Information and Communication Technologies for Development

Smart Microloans Meeting Minutes
February 28, 2008

Microfinance
Build IT: so that the banks don’t have to come to the village
A number of banks operate on a common platform
Education: mitigate risk (entrepreneurship)
Reduce rates: ICT (competition between banks)
Personal ID card credit rating (MFI, bank)
Village Association: peer pressure, back –up from peers
High pay back rate
Banks starting to enter the market
Data confidentiality: largest bank in India ICICI, SKS scale-up with proceeds
High interest rates
Smart cards: no agent who knows the customer (continuum of interest rates  contingent on
credit)
lacks a human element
School training
Group enforcement of payback
Education
Implementing technology
What algorithm?
Banks competition
Questions:
1.) Personal vs. group
2.) Hardware/proposal for algorithm
Feasible Plan: take into account the issues
Contextualize: algorithm, software, smart cards, sms w/ cell phones, vandita.tewari@gmail.com
Lending tree
Not to intimidate people by forcing them to go to 4 different banks
Financial literacy: ISF
Increase market
Business Plan trust
Financial aptitude: land size (financial data: how much land, cows, transactional data: rating?)