Yangon based fintech company ThitsaWorks has launched data management solutions for small and medium microfinance institutions (MFIs), as it seeks to take their operations out of notebooks and onto screens.
The firm hopes that through its cloud and data centre services, microfinance organisations will become more efficient and the country’s poor will have easier access to capital.
“Our tools and technology is a solution which takes microfinance service providers from a manual workflow to an ICT-based workflow,” said Nyi Nyein Aye, CEO of ThitsaWorks.
“Providers are having to save all of their data in manual notebooks which is burden and poses a space problem. Our ICT solutions will involve collecting, managing and analyzing three sets of data to run an effective operation and reduce risk,” he said.
For decades, accessing finance through MFIs was strictly controlled by Myanmar’s military junta, but since economic liberalisations began the sector has been steadily developing.
Last August, the government relaxed microfinance regulations, giving both local and foreign MFIs more flexibility in accessing loans, where they can operate and liquidity and solvency rates.
The country’s telecoms sector has also flourished in recent years, with mobile SIM penetration going up from 7 percent in 2014 to 90 percent this year. As a result, e-commerce is poised to be a major growth sector in the future.
ThitsaWorks plans to offer its services in one year, extendable contracts and charge MFIs depending on the number of customers they have, but pricing is still in the negotiation phase.
“We will have different pricing between our cloud and data center services. We still have to negotiate with the companies and set a reasonable price for our services, so prices aren’t confirmed yet,” said U Nyi Nyein Aye