{"id":1006,"date":"2025-06-08T18:24:20","date_gmt":"2025-06-08T18:24:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mitesp.com\/millionpathsfoundation\/?p=1006"},"modified":"2025-07-09T17:07:38","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T17:07:38","slug":"digital-micro-finance-e-marketplace-for-womens-co-operatives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mitesp.com\/millionpathsfoundation\/concluded-projects\/digital-micro-finance-e-marketplace-for-womens-co-operatives\/","title":{"rendered":"Digital Micro-Finance & E-Marketplace for Women\u2019s Co-operatives – 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Date:<\/strong> April 2025
Location:<\/strong> Monaragala & Hambantota Districts, Sri Lanka<\/p>\n

Overview<\/strong>
MPF’s Poverty Alleviation team has rolled out a smartphone-based micro-finance app bundled with an e-marketplace, enabling women’s co-operatives to access small loans, digital payments, and direct-to-consumer sales channels.<\/p>\n

The Challenge<\/strong><\/p>\n

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  • \n\t\t

    Credit constraints:<\/strong> Rural women lack collateral and face prohibitive interest rates.<\/p>\n\t<\/li>\n\t

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    Market isolation:<\/strong> Artisans and food producers rely on middlemen who capture most margin.<\/p>\n\t<\/li>\n\t

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    Digital divide:<\/strong> Low digital literacy and intermittent mobile connectivity.<\/p>\n\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Our Approach<\/strong><\/p>\n

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    1. \n\t\t

      App Development & Pilot Launch<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t

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        Created an Android app with group-lending workflows, biometric login, and mobile-money integration.<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t<\/ul>\n\t<\/li>\n\t

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        Co-op Onboarding & Training<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t

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          Trained 150 women across 10 co-ops on app usage, digital catalog creation, and basic smartphone skills.<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t<\/ul>\n\t<\/li>\n\t

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          Marketplace & Logistics<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t

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            Partnered with two logistics providers to offer door-to-door delivery and reverse pick-up for returns.<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t<\/ul>\n\t<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            Implementation Highlights<\/strong><\/p>\n

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              Beta launch<\/strong> in 10 Grama Niladhari divisions, with offline caching for low-coverage zones.<\/p>\n\t<\/li>\n\t

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              Biometric KYC<\/strong> integrations reduced onboarding time from 3 days to under 30 minutes.<\/p>\n\t<\/li>\n\t

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              In-app chat<\/strong> connects co-op members with MPF support agents in real time.<\/p>\n\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

              Progress to Date<\/strong><\/p>\n

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              • \n\t\t

                Rs. 1.2 million<\/strong> disbursed in 75 group loans, averaging Rs. 16,000 each.<\/p>\n\t<\/li>\n\t

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                80%<\/strong> of orders fulfilled through the in-app marketplace; average basket size Rs. 1,100.<\/p>\n\t<\/li>\n\t

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                Digital transaction adoption rate at 65%<\/strong> among active members.<\/p>\n\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                Expected Outcomes<\/strong><\/p>\n

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                  Scale to 500 women<\/strong> and Rs. 10 million loan disbursements by year-end.<\/p>\n\t<\/li>\n\t

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                  Expand marketplace to 50 product categories<\/strong>, including agro-produce and handicrafts.<\/p>\n\t<\/li>\n\t

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                  Integrate with national e-commerce platforms for broader reach.<\/p>\n\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

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                  “With this app, I can grow my spice business online—and my group no longer worries about high loan rates.”
                  — Ms. Fernando, President, Siyambalanduwa Women’s Co-op<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                  Date: April 2025Location: Monaragala & Hambantota Districts, Sri Lanka Overview MPF’s Poverty Alleviation team has rolled out a smartphone-based micro-finance app bundled with an e-marketplace, enabling women’s co-operatives to access small loans, digital payments, and direct-to-consumer sales channels. The Challenge Credit constraints: Rural women lack collateral and face prohibitive interest rates. Market isolation: Artisans and food producers rely on middlemen who capture most margin. Digital divide: Low digital literacy and intermittent mobile connectivity. Our Approach App Development & Pilot Launch Created an Android app with group-lending workflows, biometric login, and mobile-money integration. Co-op Onboarding & Training Trained 150 women across 10 co-ops on app usage, digital catalog creation, and basic smartphone skills. Marketplace & Logistics Partnered with two logistics providers to offer door-to-door delivery and reverse pick-up for returns. Implementation Highlights Beta launch in 10 Grama Niladhari divisions, with offline caching for low-coverage zones. Biometric KYC integrations reduced onboarding time from 3 days to under 30 minutes. In-app chat connects co-op members with MPF support agents in real time. Progress to Date Rs. 1.2 million disbursed in 75 group loans, averaging Rs. 16,000 each. 80% of orders fulfilled through the in-app marketplace; average basket size Rs. 1,100. Digital transaction adoption rate at 65% among active members. Expected Outcomes Scale to 500 women and Rs. 10 million loan disbursements by year-end. Expand marketplace to 50 product categories, including agro-produce and handicrafts. Integrate with national e-commerce platforms for broader reach. “With this app, I can grow my spice business online—and my group no longer worries about high loan rates.” — Ms. Fernando, President, Siyambalanduwa Women’s Co-op<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1209,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[24],"class_list":["post-1006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-concluded-projects","tag-24"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitesp.com\/millionpathsfoundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitesp.com\/millionpathsfoundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitesp.com\/millionpathsfoundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitesp.com\/millionpathsfoundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitesp.com\/millionpathsfoundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1006"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mitesp.com\/millionpathsfoundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1006\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1446,"href":"https:\/\/mitesp.com\/millionpathsfoundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1006\/revisions\/1446"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitesp.com\/millionpathsfoundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitesp.com\/millionpathsfoundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitesp.com\/millionpathsfoundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitesp.com\/millionpathsfoundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}