SKS Microfinance ties up with IT companies to reach out to larger rural households

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Mumbai, Feb 5: With a view to accelerating the government’s initiatives on financial inclusion for the poor, SKS Microfinance has entered into an alliance with IT majors Compulink, HCL, Microsoft, Tulip IT, and Wipro InfoTech.

The new IT infrastructure is aimed at helping SKS achieve its goal of expanding its outreach from the current base of 650 branches that serves 17 lakh poor households, to 1500 branches that will target 40 lakh poor households by March 2009.

Compulink will help SKS develop a three-tier web application-based highly scalable software application for its internal system and compliment the web hosting services.

To support critical systems and from virus and intrusions, SKS has partnered with Wipro Infotech to host its data centre in Bangalore. This will help the micro-finance entity in protecting its applications run on different operating environments, reduce management costs through greater automation of administrative tasks, and minimise the cost to train and retain highly skilled technical staff.

The new IT backbone is expected to be in place by July 2008. The deployment and testing phase will be through by May 08.

“Technology will reduce costs, maintain information integrity, and provide more convenient services to the poor and low-income clients,” said Vikram Akula, founder and chief executive officer of SKS Micro finance.

Reema Jose reports from Bangalore :

While corporate India vies with each other to grab a larger share of the rural market pie; mobile connectivity, solar lights, and even mobile banking are set to hit the rural pockets through a novel route. SKS is planning to tap rural India with non-financial products like cell phones and LED solar lamps on credit.

Having successfully done a pilot project offering mobile banking to its customers at Nalgonda in Andhra Pradesh, SKS will offer cell phones to rural India households from April, Akula said.

Akula said the company was in talks with mobile phone makers and service providers, to procure the phones and services at discounted rates for rural markets.