Hello Paisa shortlisted for 'Innovator of the Year Award 2012'

Finaccess (Hello Paisa) has been selected as the top three final nominees for the 'Innovator of the Year Award - 2012' by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA)'s Innovation Against Poverty (IAP) programme.

The IAP annual conference and awards ceremony will be held on November 26 in Stockholm, Sweden, where the award will be presented to the 'Innovator of the Year' by the director general of SIDA after selection by eminent global panellists.

The nomination is a recognition by SIDA and Innovation Against Poverty of Finaccess’s efforts towards providing innovative business solutions to bring financial access to the underserved and unserved segments of the population across Nepal, said executive chairman of Finaccess Sanjay Bahadur Shah.

The shared access of Hello Paisa eco-system and interoperability of customers, banks, mobile operators, and agents is a key feature that enables all segments of the population access to state-of-the-art mobile financial services, according to him.

Finaccess is a technology empowered financial services company as it offers two main services – mobile financial services through its proprietary software Cell or and its shared access and totally interoperable Hello Paisa platform and financial inclusion services by expanding and setting up of the eco-system of agents and merchants required for effective delivery of financial services at the grass roots level.

Currently five banks and financial institutions — Laxmi Bank, Bank of Kathmandu, Siddhartha Bank, Commerz and Trust Bank Nepal, and International Leasing and Finance Company — use the Hello Paisa network. This initial network of five banks and financial institutions already has 175 bank branches and 125 agent touch points for delivering services. The agent network is expected to increase substantially within the next few months and be able to deliver financial services to all corners of the country.

Nimbus, Finaccess join hands to offer mobile financial services

Nimbus Holdings and Finaccess entered into an agreement today to enable various businesses of Nimbus with a ubiquitous distribution network throughout the country — specifically in the rural parts and comprising of over 500 dealers and sub dealers — to offer an end to end mobile financial service provided through the Hello Paisa Network.
"The agreement will enable the dealers and sub dealers of Nimbus Holdings to act as Hello Paisa Operators or Agents," said managing director of Nimbus Holdings Anand Bagaria after signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with executive chairman of Finaccess Sanjay Bahadur Shah on behalf of their respective institutions.
Finaccess operates and manages Nepal’s first and only shared access 'Hello Paisa' Mobile Financial Services platform that enables banks and financial institutions launch interoperable Mobile Financial Services, which will enable the banks and financial institutions provide 'Access to Finance for All' through Mobile Banking using the Hello Paisa Platform, consistent with central bank's policy of taking financial services to nook and corners of the country.
There are currently five banks and financial institutions — Laxmi Bank, Bank of Kathmandu, Siddhartha Bank, Commerz and Trust Bank Nepal and International Leasing and Finance Company — as partner institutions within the Hello Paisa network, according to Shah. "Current and future customers of all the banks and financial institutions and more in pipeline will be able to transact among each other seamlessly."
The strategic partnership will entail the distribution network of Nimbus to become Hello Paisa Operators (Agents) acting as the customer touch points (branchless banking outlets) on behalf of a specific banks or multiple banks with in the Hello Paisa Network.
The partnership will work in a tripartite conjunction between Nimbus, Hello Paisa and a specific bank or multiple banks within the Hello Paisa Network where by the alliance will focus on enabling financial transactions through the Hello Paisa Operators with a target of 500+outlets across the country by the end of the current fiscal year.
Considering the tremendous challenges and enabling access to finance for all, using alternative delivery channels like mobile banking and branchless banking is going to be a very important step towards enabling access to financial services to serve the underserved and unbanked communities.
The key to expedite the business model is the development of a network and eco system with participation of existing businesses with developed distribution networks. As the Nimbus distribution is already serving the customers in rural parts, it is an important strategic fit for Nimbus to further enable financial services to the rural and agricultural activity based customers that Nimbus dealership interacts with on a daily basis, according to them.