Maximizing the Outreach of Microfinance in Nepal : The Case for a Central Technology Platform

World Bank

Washington, DC

关键词: ACCESS TO CAPITAL;    ACCESS TO CREDIT;    ACCESS TO FINANCE;    ACCESS TO FINANCIAL SERVICES;    ACCESS TO FORMAL FINANCE;   

RP-ID  :  46985

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This report addresses the establishmentof a centralized information and communication technology(ICT) platform for the microfinance sector in Nepal. It hasbeen shown from international experience that ICT improvesthe efficiency, transparency, and outreach of microfinanceinstitutions (MFIs) and reduces operational costs. There isan opportunity in Nepal to implement similar solutions, andthis report provides information on these solutions andoffers recommendations for implementing them in Nepal. Themicrofinance sector in Nepal has many players, but theseplayers have shown few real successes. The sector is largelyunsustainable, subsidy driven, and fragmented to the extentthat it might not meet the real needs of the country. Thisreport presents a new paradigm for introducing ICT in themicrofinance sector of Nepal.The centralized technologyplatform was chosen as opposed to telecom-led platforms dueto its ability to resolve most of the pertinent challengesthat Nepal's microfinance sector faces. The paradigmcan help remove most of the constraints that have limitedthe growth of MFIs and kept them from becoming sustainable,moving out to remote and rural areas, and providing moreloans to those that need them. In the traditional paradigm,MFIs acquire ICT in an ad hoc fashion and are able to use itonly partially to automate their operations.