 Insight
Mobile computing for micro finance
An innovative approach using mobile computing and a multitude of stakeholders is making waves in the microfinance sector in Andhra Pradesh
Background
More than 70% of India’s one billion population lives in villages of which about 40 million people live below the poverty line. They earn less than $1* a day and still strive to meet their both ends meet. The major hindrance in the development of the poor is not lack of opportunities, but the availability of the credit and the related support services to promote sustainable livelihood activities. Till a decade ago, rural poor were not considered in the financial domain of the mainstream financial institutions. The poor were not considered to be bankable and credit worthy. The local moneylenders had a field day by charging exorbitant interest rates and taking un-due advantage of the underprivileged and un-educated rural poor. During later years, the concept of microfinance gained popularity and the organizations like BASIX have provided innumerable services to the poor in promoting large number of sustainable livelihoods.
BASIX is one of the largest and the fastest growing microfinance institutions in India. BASIX group works with more than 100,000 rural poor households providing range of financial services including credit, savings, insurance and technical assistance and support services (TASS) in an integrated manner. BASIX operates in 10 states of India covering in excess of 10,000 villages for providing financial services in remotest of the places where the formal financial services are otherwise unavailable.
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