Ben Lyon from Africa Gathering on Vimeo.

Ben Lyon talks to Africa Gathering about how CreditSMS has now teamed up with FrontlineSMS to form FrontlineSMS:Credit and make every formal financial service available to the entrepreneurial poor in 160 characters or less.

Who we are:  FrontlineSMS:Credit operates under the auspices of a US-registered 501(c)(3) organization.  We are also proud members of the free and open source development community.

What we do: Our mission is to leverage mobile payment systems (MPS) to bring financial services to the unbanked poor.  To do so, we are currently programming FrontlineSMS to function as middleware in order to connect any MPS and any microfinance management information system (MIS) in real time.  As a result, microfinance institutions (MFIs) will be able to send and receive payments directly from the mobile wallet of their MIS, which will significantly reduce the operational costs of issuing credit.

By helping MFIs integrate mobile payments into their business strategies, we aim to eliminate geographic barriers to financial inclusion while simultaneously allowing users to generat robust auditing trails and client credit histories.

When and where it will be ready: A beta version should be available by Spring 2010.  Pilot and beta partners across Sub-Saharan Africa, who will be announced in the following months, will test the software before it is released for general use.

How you can help: We are always keen to get the insights of potential users and explore ways to collaborate.  Also, if you would like to volunteer for FrontlineSMS:Credit, we would love to have you on board.  A big part of our mission requires staying on top of industry information, and your help could prove invaluable.