About the Program
The overall objective of the Technologies for Financial Inclusion Program is to help increase and improve access of micro entrepreneurs and low-income people to financial services in Latin America and the Caribbean. The specific objective is to help financial service providers in the region to improve efficiency, reduce operating costs and extend the reach of its financial products through testing and implementation of innovative technology services and solutions.
The Program was created as an initiative of the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), based on the successful experience of its line of activity for the strengthening of financial institutions, and the Capital Market and Finance Division of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), as part of its m-banking working line and interest on regulating the use of technology in financial services. Partnerships with other donors and executing agencies have helped to attract more resources and experiences. The CAF -Latin American Development bank has become a key partner in the design, implementation and finish the Program.
For its implementation, the Program will channel financial resources and expertise from the MIF, CAF and other funders, into a new generation of innovative projects that contribute to expand the reach and improve the efficiency of financial services in Latin America and the Caribbean through the use of new technologies.
Technologies for Financial Inclusion has a total investment of US$ 10 million, for a series of individual projects that aim to increase access to finance, reduce operating costs and / or help develop new financial products in the region .
In response to the challenge of expanding the access to financing through innovation and technology, MIF, CAF and IDB have proposed stepping up their experience and capillarity in Latin America and the Caribbean and positioning as a source of local knowledge and experience. With its coordination, this Program links donors with implementing agencies and projects, by supporting the identification and design of co-finance projects to other institutions, including the private sector, NGOs, foundations and governments.
The Program will consist of calls in which the applicant institutions will present their project ideas. In each of these instances, the selection methodology will be implemented in three phases:
(1) apply ideas (2) developing design strategy and (3) implement the project (stages and eligibility are described in "How the program works" [+])
The Program will emphasize collaboration between donors, private companies and executing agencies, looking for links that facilitate the implementation of innovative projects. The Program will carry out work with the following interconnected elements: (i) a transparent competitive environment, driven solely by demand, for applicants to present their views and projects, (ii) a source of relevant information for donors and other partners to identify and support projects aligned with their mandates of promoting financial inclusion, (iii) a valuable knowledge base founded in best practices, lessons learned and evaluations that facilitate the replication and scaling up of promising approaches (iv) a deeper sense of community among partner organizations, from donors to implementing agencies, creating a space for exchanging of ideas and learning on uses of technology to expand access to financial services.
