MIX Introduces Groundbreaking System For Visualizing And Analyzing Data For Underserved Communities With FINclusion Lab
First Platform For Coordinated Delivery of Responsible Services To the Unbanked
WASHINGTON, May 21, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- MIX, a leading information provider and thought leader in the microfinance sector, announced today FINclusion Lab, the first data visualization and analysis platform that brings together the elements of financial services activities, markets, and products, including national and sub-national views. The platform, which is currently in beta, streamlines the process of decision making for service providers and policy makers, and marks a significant step forward for the microfinance sector for data capture and analysis.
The Finclusion Lab platform enables users to address the access, quality, and usage of financial services for excluded communities currently in 15 markets by allowing them to create multi-dimensional and cross-country analysis. FINclusion Lab is designed to enable financial inclusion by providing national policy makers and financial service providers (FSPs) a way to measure progress toward development and growth goals and better coordinate with each other in a given market or intervention.
"The FINclusion solution is helping and empowering national stakeholders to identify ways to better measure progress on financial inclusion goals and optimize growth strategies," explains Lara Storm, Director of Financial Inclusion at MIX. "The FINclusion Lab provides a great amount of value to national policy makers and operators by helping them answer questions regarding gaps in service, the location of providers, and the types of leading providers and channels. They can see how financial inclusion landscapes change over time."
Zambia is one of the 15 countries currently available on FINclusion Lab, with four more planned for this year. "It's abundantly clear that MIX has been busy developing tools that respond to the analytical needs of a wide range of financial inclusion stakeholders in Zambia," says Joseph Munyoro, Senior Financial Analyst of the Central Bank of Zambia. "MIX has succeeded in pulling together all the available financial inclusion data on Zambia and the improved interaction facility makes it quite captivating to explore the data sets."
FINclusion LAB SUPPORTS EXPANSION OF FINANCIAL INCLUSION
Over the past two years, MIX's FINclusion Lab team has gathered data on supply and demand for financial services at the sub-national level for a growing number of countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. FINclusion Lab is the result of these efforts, and stakeholders such as financial service providers, policy makers, regulators, and other development professionals now have the opportunity to identify problems and devise solutions for increasing financial inclusion in their countries through interactive data tools and visualizations while experimenting with different country data visualizations, blogs posts, and data downloads for personal analysis.
MIX EVOLVES FOR THOSE IN NEED
With the introduction of FINclusion Lab, MIX strengthens its mission to promote responsible financial services for underserved communities. The nonprofit is best known for its MIX Market platform, a common reporting platform for microfinance institutions (MFIs) and supporting organizations to create operational transparency. Today's announcement is a significant milestone for MIX and the infrastructure that supports financial inclusion globally.
ABOUT MIX
MIX promotes responsible financial services for underserved communities through data analytics and market insight with two decision support platforms, MIX Market and FINclusion Lab. As basic infrastructure for responsible and inclusive markets, these platforms provide the necessary environment to enable and inspire coordinated investment, effective policy and positive social outcomes. Incorporated in 2002, MIX is a nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, DC with regional offices in Azerbaijan, India, Senegal, and Peru. Our efforts are strengthened through our collaboration with the following global partners: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, CGAP, The MasterCard Foundation, IFAD, DFID, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, and Citi Foundation.
SOURCE MIX
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