Vol. II: Shaping Information and Communication ... - IMA,ZLW & IfU

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productivity. With a small hand-held computer allocated to each loan officer, and a Smart
Card in the possession of each customer, loan officers reduce meeting times and increase
productivity significantly.
The loan officer downloads borrower information from the main computer terminal into his
hand-held PC each morning before his first group meeting. At this meeting, each group
member gives the loan officer her Smart Card in place of the passbook, which the loan officer
inserts into a special reader built into his handheld computer. Using a custom-designed
interface, the computer displays information from the Smart Card. Both the handheld device
and the Smart Card then record the transaction, whether with a single button-press if the
customer makes her payment in full for all loans [as is typical in Grameen methodology], or
with an entry representing that she is a few rupees short. The Loan officer then repeats the
process for deposits and loan disbursals. He then returns the Smart Card to the customer and
continues with the next.
After he has finished meeting with all his groups, he returns to the branch office and with
press of a button uploads all information into the main system. A read-only computer is left in
the village for customers to check their balances.
With the environment of the Deccan region [where SKS operates] ranging from hot and dusty
in the dry season to heavy monsoons in the rainy season, the SKS management chose to go
for the sturdiest hand-held technology available. Instead of PDAs [which though small are
very sensitive to adverse conditions], SKS chose the slightly larger and better protected handheld
computers [each costing about $670, or around Rs. 32,000], which have a bigger display
and a more protective shell.
Though sensitive to dust and humidity, they were perceived as slightly sturdier than the
PDAs. As the majority of the transaction/loan information is held either in the Smart Card
[which costs about $3.30 each, or Rs. 160] or in the main computer terminal, the memory
capacity of the hand-held sets did not need to be as large as that of a typical PDA.
As of February 2001, SKS has been of service to 1,790 customers, for whom agricultural
work, including horticulture and livestock rearing, is the main economic activity. SKS
operates four branches to cover 102 villages. SKS is currently financing the development and
pilot phases of the project through a CGAP Pro-Poor Innovation Award of US$ 50,000 and