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At present data import tool is standalone  and one has to deploy it and connected to Mifos X platform to use it for importing data. It is always good idea to migrate the code from this project to Mifos X platform and give seamless integration.

Advantages of merging the code with platform:

1) Bulk upload API will always be in sync with platform APIs.

2) Easy of build UI for bulk upload inside Community-App.

3) Import will be much faster as we are eliminating one tier.

4) And we will be adding other essential import options such as CoA, Code/Code Values, Offices and Data tables. 

It has many impacts

1. This drastically reduces the time to setup of initial configuration/data of Mifos X for organization adopting this system as MIS.
2. For data entry operator, this feature can be used as bulk creation option (such as import bulk loans, import clients)
3. These templates can be used as offline store. And once user has internet connectivity can upload these templates with captured data.

In most of the cases MFI wants to capture additional data during certain workflows (example: during client closing, wants to conduct exit survey, capture PPI during loan creation) and this requirement can fulfilled by adding option to attach datatable/survey/question group to the pre-defined workflows as certain points (example: during loan creation, during approval time or during disbursement etc).

And same can be achieved by integrating workflow engine.  

Helps organization to streamline their data capture process in the MIS and as well as in the field. And this leads toward more measurability of the MFI's impact in the field and more transparency.

In outbound SMS notification MFI decides when and what information need to be sent to client, but as part of client protection, client has complete rights to request for information about her/his account details(any time any where). Using inbound SMS client can query for her account details such loan amount, status of new loan application, outstanding loan amount

Transparency and client protection.

Because of regulatory or to do background check of client (risk management), MFIs depend on credit bureau. As part of it MFI need to submit client details to credit bureau and also need to pull client information from credit bureau before approving any new loans to a client.

This will  be optional module inside Mifos X, and this module can be turned on/off based on the institutes requirements. And will be flexible to configure with different CBs (may not be practical to integrate with all CBs).

The major functionality will be sending the data to CBs on regular intervals in the format CB expects. And option to pull the client’s information from CB whenever loan officer/branch manager/ user wants to view the information for a particular client.

The credit report shows account information such as repayment record, defaults, type of loan, amount of loan, etc. of the customer. This information facilitates prudent decision-making when the credit underwriter processes the loan application. This help MFI to reduce the risk of bad loans and reduces the multiple lendings to same person from different MFIs.

1. Build a module that extends loan product definition to include specific physical product ordering - e.g. a clean energy loan associated with a specific solar product. Create a daily batch process to send data in JSON or XML to appropriate third party system (e.g. MEC Tracker). Extend this to include "down payments" on the product purchase - i.e. only partially financed.
2. Build a supplier ordering/invoice & financial reconciliation process and transfer funds directly to "Supplier Account" upon fulfillment of order.
3. Create reports on aging of orders, fulfillment timing, and geographic spread.

MFIs become more capable of integrating with third party systems for management of deliveries, after-sales service, and carbon tracking.

1. Create a pre-paid account mechanism as an account type or account option in Mifos (perhaps extending existing classes), zero fees.
2. Create a new API for consuming pre-paid account balances.  
3. Create a simple external model that mimics consumption by a household on a daily basis - imagined as a set of data received from solar panel (watts used, time of day, volts present).  
4. Load up pre-paid account by account transfer in P2P interface (my phone to your account) or via trusted agent - i.e. trusted agent receives cash and loads account on Mifos.

Providers of pay-as-you-go solar can use MIFOS for their operations. MFIs can become such providers.

At present MIfos X platform is shipped with Community-App (SPA) as default UI, but initial load time of the application high. And for users on narrow band internet it takes considerable amount of time to load the app.

Instead of loading the app every time, we can convert the Community-App into a Chrome App and user can download them once and install it ion the machine, and it can used as thick client.

Community-App is completely developed on top of JavaScript, CSS and HTML. And Chrome apps are also written in same stack. Use grunt we should be able to repackage Community-App(SPA) into Community-App(Chrome App)

Users with slow internet connectivity can use this app (Installed on the machine) instead of loading Community-App (SPA) on the browser

The API is probably the most important part of the new Mifos X platform and that's why we put a ton of effort into making it easier for developers to see examples and interact with.  It's certainly not 'passive' documentation and must be interactive and up to date such that our community can see the flexibility and power in which the API can be used to support new financial services or support alternative way for accessing the Mifos technology. 

Capturing surveys and other forms of data is an essential tool for a MFI to manage it's client relationship. Mifos X currently has taken a new approach to capturing this information and any additional data on clienta (and other entities like Groups, Loans etc) through the "datatables" approach. This project aims to simplify the process for setting up the same.

Mifos X provides an API called 'datatables" which allows the IT team that is deploying Mifos X to 

1. Create a MySql Table(s) following Mifos X Non Core column conventions
2. Register that MySql table with a 'Core' Mifos X MySql table
3. Immediately be able to Create, Read, Update and Delete data in the reference User Interface.

We are looking to simplify this process by

a) Providing API's for creating these MYSQL tables

b) Updating the Reference User Interface to leverage the API's for creating the "MySQL" tables and columns.

This would enable a non Technical end user to Configure 'datatables' functionality in MifosX

Capturing client data and having a holistic transparent view into the client is one of the most powerful and definitive features of Mifos X. This data is used to monitor and analyze the services being delivered to the client and social impact these services are having.

Having a simple interface in which to define this additional "Survey" data is an essential part of making this a usable feature of the software for MFIs.

Mifos X - Plugging In Non-Core and User Defined Data

Develop ETL scripts to create OLAP cubes (fact and dimension tables in MySQL). This will allow managers to perform ad hoc slicing and dicing of their data 
to answer important questions about their operations.

• Create ETL scripts and tests
• Create a Mondrian schema to work with Saiku Analytics

Mifos uses MySQL 5.1 as its primary database. We want to achieve :

• Possibility of Mifos self-contained demo package
• Simple / easy launch of integration/acceptance testing, without requiring an external DB (ideally in an automatically created RAM Disk...)
• Development without manual MySQL installation

This sub-project would port / apply our MIFOS-5157 Installer-free simple launcher from classic Mifos to Mifos X, and then look at how to extend such a package to run without any existing external database as planned in MIFOS-4926 (which MIFOS-5157 doesn't cover). The first thought that comes to mind is to achieve this with a pure-Java in-memory database such as H2 or Derby. However, in order to avoid maintaining & supporting 2 different databases for Mifos, we'd like to base this on https://github.com/vorburger/MariaDB4j. While we are at it, we should also replace the classic GPL mysql driver by the LGPL MariaDB Client Library.

Do some Googling, Search Mifos JIRA, mailing list for more information. Identify some small problems related to this project and submit patch (if possible), Come up with a good plan and start a discussion on developer mailing list.

Mifos has abstraction from underlying database using:

• Hibernate as ORM (must have good experience with Hibernate)
• Liquibase as Database refactoring tool
• DbUnit as test dataset maintenance

For many microfinance institutions who lack technical skills, installing Mifos X is a burden that prevents them from using this software to more efficiently serve the poor. Often they get lost in the installation process when having to separately install java, their web server, MySQL, and then deploy Mifos. A self-contained package acting as a simple one-step installer for Mifos would help make the software more accessible to more organizations and allow for MFI to more easily test the software and see the immense value it provides.

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 - MIFOSX-119 - Getting issue details... STATUS

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.

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.

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

Random Hacks of Kindness Problem Page

Create Client Scoring Tools in Mifos X

Objectives: 

• Based on user requirements, develop algorithms and scoring parameters in Pentaho to create this scoring module. 

MFIs using Mifos often want to implement a credit scoring/client prospecting analysis tool to help automate the onboarding process for new clients by creating quantifiable measures to assess credit worthinesss. More and more MFIs are moving towards individual lending models where this scoring will be of greater need. Using our Data Tables (Surveys) module and our Mifos Business Intelligence Suite on Pentaho, they can set up questions and define parameters/scores to assess these questions.

Mifos X is more optmized for individual lending so client scoring tools become all the more valuable with the rich client data that an MFI is able to track in the system.

Minimizing risk is important for running a sustainable microfinance institution. More importantly, many of these client scoring tools go beyond financial and business performance by analyzing social indicators to provide a quantifiable metric at the social impact made on a client. Having tools to capture these data and properly score/analyze it allow MFIs to deliver the strongest and most beneficial services to their clients.

See:

• Issue on JIRA. 
• Discussion on Mailing Lists