European Microfinance Awards for Financial Inclusion through Technology
The European Microfinance Award 2018 on “Financial Inclusion through Technology” has selected Advans Côte d’Ivoire, ESAF Small Finance Bank and KMF as the three finalists for this award.
This award recognises how technology assists financial services providers in reaching unbanked and under-banked segments and essentially financially including those segments which did not have access to formal financial services. The benefits of financial technology include lower costs, provides a platform to exchange information and communication, faster and more reliable financial services and various other methods in which to innovatively provide financial services efficiently and effectively.
These three finalists have been recognised for their unique and effective solutions to challenges which include Advans Côte d’Ivoire’s digital payment and savings solution for cocoa farmers and cooperatives, ESAF Small Finance Bank’s digital solutions for staff and clients and KMF’s in-house software and tablets which extends their reach to clients in terms of geography.
Advans Côte d’Ivoire is an NBFI in the Ivory Coast offering payment, saving and credit services. ESAF Small Finance Bank is an Indian MFI that is leveraging the rapid expansion of mobile phone and smartphone penetration in India to digitise a wide range of its lending processes. KMF is an NBFI in Kazakhstan that operates in one of the most sparsely population regions of the world, beset by unstable telecommunications networks in the remote areas.
The winner will be announced in November 2018 at a ceremony hosted at the European Investment Bank in Luxembourg, during European Microfinance Week.