Vodafone M-Pesa partners with government to empower women
Currently, RGAVP gives small loans to women in poor families in the form of cash. Loans aregiven to the Village Organisation Self Help Group leaders and cashiers whodrive the business. These loan amounts are disbursed in the form of cash and repaymentamount is collected periodically.With M-Pesa wallet, the loan amount will be deposited instantly by the leaders to the individualsavings account.
Instant confirmation in the form of SMS is sent to the individual handsets.Instead on travelling 10-15 kms in most case for cash transaction, Vodafone M-Pesa facilitatesinstant, safe and secure cash transaction for the poor in Rajasthan. Regular deposit into savings account at regular intervals using M-Pesa will further boost creditratings.
The partnership will boost the banking system in Rajasthan and facilitate higher loandisbursement for the poor. Vodafone has entered into a six months pilot project with Rajasthan Grameen Aajeevika Vikas Parishad in 3 blocks of Rajasthan namely - Anandpuri in Banswara district, Baap in Jodhpur district and Sankar in Jaisalmer district.
Suresh Sethi, Business Head M-Pesa, Vodafone India said, “M-pesa is an innovative financial service from Vodafone that brings the bank to themobile and addresses the issue of access to financial services. We are delighted to extend M-Pesa offering to Rajasthan Grameen Aajeevika Vikas Parishad. We are confident that this association will go a long way in simplifying the payments process for RGAVP from the Self Help Groups."
Currently, we are running a pilot in 3 blocks of Rajasthan. We are hoping toextend the benefit of using M-Pesa and further enhance the capabilities of the VO/SHGs.” He added.
