Martin Jayo

The Role of ICT in Helping Parallel Paths Converge: Microcredit and Correspondent Banking in Brazil

Abstract Two important phenomena in the financial sector have drawn attention in recent years: on the one hand, microcredit is growing and earning renown as a powerful instrument for income generation and poverty reduction in a number of developing countries; on the other hand, correspondent banking (CB) outlets have risen to prominence as a main channel for the distribution of financial services to the low- income population, with particular success in Brazil. This paper argues that information and communication technology (ICT) applications have the potential to help these two movements, until now tracing parallel paths, to converge. We apply an emergent conceptual framework that combines three theoretical lenses: social shaping of technology, structurationist view of technology and contextualism. The result is an original reading of the possible combinations of CB and microfinance in Brazil and the expectation that the multilevel framework might help to understand similar complex phenomena in other Latin America contexts.

The role of information and communication technologies (ICT) in improving microcredit: The case of correspondent banking in Brazil

Finding ways to efficiently down scale micro finance services is one of the current challenges of Brazilian commercial banks. As commercial banks do not have strong tradition or know-how in this market, the expansion of such operations still depends on the building of specific capabilities and creation of business and technological architectures. This paper discusses how the use of correspondent banking (CB) arrangements can help Brazilian banks to face this challenge and increase their micro credit operations in an efficient way. The particular model of CB adopted in Brazil since 2000 has created an ICT-based business structure for banks down scale financial services out of traditional branches, typically in retail stores such as supermarkets, drugstores, lottery shops, post offices, and so on. The discussion is on how this ICT-based channel can be adapted to scale micro credit delivery. To address the discussion, we focus on one particular case, involving a CB arrangement between Banco do Brasil, one of the most important Brazilian banking institutions, and Banco Palmas, an accredited micro finance institution. This specific case provides an elucidating example of how the Brazilian ICT-based CB model can be used to help scaling up micro finance services, especially micro credit.

UTILIZAÇÃO DE BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE PARA GESTÃO OPERACIONAL DE AGÊNCIAS BANCÁRIAS: UM ESTUDO DE CASO (doi:10.5329/RESI.2009.0802002)

A gestao operacional de agencias e uma atividade bastante complexa, envolvendo grandes volumes de informacao. Embora o Business Intelligence (BI) seja reconhecido como uma solucao adequada para otimizar a tomada de decisoes em situacoes dessa natureza, nao se encontram na literatura muitos estudos que tratem desses dois assuntos – BI e gestao de agencias bancarias – de forma articulada. O artigo apresenta um estudo de caso, enfocando um grande banco comercial brasileiro, envolvendo uma situacao de aplicacao de BI para a gestao operacional da rede de agencias. O estudo contribui para identificar os beneficios e desafios da utilizacao de BI para essa finalidade.

Tecnologia para microfinanças

No Brasil, tecnologias como celular e internet estao contribuindo para ampliar o acesso da populacao de baixa renda aos servicos financeiros formais