Innovations in Microfinance technologies

A day almost like any other … Mamadou Djiré is in charge of the Djicoroni Para outlet in Bamako, Mali. He is opening up the financial coop because several members will be arriving to withdraw funds from their current accounts or make deposits to cover loan payments. Mamadou takes out the cash drawer from the strongbox opens up his teller window and turns on the pocket computer with its AMIO Teller (Application Mobile d'Information sur les Opérations) software package. He enters his user name and password and the system shows him several menus. He checks the system date. The date is right. He checks his opening balance; The amount is right. He is ready to start the day's work. The first client wants to make a withdrawal. Mamadou consults the member's account on the pocket computer and compares it with the member's passbook. He updates the passbook by recording an automatic payment made on his loan yesterday, an operation that has not yet been entered in the passbook. He enters the transaction on the pocket computer which confirms that the funds are sufficient. Mamadou explains to the member that his handheld computer has all the information on account balances and transactions. The member is surprised that such a tiny computer can hold so much data. He also sees that the counter is now clear of paper documents. There are no more savings deposit slips, or journals to record transactions. He is able to take pride in his financial cooperative that can now offer modernized technical services to its members, although it has only limited means at its disposal. Fatoumata Kanakomo, a loan officer at the same outlet, is in her office waiting for a member who is applying for a loan. She checks the applicant's accounts on her handheld computer using the AMIO Credit application that contains the complete profile, savings deposits and loans of all those in her loan portfolio. She sees that her applicant is up to date in making payments on his current loan. When interviewing the member, she uses the handheld to calculate future loan repayment schedules. A little later she leaves the outlet to go out to meet with a group of women applying for a loan. With her handheld she calculates repayment scenarios for the loan along with the loan balances and remaining payments. The members are pleasantly surprised to have such a well-equipped …