THE ASSOCIATION will help tier two and tier three MFIs in building capacity and adopting management information systems (MIS) to improve efficiency in their day-to-day operations. FINO, a sectoral entity, has been created to meet the needs of banking and MFI sectors that target the rural masses in India. FINO has been a pioneer in serving low-income households in urban and rural India. It provides biometric smart cards to microfinance institutions, banks, government and insurance companies; it also serves as business correspondent of three of the biggest banks in India.

The smart card facilitates conduct of financial services like savings, loans, insurance and remittances. The card issued, after capturing the KYC (Know Your Customer) details of the customer, acts as an e-passbook, storing all account details of the customer as well as the fingerprints of the customer, which are used to validate each transaction in a secure manner.

The solution deployed by FINO will aid ACCESS Development Services in its endeavours in the MFI sector. FINO will implement its MIS systems along with its various delivery channels, including mobiles, smart cards, micro-deposit machines (MDM’s) and credit bureau services to aid Access’s AmFA partners scale up their operations to the next level.

With this technology, ACCESS Development Services’ rural customers can now access doorstep banking with an array of financial and non-financial services. According to Mr. Manish Khera, CEO, FINO Ltd, “It is a very prestigious association for us. ACCESS Development Services is known for its commitment and dedication to the microfinance sector in India. With this association we see ACCESS Development Services touching the lives of many un-banked customers. We both share a common goal - that is to serve the ‘base of the pyramid customers’. This association will provide FINO the opportunity to deliver scalable low-cost solutions and also help us in our continued long-term growth”

Says Vipin Sharma, Chief Executive Officer, ACCESS Development Services, "We are extremely delighted to be associated with FINO. The tie-up will help us strengthen our relationship with the ACCESS Microfinance Alliance (AmFA) network MFIs by providing them state-of-the-art technology in partnership with FINO and making us reach the un-banked rural masses and help bridge the demand - supply gap in financial and non-financial services. This initiative will enable us to take financial inclusion to the next level."

Financial Information Network & Operations Ltd (FINO) is a multi-bank-promoted pioneer providing smart card-based multi-application solutions to the “un-banked” in the banking, micro-finance, insurance and government sectors, primarily located in rural and semi-urban India. FINO’s ethos is to become a sectoral venture for serving the rural masses. FINO executes end-to-end turnkey solutions for LFI’s, including hardware/software, system integration, transaction network, operations, maintenance and training. FINO helps organizations improve efficiencies, considerably reducing the overall project cost thereby. In fact, FINO’s concept is to take banking and banking technology to the un-banked masses of the country.

ACCESS Development Services is a national, technical services company with focus on livelihoods and micro finance. Set up with the support of CARE and DFID in March 2006, it is designed to provide technical assistance to a rapidly-growing livelihoods and microfinance sector, working with civil society organizations, government departments, corporate sector and multilateral / bilateral agencies. 

ACCESS focuses its efforts on the more under-served regions, helping to build local capacities and enhancing abilities to work to scale. ACCESS helps develop robust community-based models and demonstrate their efficacy as viable and sustainable institutional forms with a focus on building capacities of local partners in a region. Based on its knowledge and practice, ACCESS has developed a strategy on Livelihoods and Business Development Services, focusing on an inclusive value chain approach and works within a few sub-sectors - those in which the poor are engaged and those that have a potential.