Linking Up and Reaching Out (Directions in Development Series): Information and Communications Technology for Microfinance (Directions in Development: Finance)

The microfinance sector in Bangladesh has matured rapidly in the past 30 years and now boasts the largest number of clients in the entire world. Despite these successes, the day-to-day operations of most microcredit institutions in Bangladesh are done manually. The introduction of a centralized information and communications technology (ICT) platform in the microfinance sector will provide further cost savings by streamlining data so that errors, omissions, and duplications (client overlap) are eliminated. Moreover, the introduction of a centralized ICT platform will help to ensure transparency through the standardization of information exchange and accounting mechanisms, increase outreach to rural areas, and integrate the largely informal microfinance sector with the formal financial system. 'Linking Up and Reaching Out in Bangladesh' shows how the establishment of a centralized microfinance platform would revolutionize the country’s microfinance sector. This volume will be a useful guide for practitioners, policy makers, and microfinance institutions around the world.