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MentorsGurpreet Luthra (Unlicensed) (plus Michael Vorburger, as needed)
Overview & Objectives

MFIs have requested the ability for both inbound and outbound SMS communication. This project will focus on outbound notifications, MFIs would like to be able to send out meeting notifications, payment reminders, or other messages. Sending SMS receipts is another important use case that would increase security for both the client and MFI. We will first focus on the simplest use case of sending out an SMS message from the View Client Screen.

Outbound SMS integration could be done via integration through the Cloud API of an SMS service like Nexmo or Twilio or any other SMS service -

Jira Legacy
serverMifos Atlassian JIRA
serverIdfadabfd4-0fae-3a17-93dc-48fcff6b6b6a
keyMIFOSX-119

This project could also look at integration with FrontlineSMS. Integration with FrontlineSMS would offer up a wide array of possible use cases including SMS forms, better management of contacts and more.

Description

Currently Mifos and the client and portfolio data it contains is only accessed by the staff of the MFI. However, the majority of clients served by MFIs own mobile phones. A simple yet powerful way for them to interact with the data in Mifos is via SMS. MFIs have requested the ability for both inbound and outbound SMS communication to send notifications to their clients and to enable clients to retrieve information about their accounts. When living on less than $2/day, this simple yet timely interaction with their financial accounts is extremely important.

Helpful Skills 
Impact

When you're living on less than $2/day as many of the microfinance clients are, income often has a volatile flow with many peaks and valleys leading to difficult financial management and a challenge in ensuring smooth consumption flows. Visibility into their limited financial resources is critical. SMS allows staff to more frequently communicate important information to their clients. It gives the clients the security and piece of mind to know how much they have in their savings account or how much they owe on their loan - vitally important pieces of information when trying to live on low yet volatile income streams

Other Resources

Random Hacks of Kindness Problem Page

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