Transfer Solutions Providers Ltd. (TSP), operators of the Mango card, will use a $150,000 grant from the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) to expand its microcredit facility for its customers.
Yesterday, TSP executives, along with representatives from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the MIF signed a technical cooperation agreement for $150,000 for a 20-month project that will support microfinance services through technology. In addition to the $150,000 grant, TSP is investing an additional $153,000.
"This project will help to expand an innovative microcredit product. It will benefit approximately 2,500 including 1,000 new loan clients as well as Mango card members. The indirect beneficiaries will be 9,500 existing Mango customers," according to Astrid Wynter, the country's IDB representative.
"We are committed to supporting the private sector through an institution that will reduce the gap between the financing needs of the population and the supply of financial products and services specifically as it relates to credit services for low-income people in The Bahamas."
The project will include an in-depth study with focus groups of the credit population that will be used to develop credit risk methodology.
Harvey Morris, TSP's chief financial officer, said that he recognized his company was challenged to qualify its clients before administering funds. It's an issue that this project seeks to address.
"We recognized that in one of the areas that we are looking, microcredit, we were having a problem with how to qualify our clients before we administer funds. We aren't just looking at the regular small credit that is given to people. We are looking for something that can actually help the self-employed persons," he explained.
Wayne Beecher, a senior specialist for MIF, noted that one of its objectives is to focus on administering small loans or microfinancing.
"It is in that vein that we are assisting Mango today, particularly using a solution that leverages technology to expand outreach of microfinance services. This is a challenge for The Bahamas because it doesn't have the required density in terms of the population, which allows for the efficient administration of micro financing. So using this platform which is very technology reliant, it should mitigate the risk and should overcome the efficiency gap," he added.

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