Latin America and the Caribbean—Technologies for Financial Inclusion (Tec-In)

The Tec-In project worked to identify and develop innovations in the use of information and communications technology (ICT) to expand access to financial services throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

In 2010, DAI was hired to work with a selection committee to choose the top 19 of 420 submissions from around Latin America and the Caribbean for further analysis. DAI worked with the program’s donors to filter for the top ideas, which DAI then supported in developing project strategies and business planning for financing. Projects were chosen from Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela.

Many of the selected proposals were collaborations between ICT firms, mobile network operators, or payment network providers, in partnership with financial services providers. Among those selected were projects that, among other objectives, promote savings through the use of mobile phones and nonbank agents and test such channels for government conditional cash transfer programs designed to reduce poverty.

Sample Activities

• Help select the proposals with the highest potential to alleviate poverty through increased access to finance.
• Monitor projects; capture and share lessons learned.

Select Results

• Established the fund’s strategy for identifying and supporting projects that use ICT to expand access to financial services.
• Devised and supported the project selection process, establishing and managing two calls for ideas—the first of which was highly competitive, with 420 ideas from throughout Latin America and the Caribbean; from these have 19 finalist ideas, in the second process received 253 ideas of which 12 were finalists.
• Developed technology and business model strategies for selected projects, and developed project documentation.