Technology Intervention in Microfinance:ASOMI's Experience

In the changed perspective of post-Malegam operation of microfinance, the need of the hour happens to be technology intervention vis-a-vis cutting down the cost. The RBI guidelines also urge to take the financial literacy as well as microfinance to the door-step of the financially poor. In ASOMI, state-of the- art technology is developed using the open source tools for managing the financial transactions, data-base, and preparing the reports. The growth in the portfolio and the expansion of the service area with the same size of the work-force clearly indicates at efficiency achieved through innovative technology intervention, though requiring development of the tools available. Experimentation with Business Correspondent model for the last few years and the experience of project implementation as a Technology Provider for six months suggest robust R&D activity in both software and hardware fronts to make it cost effective.