meda technology for financial services april 2013
DESCRIPTION
MEDA is working on the cutting edge of using technology to bring financial services to the 2.5 billion people worldwide that are currently unbanked. Read here about our projects in Zambia, Nicaragua, Haiti, and Afghanistan and what we're learning about leveraging mobile phones, prepaid cards, and vouchers to promote client-focused product innovation.TRANSCRIPT
April 2013
www.meda.org | @MEDA_IRF
MEDA |Technology for Financial Inclusion
Agenda and Contact Information
Contact Us
Chrissy Martin
Nicole Pasricha
online:
BranchlessBanking.co
Twitter:
@MEDA_IRF
Agenda
MEDA Overview
Technical Expertise
Product Innovation
Institutional Capacity Building
Research and Knowledge Sharing
2
Photos Credited to MEDA, unless otherwise noted
MEDA Overview
• MEDA History
• Technology as a Cross-
Cutting Solution
MEDA History
4
MEDA’s first investment was in 1953. Since that time MEDA has been designing and
implementing innovative and effective market-driven economic development
programs that improve the welfare of millions of people around the world.
As a leading-edge risk taker in financial services and market development, we
collaboratively create business solutions to poverty by working in partnership
with the poor, and the institutions that serve them.
Technology as a Cross-Cutting Solution
Health
Women
Agriculture Youth
Inclusive Rural
Finance
Savings
MEDA has 6 Areas of Focus, which are defined by our technical expertise and knowledge of specific customer
segments. We believe that technology can improve service delivery across all 6 areas. As project managers,
we are leveraging mobile phones, electronic vouchers, and payment cards to more efficiently and effectively
bring business solutions to poverty to unbanked and rural populations, especially women and youth.
• Product Innovation
• Institutional Capacity Building
• Research and Knowledge Sharing
Technical Expertise
Product Innovation
MEDA’s service application approach (rather than a product led approach) recognizes that institutions must take
a holistic, user-centric approach to product design and innovation in order to target specific consumer groups.
To achieve this, we focus on demand-side market research & building capacity of financial service providers.
Related Projects
Sogebank Branchless Banking Project, Haiti
In partnership with OpenRev and IFC, MEDA is supporting
Sogebank, the largest commercial bank in Haiti, in developing
a agent-based branchless banking product designed
specifically for customers with low-balance savings accounts.
We are working directly with Sogebank staff to conduct
market research, map processes and procedures, conduct
testing and prototyping of new pre-paid cards, and pilot the
product to prepare for nationwide launch.
E-Payments for Agriculture, Zambia
MEDA is working with Zoona (formerly Mobile Transactions
Zambia) an independent mobile payments provider that does
not fit the telco-led or bank-led model.
Together, we piloted and scaled a voucher product with the
cotton buying company Dunavant. The product provides a
service to smallholder famers to manage their income while
attracting more money into the Zoona e-money system and
educating a new potential customer group about the benefits
mobile money.
What we’re learning
Scale still comes from creative, demand-drive
product development, starting with human-
centered market research to understand
customers..
Products must be thought of as services, with a
focus on the end-user and how the service fits
into their everyday life and current economic
relationships (formal and informal.)
Mobile money ecosystems are developed by
creating linkages around specific user groups, in
order that customers can conveniently receive
and spend money using the same system, such
as linked suppliers and customers in a value
chain.
Product Innovation
Photo Credit: World Bank
Institutional Capacity Building
We are working with financial institutions to undergo operational and institutional changes necessary to take
advantage of the potential cost savings and efficiencies from leveraging mobile and card-based solutions, and
to move beyond money transfers to sophisticated, technology-enabled financial services for the poor.
Related Projects
Savings Promotion for Loan Clients, Nicaragua
MEDA launched MiCrédito in 2004, and is now helping the
newly independent MFI to expand outreach quickly through
branchless banking. We are assisting with the development of
mulitple strategies, including a partnership with BAC, a
commercial bank, to provide debit cards and savings accounts
to MiCrédito’s loan clients.
Mutahid Mobile Money Strategy Development, Afghanistan
MEDA integrated mobile money into a larger Risk Assessment
conducted with Muthahid Microfinance Institution, in order to
ensure that mobile repayments of loans will reduce risk of
fraud and provide convenience to customers.
Technolinks for Financial Services, Zambia
We improved Zoona’s Business Intelligence capacity by
supporting the use of QlikView and helping to design flexible,
on-demand reporting tools for Zoona managers and investors.
We re-conceptualized the Zoona agent training program,
adding incentives and producing videos for continual, on-
demand learning to improve agent performance.
What we’re learning
Despite the convenience of mobile money
products, institutions cannot bypass basic
product development processes including risk
assessment and documentation of operational
work flows.
Agent networks are critical to any branchless
banking project and require on-going training,
structured incentives, and monitoring of
transactions for potential fraud.
Real-time collection of data through mobile
devices and flexible Business Intelligence (BI)
software allows management to understand
clients and continually improve products.
Institutional Capacity Building
Research and Knowledge Sharing
MEDA is committed to supporting the efforts of our partners to research and disseminate knowledge on best
practices for the use of technology for financial inclusion. We are also committed to sharing lessons learned in
our own projects, from both our successes and our failures. Below, find a limited sample of these activities.
Related Projects
Research for USAID Support to the Better Than Cash Alliance
MEDA conducted 2 mobile payments assessments, with USAID
and NetHope, for USAID Missions in Uganda and Tanzania to
show how implementing partners can benefit from a switch to
mobile payments for per diems and field staff payments.
In addition to conducting in-country workshops, MEDA helped
to design two new tools for Missions and their partners: a
Cost-Benefit Analysis Tool for mobile payments and the USAID
Financial Documentation Tool for Mobile Payments.
Payments for Progress Documentary Film on G2P Payments
MEDA designed and produced a 15-minute documentary film
for the World Bank on the evolution of payment systems using
technology for G2P cash transfers, and the impact of the
payments on financial inclusion for the ultra-poor in Pakistan.
We also produced knowledge sharing products, including
client stories and infographics, for dissemination to the wider
public.
Knowledge Sharing Activities
Technolinks for Financial Services Website
All case studies and resources from our Technolinks project in
Nicaragua and Zambia are posted on our Knowledge
Management project site, BranchlessBanking.co, which also
includes a blog for continuous updates from the field.
NetHope Payments Innovations Working Group
MEDA is the co-chair of the USAID/NetHope Payment
Innovations Working Group, which provides a knowledge
sharing opportunity for 10 international NGO members to
learn more about electronic payments and develop tangible
tools that the members can use in their programs
TechChange e-Course on Mobiles for Development
MEDA helped to design and moderate 2 online courses on
‘Mobile for Development’, reaching over 70 development
practitioners from 30 countries for TechChange, an
organization specialized in training development professionals
on the use of technology. For more, www.TechChange.org.
Research and Knowledge Sharing
