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IDB grants US$4M for technologies that expand financial services to poor
The Inter-American Development Bank’s Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) has approved a US$3.95 million grant for a programme to promote innovative technology solutions that expand access to financial services in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The programme, with a total cost of US$10 million, will consist of a series of individual projects that directly increase access to finance, reduce operational costs, or help deliver new financial products.
These projects will be designed and implemented by microfinance institutions, the IDB said in a press release.
Several rounds of calls for proposals – the first one in early 2010 – will help select individual projects based on their innovation and their capacity to achieve measurable results.
Institutions will initially be asked to submit project ideas.
The selected institutions will get support from the programme to develop a technology strategy and a project proposal.
A second selection process will determine which of the proposals will be implemented.
The goal of the overall programme is to provide first-time access to credit to 250,000 microentrepreneurs or low-income individuals.
The programme was launched at the Inter-American Forum on Microenterprise (Foromic), held in Arequipa, Peru, with an open-microphone workshop where microfinance institutions shared their needs and concerns on the use of new technologies to expand access to financial services.
Feedback gathered during the workshop is helping MIF define the selection criteria so the programme meets the needs of the microfinance community.
A strong emphasis will be placed on capturing and sharing the knowledge obtained during the implementation of each project.
Knowledge sharing will be promoted through an online community portal where institutions can present and discuss ideas, submit their project proposals, and share their experience executing their projects.
The MIF, an autonomous fund administered by the IDB, has been a major supporter of microfinance innovation in Latin America and the Caribbean since 1993.
The IDB is the main source of long-term financing for economic and social development in the region.
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