In Bangladesh, BRAC sees a tremendous opportunity to use mobile money to innovate, better serve clients and become more efficient.
Have a great idea on how mobile money can be used by BRAC in Bangladesh’? Share it!
Up to six of the best ideas will be implemented at BRAC in 2014. Can’t think of an idea now? Browse through other people’s ideas, vote and comment—maybe an idea will come to you!
Project background
In Bangladesh, approximately half of the adult population is unbanked. Over the past three years, a mobile banking industry has emerged to meet these individuals’ needs, and has already reached 13 million users. As Bangladesh is urbanising rapidly, young adults working in the city send money home to their families through mobile money. In 2013, over USD 500 billion was transacted via mobile money.
BRAC sees a tremendous opportunity to use mobile money to innovate, better serve clients and become more efficient. With the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, BRAC’s Social Innovation Lab is establishing the BRAC Innovation Fund for digital financial services. In the context of Bangladesh, the rapid adoption of mobile money creates exciting opportunities for new approaches in poverty reduction. As an organisation, BRAC hopes to improve operational efficiency, decrease costs, and make services more accessible to clients. Through a portfolio of diverse pilots, BRAC will experiment with mobile money to improve its existing programmes and establish new ones. The project will run from September 2013 to August 2016, with the first set of pilots launching in June 2014.
Through this initiative, BRAC hopes to accomplish the following objectives:
- Increase the adoption of digital financial services at BRAC, particularly in service delivery
- Increase the adoption of digital financial services by BRAC’s clients
- Contribute to the global discourse on digital financial services
BRAC Innovation Fund Challenge
There will be two rounds, one in 2014 and one in 2015. From March to May 2014, the Social Innovation Lab will hold the first round for BRAC programmes to generate ideas about how mobile money can be incorporated into existing initiatives or new pilots. The most promising will receive support from the Innovation Fund.
On the challenge web site, anyone will be able to submit ideas. We are hoping this will spark conversations and introduce new ideas that may be implemented at BRAC.
Click here for more information.