Fintech for Inclusion - Tech Leadership Initiatives

The Challenge

A large section of Indian low-income people depends upon informal sources to borrow small amounts (₹20,000 to ₹50,000) as working capital for their nano-enterprises. They are charged interest rates (IR) varying between 36% to 60% per year. Over the last couple of decades, microfinance companies and NBFCs have emerged as formal financing structures for this segment and have reduced the interest rates to about 25%. Yet this is still too high for any venture to become sustainable.

The high-interest rates are a result of the cost of financing, cost of risk, and cost of operations. For small loans today, the cost of risk and cost of operations (including follow-up for collection) itself amounts to about 12% or even more. This model works well when an experienced microfinance agent personally visits the home of the woman seeking a loan, interacts with her, and makes all kinds of queries for about 10 to 15 minutes to figure out the risk. Similar effort is required in follow-up, especially when the woman defaults.

Can we use AI and communications to digitize this journey?

The Solution

A "Virtual Didi/Akka," driven by AI, could visit the home of the woman seeking a loan using a WhatsApp video call and talk to her in the local language and dialect. The AI system will listen to each answer, simultaneously analysing the face and expression of the woman as she utters words, while also analysing any available data about her past transactions and defaults, to keep coming up with the next question to compute the risk.

Similar calls, but with different logic, could be used for collection.

With digital payments (like UPI) already in vogue, this could reduce the risk and operation costs to 3 to 4%, making loans at about 15% IR possible.

This could revolutionize the FINTECH for Inclusion. This is one of the many Tech leadership initiatives ITEL is currently working on.

Current initiatives

Bolo

In their zest to provide a solution to this challenge, and help people connect through speech and text, Shabd Intelligence Pvt. Ltd. has designed & developed an effective, sustainable & scalable AI Voice engine, BOLO, for businesses to adopt, Pan-India.

BOLO is an efficient AI Voice engine designed to elevate communication, by enabling seamless, real-time voice chat with translation between two people speaking different languages. Supporting English and 22 Indian languages, BOLO bridges linguistic divides, making conversations natural and intuitive. It also helps enhance business productivity and overall outreach across industries, with accurate and efficient voice recognition, language translation and natural sounding speech synthesis. Whether for personal use, business, travel, or education, BOLO empowers people to connect effortlessly, regardless of language.

Real-time Translation: BOLO provides real-time speech-to-speech translation using AI technologies like NLP, ASR, and TTS to deliver instant, contextually appropriate translations. Its real-time capabilities ensure uninterrupted dialogue, making it indispensable for businesses and individuals alike.
Connect Beyond Boundaries: Even in places with a low internet connection, BOLO will be easily available, and that too at affordable prices. So, there is no boundary of region or language with BOLO.
BOLO is more than a translation tool—it's a bridge to new business opportunities, relationships, and experiences

Puchho

Imagine having a personal assistant fluent in Indian languages, ready to answer any questions anytime, anywhere. Shabd's revolutionary AI app, Puchho, bridges the gap between technology and language diversity, offering a voice-based interface to access a domain specific knowledge repository. Businesses can easily integrate their knowledge repository and enable Voice Assistants to answer user questions based on their repository. Designed specifically for users across India, this app ensures that knowledge is accessible, inclusive, and personalized in your preferred Indian language. It is a tool with direct interaction between human and machine.

India is a land of rich linguistic diversity, yet language barriers often hinder access to knowledge. By integrating AI with multilingual support, Puchho empowers all industries across India, to help its users learn and grow without language constraints. Whether you're a Tamil-speaking farmer or a Bengali-speaking student, Puchho helps democratize access to information, fostering growth and complete inclusivity.

We Welcome You to Partner in Our Journey!

If you are a scientist, technologist, or an innovator, who believes in changing the world, then connect with us. If you are an investor or a passionate individual in any field, who wishes to see India take technology leadership, connect with us.

We invite you to become a part of our consortia and let us together think and create scalable and sustainable solutions for the most complex, toughest and impossible challenges and make our country a technology leader!

Write to us at

connect@itelfoundation.in