Leveraging Information and Communication Technology for the Base of the Pyramid data sheet 1138 Views
Author:
Carvalho, Alexandre de, Lucie Klarsfeld, Francois Lepicard
Publication Date:
Sep 2011
Publication Type:
Report/White paper
Abstract:
This document presents the conclusions of the study “Leveraging ICT for the BoP” sponsored by AFD-Proparco, Ericsson, ICCO, France Telecom-Orange, and TNO and conducted by Hystra and Ashoka from October 2010 to June 2011.
This study aimed to learn from “what works” in terms of full projects (as opposed to technologies) combining both an economically viable model and socio-economic impacts on their end-users, in the field of ICT for development (ICT4D). This work is thus based on the screening of existing projects led by various types of actors (social entrepreneurs, NGOs, private companies…), in 4 sectors of “development” where ICT has already shown it could play a key role: healthcare, education, agriculture, and financial services. 15 of the most ground breaking market-based business models, with a proven scale and results on the ground showing that ICT can be a lever improving the living standards of the BoP, are analysed in depth in the report to support the main conclusions.
Mobile coverage reaches over 90% of the world's population, but mobile services in traditionally rural, lower-income areas have lagged compared to opportunities in more urban areas. One company in India, Ekgaon, is tapping into the rural market by bringing financial, agricultural, and citizen-oriented mobile services to under-served regions. Vijay Pratap Singh Aditya, CEO of Ekgaon, explained to MobileActive.org how his company developed and evolved over the years.
With a focus on under-served markets, Ekgaon partners with financial institutions, agricultural organizations, NGOs, and corporations to bring mobile services to those who need them. Users of the agricultural system receive personalized and customized soil nutrient management information and crop advice along with weather updates, market information, and alerts; users of the financial services use mobiles to manage savings, remittances, insurance, investments and mortgages; and citizen services allow users to monitor and report on the delivery of government programs.
Enables Post Bank Uganda and SACCO members to access financial services through a network of ATMs, point-of-sale terminals and mobile phones to provide linkage banking to millions of people in Uganda who are unbanked (approx 80%).
The Java application enables Post Bank Uganda and SACCO clients to access financial information and trigger financial transactions from mobiles, ATMs, and GPRS-enabled point-of-sale terminals.
Tool Category:
App resides and runs on a server
Key Features :
Easy-to-use menus
GPRS communication
Real time access to information, services, and products
ATMosphere: A System for ATM Microdeposit Services in Rural Contexts data sheet 1434 Views
Author:
Paik, Michael; Subramanian, Lakshminarayanan
Publication Date:
Apr 2009
Publication Type:
Report/White paper
Abstract:
This paper describes strategies to lower the cost
of providing Automated Teller Machine microdeposit services
in rural contexts. Microdeposits represent a growing market
in the developing world, but the cost of running a
conventional ATM network is prohibitive due to the capital
investment required to deploy networks and terminals.
Our novel contributions are to use the Short Message
Service (SMS) over high-penetration GSM cellular networks
in conjunction with a system using location awareness to
intelligently distribute available balances among machines.
This allows us to provide high levels of service while
simultaneously reducing risk to the financial institution and
lowering per-transaction cost.
Using a simulation of ATM usage patterns and
distributions, our primary results under our model are: (1)
transaction cost per user per year can be optimized to less
than USD 0.18 given an SMS loss rate of approximately 10%
while (2) customer withdrawal success rate can be maintained
at approximately 98% with (3) a maximum of 5% of funds on
deposit available in cash in ATMs at any given time.
These results make wide deployment of rural ATM services
by financial institutions feasible and economically viable in
the near term using existing commodity tech
