Mifos X Product Requirements

Deprecate

This page will be removed. Users will be pointed to Roadmap and Features Data Sheet

 

This document outlines the total functionality that could be built onto the Mifos core banking platform. It will document both the functionality that currently exists as well as a forward-looking roadmap into the functionality that the platform will (and in some cases will not) evolve to support. Each feature will be classified according to the following color-coded legend:

COMPLETE  - completed feature that has already been developed as part of the platform (or a module/service connecting to that platform) and shipped as a public release.

IN DEVELOPMENT - feature that is actively being developed and will be shipped in the next 1-2 release cycles.

SCHEDULED IN ROADMAP - feature of high priority that has been scheduled as part of the product roadmap and will be developed.

FUTURE ENHANCEMENTS - feature that has been documented as a potential requirement but has not currently been scheduled or prioritized as part of the product roadmap.

This document is geared towards business-level stakeholders seeking to understand the functionality of the Mifos X platform and the product vision. It will be completed by several other documents:

  • Feature List: High-level snapshot of the current functionality in the Mifos X platform. 
  • Product Roadmap: The annual roadmap of features and enhancements that are being prioritized to help us achieve this set of product requirements
  • Functional Specifications: Detailed user stories and functional requirements to build each of these features. This is useful for developers building the features and once the feature has been built, for implementers to understand how to properly configure the feature. 
  • User Manual: each feature will be also be fully documented from an end user perspective on all its various parameters for configuration.
  • JIRA Tickets - each feature will be broken down into various user stories and development tasks that will be scheduled into each development iteration  which will be be packaged into regular releases.

An invaluable reference guide to understand the various products and services and policies and processes to effectively deliver financial inclusion is the New Microfinance Handbook published by CGAP. Download it here

Loan Products

Individual Lending - Use Mifos X to create individual loans that can be configured to be either secured on unsecured. A full range of fixed term and installment loans can be defined for individuals including collateral-backed loans, variable installment loans, floating interest rate loans, and top-up loans. 

Group Lending - On top of individual loans, Mifos X has been designed to fully support the various group lending methodologies including Grameen-style group loans, joint liability group loans which are all tracked in our loan cycle counter. Group loans are a single loan to an entire group with a common amount while joint liability group loans are individual loans amongst a member of a group with a collective guarantee. Group repayment of common amount is supported with Mifos X.

SME Lending - Lending to small and medium sized enterprises is supported through Mifos X.

Business Loans - The user can create loans that are designed to stimulate and support business growth.

Agricultural Loans - Through Mifos X, agricultural loans can be assigned and even structured around the harvest season.

JLGL (Joint Liability Group Lending) - Joint Liability Group Lending, which is the process of individual loans amongst a member of a group with collective guarantee, is backed by Mifos X.

Incremental Disbursement Loans - These loans are typically used for home construction or a project where certain goals must be met to obtain the next loan amount. They are supported by Mifos X.

Open End Lending - Mifos X offers the ability to approve a client for a particular sum and grant him/her access to the loan for a specific period of time.

Variable Installment Loans - Fully configurable repayment schedule for agricultural loans in which to define installment amounts and the period of time between installments.

Custom Loan Program - Mifos X allows the user to fully configure loan products to customize names, rates, and repayment methods.

Guarantor Management

Collateral - With Mifos X, the organization may establish collateral parameters by loan type or by individual client.

Loan Guarantors - Other account holders can use funds to guarantee loans. The percentages and amounts are dependent upon the individual financial institution’s policies.

Automatic Loan Payment Transfers - Payments are set as Standing Instruction to pay from the guarantor’s account or the borrower’s account.

Loan Tools

Collection Sheets - Use the collection tool for group or individual lending at group or center levels. The Mifos X platform supports bulk entry of repayment data for most efficient operations.

Bulk Loan Reassignment - Use Mifos X to reassign loans from one loan officer to another.

Delinquency Control - Use tools such as account aging, account notes and calendaring to identify and collect bad debt.

Reassign Loans Between Branches - Reassign loans from one branch or center to another. Active or inactive, individually or in bulk.

Payment Types - Use this loan tool to configure the accepted forms of payment and posting rules.

Loan Frequency Rescheduling - Payment dates and frequency can be rescheduled within Mifos X.

Loan Cycle Tracking - Graduate clients to more advanced loan products by specifying the amount, rate, and term per loan cycle.  

Floating Interest Rates - Mifos X offers support for variable interest rates by defining a base lending rate and interest rate differentials to raise or lower the rate.

Amortization - Fixed payment, declining interest, and early repayment practices are all offered within the Mifos X platform.

Automated Loan Payment - Use Mifos X to configure automated loan payments from standing instruction.

Manage Holidays - Set holidays and repayment rules to fit your national calendar and represent days of no business.

Loan Loss Provisioning - The Mifos X user can define and set up four categories for provisioning of bad debts by defining the number of days in arrears and the percentage of the overdue amount that gets automatically provisioned into the respective loan loss general ledger accounts.

Loan Rescheduling/Refinancing - Reschedule or refinance loans in one of four ways - extend the loan term, change the installment dates, provide a moratorium or grace period, or provide a new interest rate.

Manage Non-Performing Assets - Define the number of days in which an asset becomes non-performing and gets automatically moved to the appropriate general ledger account.

Savings Products

Basic Savings Accounts - Mifos X supports basic savings accounts.

Passbook Savings - Passbook savings accounts are supported by Mifos X.

Mandatory Savings - Required recurring deposits are configurable.

Interest Bearing Savings - Interest on daily balance or average daily balance can be configured to compound daily, monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or annually.

Term Deposits - 

Recurring Deposit Term Accounts - 

Share Accounts - Designed specifically for financial co-operatives, share accounts can be configured based on the requirements of the business/organization.  

Custom Savings Programs - The savings programs need to fit the financial institution and its clients. So, savings products are configurable to the organization’s strategic goals and objectives.

Savings Tools

Recurring Deposit - Recurring deposit features can be added, multiplied, or deactivated within the Mifos X platform.

Standing Instructions - Use standing instructions to automatically make loan payments or account transactions.

Interest Calculation - Interest can be calculated on average daily balance or daily balance and paid with selected frequency.

Dividend Calculation - Mifos X offers full support for financial cooperatives to calculate and pay share dividends based on shares of equity owned.

Receipt Printing - Use this tool to print savings transaction receipts.

Dormant Account Management - Manage dormant savings accounts by defining the number of days for dormant and inactive status and have the balance moved into an escheated account.

Amount-Interest Rate Charts - The Mifos X user can set up bands to define the interest rate applicable for an account based on the amount of the account balance.

Transactional Accounts

Current/Checking Accounts - The Mifos X platform currently supports checking accounts.

Overdraft Automatic Transfer - Overdraft privileges can be configured on current accounts with the ability to define overdraft limits and charge interest on the balance.

Client Management

Client Identification (KYC) COMPLETEMifos X fully supports KYC requirements, allowing you to store customer photos and signatures and upload a range of identity documents which can be searched and catalogued by their unique identifiers. Personal data is protected through strong KYC tools, layered account verification and the security built into the architecture of the platform itself. Fully compliant with any country’s Know Your Customer rules and regulations.

Online Photographs And Signatures COMPLETE Photographs and signatures tie to the client record visible on main client screen.

Document Attachment (Photos, Applications, IDs) COMPLETE ID card, passport, driver's license can be captured with supporting image. Application, decision documents, account agreements upload and tie to the client.

Data Tables COMPLETE -Collect any type of user-defined data and attach at any entity or record (client, group, loan, etc.) - all data can then be analyzed and reported on.

Client Relationship Management COMPLETE Any type of additional information for a client can be capture via our data tables or surveys modules. Data tables allows you to create custom forms to capture any type of data for any entity within Mifos X. Surveys including the PPI and other SPM frameworks can be defined and captured within Mifos X. Notes are supported within each client. Currently on our roadmap is basic CRM functionality for complaints handling and case management. Accounts and loans will tie into master client account.

Customer Closure and Blacklists COMPLETE Close individual account or the entire client and blacklist clients no longer eligible for services.

Client Risk Analysis COMPLETE Use tools such as Client Monitoring, Credit Scoring, Document Templates, and Product Mix to analyze the risk your client poses. Review new customer applications prior to opening accounts with a customer approval process and blacklist clients no longer eligible for services with the Customer Blacklist tool. With the Client Risk Analysis tool, the user has the ability to track client behaviors to identify potential risk areas.

Credit Scoring COMPLETE Mifos X offers the ability to track client behaviors to identify potential risk areas. Additionally, the user can score credit based on criteria set up by the organization. Using our data tables and reporting framework, one could configure their own homegrown credit score within Mifos.

Document Templates COMPLETE Standard communication templates for client communication and WYSIWYG editor to create user-facing documents dynamically populated by data from Mifos.

Product Mix COMPLETE - Use Mifos X to define rules to restrict number and types of simultaneous loans for individual clients.

Social Performance Management COMPLETE Surveys including the PPI and other SPM frameworks can be defined and captured within Mifos X. Integration with the Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI) scorecard available for all countries. Use the MPAT (Multidimensional Poverty Assessment Tool), which provides measurable data analytics and client insight to assess the impact Mifos X makes in financial inclusion.

Business Management

Multi-Functional Institution Support COMPLETE - Mifos X can be deployed for the use of a variety of financial institutions. The platform supports a broad range of entities or operational methodologies – Banks, Credit Unions, SACCOs, Cooperatives, Credit Societies, Microfinance Institutions, Savings Groups, Peer to Peer Lenders, and Asset Financers. No matter your means of operation, Mifos X is easily customizable to fit the needs of your financial institution.

Unlimited Individual Patrons (Members) COMPLETE We wanted Mifos X to be scaleable to have the ability to support extremely large financial institutions. So, with Mifos X, there is no restriction on the number of accounts you can create. The user can configure unlimited savings, loans, and share accounts. Don’t let your business be restricted by an un-scaleable platform, instead, grow your business with Mifos X.

Unlimited Hierarchy - Mifos X supports unlimited Groups, Centers, and Organizations for a single complex operation or a multi-organization support structure.

Branch Management COMPLETE With Mifos X, the user can manage branch offices, groups, and banking centers with ease. The system is centrally administered such that new products and system-wide changes can be rolled out in real-time. The architecture of the Mifos X platform is fully multi-tenant such that one can achieve economies of scale by running off of one instance of the application with separate databases.

Reporting

Reporting - Standard reports are included in the Mifos X platform. All are customizable using flexible reporting engines - Pentaho and Stretchy reports.

Customizable Fields - With Mifos X, fields can be customized to accurately reflect the organization including product names, account numbers, and required fields.

Manage Reports - Add new reports to the system, and classify/arrange pre-existing reports into specified groups.

Statement Generation - The Mifos X user can generate customer statements that have the ability to either be printed or emailed.

Accounting

Accrual & Cash Based Accounting - Mifos X supports both accrual accounting and cash accounting following best business practice.

General Ledger Integration - Mifos X offers full integration with the portfolio for automated and rule-based postings.

Journal Voucher Support - Full GL and journal voucher entry supported by Mifos X.

Chart of Accounts Management - A standard Chart of Accounts is shipped with Mifos X.  This can be customized for the specific needs of the financial institution.

Flexible Accounting Classifications - Fees can be integrated with liability or expense accounts to facilitate the collection of premiums and other charges.

Account Number Preferences - Mifos X supports preference for generating account numbers for client, loan, and savings accounts.

Business Rules and Workflows

User Permissions - Fully customizable user permissions by position and by individual. Mifos X allows the admin to restrict operations to users unqualified for specific operations and tasks.

Workflows (Entity Data Table Checks) - Define simple approval workflows for clients, loans, and savings by the ability to define and require data tables to be captured at specific lifecycle stages.

Cash Management

Cash Management - Mifos X allows the user to track cash flow from the central bank, branch to branch, and even vault to cashier.

Funds Transfer - With Mifos X different internal branches have the ability to transfer funds amongst each other.

Funds Management - The Mifos X user can manage funds associated with their loans. Integration with the full general ledger is supported.

Central Product Configuration

Loan Configurator - Configure due dates, amortization methods, terms, repayment strategies, loan due dates, product names, currency, maturity, fees, and grace periods all with Mifos X.

Savings Products Configurator - Use Mifos X to configure the Product name, currency, terms, minimum balance, lock-in, interest, fees, and compounding periods.

Account Number Preferences - Generate unique account numbers for client, loan and savings accounts with Mifos X.

Fees and Charges

Membership Fee - Mifos X supports one-time membership fees.

Late Fees & Automatic Penalties - Mifos X allows the user to charge late fees and automatic penalties when necessary.

Recurring Fees - Recurring fees can be configured to the financial institution's desire. Allowing them to charge clients on a regular basis.

One-Time Fees - Non-recurring fees such as a loan application fee or a processing fees are easily configured.

Flexible Accounting Classifications - Mifos X allows fees to be integrated with liability or expense accounts to facilitate the collection of premiums and other charges.

Define Charges - Clearly define charges and penalties for the products your financial institution offers.

VAT Tax Withholding - Support assessing and collecting tax as a percentage of interest by defining tax components and tax groups and attaching as charges.

Internationalization

Multi Currency COMPLETE Mifos X support regional currencies and can support mixed currencies.

Multi Language COMPLETE IN DEVELOPMENT Mifos X currently supports: Spanish, English, Georgian, French, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Chinese, Lao, and Hindi. Additional translations are in development.

Security

Access - oAUTH data protection, granular role-based or individual based permissions and maker & checker (4-eyes) capabilities all within Mifos X.

Authorization - Authorization can be configured by the individuals within the financial institution. Abilities can be customizable by job and by user .

Audit - Audit trails are maintained and multiple audit reports are included in the core platform.

Client Messaging & Self-Service Operations

Event-Based SMS Messaging - Send automated event-based messages (meeting/payment reminders/receipts) to clients triggered by web hooks.

SMS Campaigns - Set up, send, and manage the delivery and receipt of bulk SMS campaigns to segmented groups based on simple business rules and filters.

Self-Service APIs - Full set of self-service APIs to support the creation of client-facing web and mobile banking apps. Clients can authenticate themselves and perform the following operations: view own savings/loan account details, transfer funds between their own accounts, transfer funds to other clients at same organization, apply for new loan accounts, and repay loans.

Mobile Field Tools & Processes

Android Field Operations App - The mobile application is designed for field officers to interact with the Mifos X platform from the field.

Mobile Field Operations Via Tablet - Mifos X functionality on for field operations in the most remote areas.

On-line / Off-line (Store & Forward Capability) - For field officers heading to remote areas, they can sync their handheld device at the office, and then head out to the field to conduct business and sync upon their return to the office.

Mobile Money Integration - Through its modular architecture, Mifos X supports mobile money integrations.

System Migration & Configuration Tools

Entity to Entity Mapping - With Mifos X, the user can define or modify old entities to new ones.

Manage Hooks - 

Account Number Preferences - 

Global Configurations - 

Scheduler Jobs - 

Manage Data Tables - 

Manage Codes -