Microfinance Focus, March 02, 2011: PlaNet Finance, an International microfinance support groups and Oliver Wyman, a management consulting firm has published a joint report “Beyond payments – Next generation Mobile Banking for the Masses” today. This work, sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, aimed to look at distribution strategies and second generation mobile microfinance products via pilots in West Africa and South-East Asia.

Drawing on their on-site experiences in pilots conducted in West Africa and in South-East Asia in the course of 2010, the study explains the challenges in deploying mobile microfinance and offer strategic and operational solutions.

Two distinct innovative models have been explored through the pilots:

•    The distribution of microfinance through mobile money via existing microfinance banks
•    The distribution of microfinance through a virtual microfinance bank, operating as a pure mobile player.

“The study outlines that the benefits of these models include a more than twofold increase in access to banking, 20-50% lower operational costs for the microfinance institution and revenue or market share benefits for the Mobile Network Operator”, say Arnaud Ventura, co-founder and Vice President of PlaNet Finance Group.

The main conclusions of the report are:

•    Mobile Microfinance can have a significant impact on increasing financial services access for unbanked subscribers by eliminating all the disadvantages of physical bank branches. The benefits of this service are both social and economic.
•    It is a cost-effective way for banks and MFIs to reach the masses by capitalizing on the widespread penetration of telecom distribution networks.

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