quicker in the short-term to link to Zap, over the long-term they thought it would be better to be independent from other providers.

    This does raise an important question of whether it is better to just wait for a mobile operator (or other player) to launch something or whether to take the initiative yourself. This largely depends on the capacity of the microfinance institution. In the paper, we recommend that most MFIs NOT develop their own system, but instead wait to link into something already established.

  • September 8th, 2010 at 10:15 am, Aleksandr ()

    Fabian
    I assume your m-banking system is generating reports on how the clients are using it – especially in terms of funds transfers. Current frequency of use could be one indicator of whether it could be adopted by clients when you have added more complex transactions. You may also do more research on other uses like making 3rd party payments using mbanking.

  • September 8th, 2010 at 10:15 am, Claudia McKay ()

    Daryl, as Chief Technology Officer of the Opportunity International Network, you advise partner organizations in different countries ranging from Kenya (where the MFI has linked into M-PESA) to Malawi, where they obviously built their own system. Based on these experiences so far, do you have any advice for MFIs in countries that don’t have an m-banking system yet? Can you share a little of how organizations in different contexts view the opportunities and challenges of m-banking?

  • September 8th, 2010 at 10:16 am, Kabir ()

    Hi, Gabriel, I hope you are keeping well. Interesting example about Societe Generale/CMS. Can you tell us more about the product and what CMS is getting out of working with Societe General? We have been discussing how few MFIs are in a position to launch m-banking on their own (configuring the service on the cell phone, setting up agents for cash conversion, etc). You are saying that MFIs may be better placed to work with “full-fledged” banks to make this work.

  • September 8th, 2010 at 10:17 am, Aleksandr ()

    Sarah
    we are offering informational services (block sms on promotions the bank is running and some personalized messages on loan repayments etc) and transactional services (check balance, pay a third party, transfer funds etc) on our mbanking platform.

  • September 8th, 2010 at 10:22 am, Aleksandr ()

    Kabir
    OI Malawi believes in being market oriented and conducting thorough market research to truly understand customer needs. We don’t just do things for the sake of it or to copy others. We do things which create a competitive advantage for us. This entails adequate investment in people, systems and strategic alliances to do the necessary. We are glad that OIN has been supportive in every respect to make banking for poor possible with innovations that ultimately drive delivery costs down.

  • September 8th, 2010 at 10:23 am, Philippe BREUL ()

    Thanks Daryl for taking time for this discussion.
    You addressed some key requirements to envisage MBanking by MF(Bank):
    - The stability of management (and leadership)
    - good working relationship with the regulator
    - Trust from customers
    But what do you think of :
    - reliable technical environment (energy, transmission, …) which is difficult to set-up considering you must provide the service 7/24 real time
    - dynamic business process management which is lacking most of the time (business process assurance is mostly the case)
    - real-time 7/24 customer service (mainly by phone) which is very difficult to achieve
    Thanks a lot for your point of view.

  • September 8th, 2010 at 10:24 am, Daryl Skoog ()

    Claudia,
    Among other considerations with this question, ‘size matters’. For many MFI institutions, the sheer volume of customers needed to ‘go it alone’ is prohibitive so if there is an alternative ‘community’ service available like MPESA in Kenya or Globokasnet in Peru, or Nationlink in the Philippines, I would say the MFIs should look at connecting to the service rather than trying to build it themselves.
    As they grow their business and mature their technology, they can reconsider later if a proprietary network makes more sense but in the beginning, finding someone to help carry the load of such things as merchant agent network setup is valuable.

  • September 8th, 2010 at 10:33 am, Aleksandr ()

    Michael/Sarah
    in addition to what Sarah has said what is important is the motivation behind m-banking. We wanted to offer our banking products using that platform and lower transaction costs for our clients and ourselves. This also meant we wanted better control of the products and services being offered and avoid being tied to a single provider of the avenue and we also wanted to reach people of both major MNO networks.
    Our Central Bank is very happy with bank led solution for a lot of reasons and we understand that these days clients are demanding interest on the electronic value. Can they earn interest on the money in the m-wallet without involving a bank in a telco led solution?

  • September 8th, 2010 at 10:33 am, Philippe BREUL ()

    From experience and in the literature, we see that the additive model (providing the same kind of services through a new channel on Mobile) bring limited benefits (especially considering the considerable initial investment).
    I’m of the view that only considering transformational model (providing other services – potentially to new clients – like money transfers, governmental payments, ..) can justify a MF(Bank) to launch its own initiative. I’m also of the view that sharing the infrastructure with other MF(Banks) would bring the additional revenues making the Business Case somehow acceptable.
    Equity Bank starting its own initiative, then partnering with M-Pesa and the new initiatives from Wizzit outside South Africa seem to confirm my point !?
    What do you think ?

  • September 8th, 2010 at 10:33 am, Gabriel Metz ()

    Hi Kabir. I do not have detailed info about Société Générale/CMS Yoban’tel mbanking. In fact it is mobile money transfer and services payment. In Senegal, as in a lot of other countries, the revenue that MMT services may generate is a great incentives to start mobile banking service. I do believe that this is the main driver for CMS, a credit union with a good network of branches and eager to be innovative. By the way, the prospect of reaping profits from money transfers is certainly both an incentive and something that may actually delay the launch of mobile banking services: each partner (MFI, bank, MNO) is trying to reap the benefits …almost to the point of “killing the goose”.

  • September 8th, 2010 at 10:35 am, Luis Prieto ()

    Joen (or whomever),

    As in Argentina´s case mentioned above regarding uninformed clients, what different approaches have been taken to overcome this barrier and to encourage (make it possible) clients to utilize the m-banking service? Have any been met with success? We are looking to identify what specific information needs to be provided and how to provide it. (example, group teaching sessions, informational packet etc)

  • September 8th, 2010 at 10:40 am, Daryl Skoog ()

    Philippe,
    Good points that you make. Energy is always a challenge for us and we have been studying ways to provide 7/24 energy when the electrical grid isn’t available. I solid oxide fuel cells are a favorite from my perspective and we will be telling more about this technology in the future. As for communications, the reliability of internet for us has been very poor so the development of ways to take advantage of the mobile phone networks has been important. We believe that the mobile phone trend will continue and the build out of mobile networks will continue to be a way for us to handle branch and remote level transactions.
    Process management and change control certainly are a critical part of the reliability formula (once you have a stable electrical and communications infrastructure) in our case my unit provides second line technology support for our portfolio management system as well as other critical system components for our partners. Having a cooperative relationship between the technology team on the ground in country and a helpdesk/consulting team offsite has been very helpful for our operations.
    7/24 coverage for the partners is critical and we have used a ‘follow the sun’ approach to this. We have two helpdesks that are working partner trouble tickets on a 18 hour per day basis. Locations for much of targeted support is in Africa with helpdesk locations in the US and India. We also have consultants located on a global basis as close to our partners as possible so that we can be responsive to needs as quickly as possible.

  • September 8th, 2010 at 10:47 am, John Owens ()

    Luis: We have found that instructional videos and handy wallet guides in the local dialect with screen shots for sample transactions help make it easier to teach potential clients. We are also now working more closely with the mobile money cash in and cash out agents to promote m-banking services similar to the way that third-party agent networks are used in places like Colombia. We are finding that it is cheaper to identify local merchant-partners to promote m-banking services rather than hiring full time staff or contractors to promote m-banking services offered by rural banks in the Philippines.

  • September 8th, 2010 at 10:48 am, Aleksandr ()

    Luis,
    In this game strategic partnerships are crucial and should be based on win-win principles. None should have a dominant position. In our case the MNOs are after increasing their revenues through airtime purchases and outreach. We have some similar objectives and that is a good basis for a working relationship.

    However, we are dependent on them to provide the telecommunication infrastructure and collect the revenues for us. Clients will be charged sms charges for each session directly from the account where they purchase airtime.

  • September 8th, 2010 at 10:57 am, Philippe BREUL ()

    Thanks a lot Daryl for your detailed and illustrative answer on my first comment on basic requirements.
    Regarding my second point on Business strategy / case, I would be curious to know if you plan to reach break even in the coming 3 years taking or not into account the initial investment (which from my knowledge has been funded by a generous and wise foundation)?
    More generally, is the funding of initial investment required to envisage a MF(Bank) initiative ? Thanks

  • September 8th, 2010 at 10:58 am, Kabir ()

    I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts on MF providers working as a group to launch a service via cell phones. Has anyone tried it? How would that work?

  • September 8th, 2010 at 10:59 am, Joen Moth-Poulsen ()

    Dear Luis,
    I arrived in Argentina in August so my knowledge on the specific market and promotion strategies are still very limited. But so is their effort I think. The Bank Santander Rio teamed up with the telegiant Movistar to launch a mobile banking service and Banco Frances tried to do it on their own, however both these allowed only information MB services. To give an indication, I went to all these companies and asked for information on mobile banking services but none of the employees I met knew about it! The information on their websites is very limited too.

  • September 8th, 2010 at 11:05 am, Joen Moth-Poulsen ()

    I’m personally a big fan of the project of the Wizzit boys in South Africa. These are young locals that promote the Wizzit MB service and subsequently teach customers how to use it on site. To me this option appears to be the most profound and effective teaching method, which at the same time is relatively cheap (promoters are paid on commission) and balances on the edge of ‘strategic CSR’ – one of the new buzzwords in the international community.

  • September 8th, 2010 at 11:10 am, Daryl Skoog ()

    Philippe,
    Your question about break even is something that I would ask Aleksandr to respond to as he has better visibility on the breakdown of project cost vs. his revenues. I would expect (by business case) that there be breakeven within 3 years but the determination in reality is going to be factored by overall market adoption. In the case of a more community approach like MPESA where much of the heavy lifting for agent network setup and customer education is provided, we see a quicker breakeven. We learned prior to adoption of MPESA that 80% of our customers already had MPESA experience. Within 2 months of implementation, we were experiencing a 40% adoption rate with our clients. That helps to get us to breakeven much faster…then it comes down to negotiating a good rate with the service provider as volumes increase.
    I would say that in other community cases like with Globokasnet that the investment on the side of the MFI can be minimal as Globokas relies on transaction volumes to cover their costs rather than charging the MFI a large up front fee. Again as I mentioned to Claudia, the economics of your size is a big factor in determining whether you make the upfront investment to ‘go it alone’ or to connect with a community service.

  • September 8th, 2010 at 11:16 am, Daryl Skoog ()

    Kabir,
    A variation on the theme you are suggesting is the Globokasnet model that we are seeing in Latin America. The model depends somewhat on an anchor customer that can bring sufficient volume to the network that covers their investment costs. Following the anchor customer, the MFIs can actually act in their own self interest rather than organizing and projecting their volumes to attract the service provider. What this model enables is a small investment on the part of the mfi participants with the benefit of an established switching network, agent network, market research,and legal and regulatory matters taken care of by the service provider.

  • September 8th, 2010 at 11:28 am, Claudia McKay ()

    Thanks to everyone for participating in the second session of the virtual conference. The subject of this session was whether MFIs in a country without an m-banking service should develop their own service. This session touched on many topics from regulation to products to critical success factors to who is best placed to create m-banking services. Daryl made the point that most MFIs do not have the scale to justify the investment of an m-banking service and the tasks (unrelated to MFI core competency) such as setting up an agent network that are required. Aleksandr pointed out, however, that there are serious disadvantages of waiting and linking into an m-banking service run by an MNO. You are then always dependent on the service provider and some central banks won’t allow MNO-led services. There are still a lot of unanswered questions and I’m excited to see more models develop over time and to learn from them. A big thank you to Aleksandr and Daryl for sharing their experiences from Opportunity International.

    You can continue posting comments on this post although the session is officially over. Please come back tomorrow for Day 2 of the virtual conference. We’ll be starting at 10am GMT (6am eastern) with a discussion on using MFIs as agents in an m-banking service. The discussion will be moderated by WING Money in Cambodia which uses MFI networks as agents. See you then!

  • September 8th, 2010 at 11:28 am, Joen Moth-Poulsen ()

    If anybody is working on mobile banking in Argentina or knows someone who does I would me more than happy to exchange contacts…joenmoth@hotmail.com

  • September 8th, 2010 at 11:30 am, Michael ()

    Has the OI team considered for the future as a complement to its own proprietary agent network looking at potentially having 3rd parties recruit and manage additional agents to increase its coverage more efficiently and perhaps cost effectively? Also as a corollary to this, would OI be open to sharing agents with other MFIs and financial institutions?

  • September 9th, 2010 at 1:32 am, Zee khan ()

    Hello,
    I am from Pakistan and Pakistan has recently seen its first mobile banking product launch. But the associated cost are too high and hence people are diverting back to old methods. I want to learn about the cost benefit, technological requirements and success stories about mobile banking.

  • September 9th, 2010 at 2:00 am, Bayaraa ()

    Dears,

    First of all, need to understand the regulations and restrictions around banking system, that way it would give you the capability of how far you can go to develop the remote transactions.
    From our experience in Mongolia, young locals can promote the service and consistently teach customers how to use it on site in real life would be the good approach.
    One important this is the involvement of partners who you are going to work with.

  • September 9th, 2010 at 4:55 am, Bayaraa ()

    As Milton Cevallos mentioned above; it says.
    In Ecuador the first initiative about the mbanking is sponsored by the government.
    Is there any experience of supporting the MBANKING after the first steps have been taken for further reach in whole society…?

  • September 9th, 2010 at 10:45 am, Emily ()

    Opportunity Malawi is the success story in bringing technology to microfinance clients. So in light of questions/comments above, how can lessons from Africa (Kenya and Malawi, most notably) be applied to Latin America? For more from Daryl, he also talked tech in yesterday’s Opp blog post: http://www.opportunity.org/blog/update-innovations-in-technology/

    And he will be leading a breakout session at fall microfinance conference on how innovations in technology, like m-banking, are effectively used in microfinance. List of all breakout sessions: http://www.opportunity.org/opportunity-microfinance-conference/breakout-sessions/

    Thank you, CGAP, for a very interesting session.

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