Mifos X Strategic Positioning and Market Adoption Strategy

Owned by Ed Cable
Last updated: Oct 22, 2013
3 min read

Mifos X for Financial Inclusion

Broader position statement & vision statement for where we're headed:

  • Mifos X is an extended platform for delivering complete range of financial services needed for an effective financial inclusion solution. 


Differentiators

  • Broad Suitability
    • Relevant if your completely small running on a cloud instance in a couple days. 
    • Use global network of IT specialists who can configure a complete solution for you.
  • Global Community
    • Collective and shared knowledge
    • Technology services through specialists
    • Chapters to educate, innovate, build awareness
      • Importance of best practices and processes and policies. 

What We Deliver

Business = Mission Success

  • Start simple --> grow easily --> evolve
  • Don't need to over-invest in technology 

Technology = Deployment Success

  • Platform + Apps + Cloud  = Flexibility/Low Cost/Ease of Deployments.
  • Fast & Easy to Deploy
    • Little to inhibit you.
  • Low Cost to Deploy
    • Cloud
    • Local IT Support

Does this all logically follow through? 

 

Steve:

What's happening at a customer level --> not what is happening by regulators but by what is needed by customers - what the poor are demanding.

  • Criticisms that it's microcredit only solution (background is credit unions)
  • Credit unions started as basic savings and loans --> looked like basic MFIs (limited hours, support by volunteers, evolved into branches and full financial institutions. 
  • Platform that evolves and supports MFIs as they transform and grow
  • Allows Specialists to tackle the markets - need to go up-market, across financial orgs
  • More markets can go, move towards more financial sustainability. 

 

Key part of positioning: We're now a True OS project - not anyone's project

It's what you make it, you own the code, you can extend it, you can change it, it is yours.

 

Raj: so much of it now will be integration with 3rd party. 

Raj: who is building the API? 

  • This is the heart of what Mifos the entity does - only need small focused team building the platform and API. 
  • Remain small and build powerful back-end 
  • Building apps will be what Specialists do, build out new features, 
  • Specialists build out the apps, provide the support services

Alphonse:

  • Can they reposition and re-use/sell the framework for another purpose?
    • Core platform itself must remain OS and open to the public, only application on top can be proprietary and closed. 

Arun:

  • Among the top 10 to 12 MFIs in India, half have moved to Craft Silicon - what would it take for Mifos X to get positioned for large-scale MFIs - will that be a focus for Mifos X?
    • Steve: couple years to be an actual true CBS
    • Depends on community - do you want it fast, cheap, or good? --> Pick 2. 
    • Development can be accelerated if you get funding.
    • Craig: do we want to be a core banking system or no? Still answering that question. 
  • Patrick:
    • Craft Silicon has all solutions, mobile switches, 
    • Mifos should focus on stability of platform and not try to build stuff that will be in competition with what specialists are building. 
    • Don't want to prevent specialists from investing more R & D, building out new services.
  • Sander:
    • More than ready to skip Specialists stage and directly start leveraging platform and taking ownership of it and blending it to own organization (save versus Temenos or Bankers Realm)
  • Arun:
    • Does MIfos X even fall into the same category of a Bankers Realm - simply meeting that minimum bar is a huge part of the decision and the selling factor. 
    • Gurpreet: if we're trying to reach 3B Maries - can we say to no to supporting regulated institutions like GK who have such scale and reach?
      • Steve: when you look at the 3 Billion, Credit is only a part of that, savings, mobile as a gateway to other services, have to do a natural evolution to support the types and products and services that the 3 Billion will need. 
    • Craig:
      • We have to figure out which we chase over the next 10 years? Which segment
  • Raj:

Any place on Mifos X site to find where these satellite applications? 

Steve: this is your community - focus once again. Great think about financial services technology is vendor lock-in - once you're in, you can't get out - in a great position with OS solution - you're free from that vendor lock-in. 

Raj:

  • Why
  • Craig: it's the total value-add
  • Each mobile money solution has a different integration point - from a tech perspective, Mifos X would already support it.
    • In the middle is the proposition, 
    • Could use something like KopoKopo which is an agnostic MIS that provides cross-platform mobile money at a cost - good way to integrate with money but less control through 3rd party. 
  • Craig: 

 

 

Questions:

  • Gurpreet: is SPM/PPI there?
  • Selling Mifos X ---> sell that it can easily integrate with your existing solutions. 
    • Good example is integration with InVenture
  • Integrate with other credit bureaus in future.