Advanced payment solution for microfinance In Madagascar, only 4% of the people have a bank accounts. This mainly applies for the upper class. This project will target the Bottom of the Pyramid to get simplified accounts based on mobile technologies.The Microfinance sector in Madagascar is not properly equipped to efficiently handle financial transactions. All financial transactions have to be processed manually, by using many different forms. Kenyan applicant Craft Silicon and Malagasy partner Global Vision wish to set up a new company to offer payment solution services to the micro finance sector in Madagascar. The company will lease ATMs, biometric EPT transactional services (payment devices), e-vouchers and a mobile banking (ELMA) system to MFIs. Because of these systems, clients of banks will be able to do financial transactions more efficiently. Micro finance institutions in their turn will be able to improve the transparency and to administer all financial transactions more efficiently. The company will be based in Antananarivo. The first micro finance institutions to be serviced will probably be in the region of Analamanga.Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)All employees will receive labour contracts, good and safe working conditions, freedom to associate and a working environment free of discrimination. Remuneration and working hours will comply with local labour laws. All employees will be offered social security and will be registered for a pension fund. Health insurances will also be arranged. All employees will be offered a subscription to a fitness centre. The joint venture will apply for an ISO 9001 certification. The BREFT software is ISO 8583 certified (quality). Payment Card Industry (PCI) and Data Security Standards (DSS) will be applied. Furthermore, the joint venture will set up a foundation in Madagascar, to give ICT training to 300 poor women.Impact•	Employment and working conditionsAll employees will receive labour contracts, good and safe working conditions, freedom to associate and a working environment free of discrimination. Remuneration and working hours will comply with local labour laws and wages will be above minimum living wage. All employees will be offered social security and will be registered for a pension fund. Health insurances will also be arranged. All employees will be offered a subscription to a fitness centre. And all employees will be trained.•	Innovation / Transfer of knowledgeAlthough ATMs, EPTs, mobile banking are not entirely new to Madagascar, these are only used (on a small scale) by commercial banks. A business model, in which a company is 'leasing' these technologies, is completely new for Madagascar. Furthermore, MFIs serve a different market than banks.Therefore, some products used will be slightly different as well. The EPTs will be using biometric verification (using verification by finger prints), instead of using pin codes. Furthermore the joint venture will make use of mobile ATMs and EPTs as well, offering the possibility of branchless and paperless banking. End-users can bank at every participating OTIV branch, and not only at the own branch where the clients is affiliated with. These innovations will also improve the monitoring of transactions.The mobile banking system to be offered by this project will also be organised differently than banks have. For the technology used in this model, clients of MFIs do not need a contract with a specific mobile phone operator. Furthermore, existing mobile phone solutions offer credit where money is managed on the mobile phone itself. With the technology offered by the joint venture, the actual savings are on the account hold by an MFI. This makes doing mobile banking safer. When a user's phone gets stolen, the credit will still be on the bank account.•	Chain effectsThe technologies offered by this project will make it easier for people in remote areas to get access to micro-finance banking. The penetration of mobile telecommunication networks in the most remote villages of Madagascar, makes it possible for MFIs to serve millions of unbanked people in those locations, by using mobile banking possibilities.Also, for users in urban areas, these new services will lead to more convenient banking. It will no longer be necessary to fill in several forms to get access to cash. Furthermore, clients /members of MFIs will no longer be limited to use their own branch to transfer money. By these techniques, they can access their account through all their branches. Bank cards will replace the traditional paper notebooks and members will be able to view balance statements, bank statements and reports any time.The MFIs will in their turn be run more efficiently by these new techniques. It will reduce paper work and errors. Transactions will be much more transparent, and security risks will be reduced. Because most MFIs do not have the financial capacity to invest in these techniques themselves, this project set up will allow them to benefit from these techniques after all.•	Impact on the sectorMobile operators will also be beneficiaries of this project. They will be able to sell communication time through e-vouchers.Eventually, the whole private sector will benefit from mobile banking possibilities in the future. The more companies are connected to the platform, the less cash transfers will be needed.•	Position of womenFourteen positions (out of 35) will be reserved for women, of which eleven for medium/high skilled positions. To set up a joint venture that is able to offer payment solutions to Micro Finance institutions offering ATMs, EPTs (mobile payment devices) and software to enable mobile banking transactions, to sell E-vouchers and to enable financial transactions.