2009 Software Reviews

(1)

ITEMS

CHOICE LISTS

FREE ANSWERS / DESCRIPTIONS / COMMENTS

Contact information of the person who fills the

questionnaire:

Name

Budhabhatti Kamal

Position

CEO

e-mail address

[email protected]

Phone number

254-734-600283

Since when are you working with this institution?

10 years

COMPANY PROFILE

Contact Details

URL

http://www.craftsilicon.com

Postal address

Post Office Box 13628, Riverside Drive, Nairobi, Kenya and Craft Silicon

House, 9th A Main, Indiranagar, India

Country

Kenya, India

Region

Africa, India

Fax number

254204448058

Sales representative

Rakshit Bolar

Technical manager

Banjamin Kahungo

Established since

2000

Status

Limited

Private Limited Company

Main shareholders (with % of shares)

Turnover and Results last 3 financial years

Company's turnover

Average 5 Million US$ - 2008. 9 Million US$ Expected 2009

Turnover linked to microfinance activity

90% of our business comes from Micro Finance activity

Company's net profit

1.8 Million US$ ( 2008 )

Profit link to microfinance activity

90% of our business comes from Micro Finance activity

Staff

Whole company staff

About 250

Core Banking / Microfinance Systems Staff

We have a common product source for Core Banking and Micro Finance

Sales & marketing CBS staff

3

Implementation & training CBS staff

65

Technical support CBS staff

85

Product development CBS staff

90

Management & administration CBS staff

5

(2)

ITEMS

CHOICE LISTS

FREE ANSWERS / DESCRIPTIONS / COMMENTS

Other softwares / services that your company provides

Softwares

None

Services

None

Has your company set up partnerships for the

microfinance market?

with Microfinance Institutions? NO

None

with Resellers? YES

Yes

with Consulting companies? NO

None

with NGO's? NO

None

with other type of institutions? NO

None

Main evolutions since 3 years

Developed Micro Finance Electronic Switch, which caters for POS and

Mobile solutions

Trends for next 3 years

SOFTWARE OVERVIEW

BANKERS

REALM

Software versions

Date of 1st release

2000

Number of releases

7

Latest version number

3.0

Number of installations latest version (nb of MFI)

130

Number of installations previous version

40

Date of last released version

Oct-08

Date of next release (if already planned)

Mar-09

Average release frequency

6 to 8 months

Patches and updates integration tool YES

yes

FTP server for patches download YES

yes

Type of institutions targeted

Commercial Banks YES

Yes

Microfinance Banks YES

Yes

Community Banks (limited service area) YES

Yes

Finance Companies YES

Yes

Cooperatives and Credit Unions YES

Yes

Non-profit Organizations YES

Yes

(3)

ITEMS

CHOICE LISTS

FREE ANSWERS / DESCRIPTIONS / COMMENTS

Market references

Number of operating clients in 2006/2007/2008

60/90/150

Number of operating microfinance clients in 2006/2007/2008

55/78/120

Lowest and highest number of branches within MFI clients

1 Branch / 250 Branches

Average number of branches per client

Lowest and highest nb of accounts handled within MFI clients

1000

Number of microfinance clients by country (2008)

Number of ongoing installations by country Number of clients in 2006/2007/2008 by type

Commercial_Banks

35

Microfinance_Banks

41

Community_Banks (limited service area)

31

Finance_Companies

7

Cooperatives_and/or_Credit Unions

3

Non_profit_Organizations

1

Savings_and_Credit_Associations

Other

5 Commercial offices (including resellers)

Number of commercial offices

4

Location of commercial offices

Kenya, India, Nigeria, Ghana

Support center (including resellers)

Number of support centers

7

Location of support centers

Kenya and India

Support center staff (number of people)

121

Hotline

Support in which languages

English, French

Technical documentation available YES

Yes

User documentation available YES

Yes

User club existence NO

No

Main evolutions since 3 years

Trends for next 3 years

Forecast features under development for the software

Further innovation in pipeline for microfinance market YES

Branchless Banking and Mobile Technology

Outsourcing

(4)

ITEMS

CHOICE LISTS

FREE ANSWERS / DESCRIPTIONS / COMMENTS

According to you, who are your (3 main) competitors as

microfinance software editor?

Current competitors

Emerge, Equinoux, T24, Flexcube, Finnacle

Estimated future competitors

The five major strengths of your software

Flexiblity, Ease of use, Supplier-Customer Relationship

FUNCTIONAL COVERAGE

Client Information Management

core banking system Client data such as name, marital status, age, gender, address (home and

work) and activity… YES

Opening customer account in the field now possible with business cards

scanners (small device) connected to mobile phone.

Group clients data such as name, status, members (nb / list), leader,

creation date, meeting date YES

Village data such as name, location, status, groups (nb / list), leader,

registration date YES

Facilities to check client behavior - i.e. credit and deposit status and

history (either from external or internal sources) YES Historical data on clients (including deleted, canceled, rejected and closed

loans) YES

Able to track clients at different stages of the process (prospect, active,

blocked) YES

Unique identifier of client as a parameter (internal number, Mnemonic, ID

card,…) YES

Physical identifier of client (picture, signature, finger print…) YES Identifies potential duplicates (i.e.. double entry of clients) YES Tracks potential clients information YES

Black list YES

Follow-up of relationships between clients YES Possibility to print a client identification sheet YES

Loan management

Integrated with accounting system YES Number of products allowed

Permits the addition and modification of loan products YES Lending methodologies

Individual clients YES

Solidarity groups with individual loans YES Solidarity groups with group loans YES Village banks with individual loans YES Village banks with group loans YES Methodologies of interest calculation available

(5)

ITEMS

CHOICE LISTS

FREE ANSWERS / DESCRIPTIONS / COMMENTS

Flat YES

Declining balance YES

Fixed rates YES

Discounted from the loan NO

Floating/Variable rate YES

Daily interest calculation (with weekly or monthly installments) on

principal outstanding YES

Other (user defined) NO

Special products

Leasing YES

Mortgage YES

Warrantage NO

Line of credit YES

Other YES

Historic data on products YES

Forced deposits (linked to deposit monitoring) with ability to block access

to forced savings (where appropriate) YES Forced deposits linked to instalment schedule as a separate option. YES Collateral (cash and non-cash) tracking YES Guarantor tracking and number of guarantors per loan YES Loan simulation including production of installments schedule YES Payment Types

Term loans with constant payments YES Term loans with constant principal YES Irregular payments (set by the user) YES Balloon schedule (interest only instalments and principal at the end) YES Possibility to choose order of repayment between Penalties, Interest

and Capital YES

Other (user defined) YES

Payment frequencies

Daily YES

Weekly YES

Biweekly YES

Every 4 weeks YES

(6)

ITEMS

CHOICE LISTS

FREE ANSWERS / DESCRIPTIONS / COMMENTS

Bimonthly YES

Quarterly (every 3 months) YES

Bullet loan (single repayment) YES

Payment year supported

365 days YES

360 days (30 days/month) YES

336 days (4 weeks/month) YES

52 weeks YES

Grace periods

Late payment grace period YES

Installments schedule grace with interest YES Installments schedule grace without interest YES Delinquency management facilities (handling of on-time, early, late, partial,

and extra payments) and calculation methodology YES Additional types of payments

Commissions and fees (Please specify at what stage of the loan cycle

those fees may be charged) YES

Penalty fees for late payments (Please specify if the user may

suspends these fees) YES

Credit insurance YES

Group insurance fees YES

Repayment methods

Cash YES

Check YES

Standing order (auto debit) YES

Money order YES

Current account transfer YES

ATM Card YES

POS devices YES

"8583" switch to integrate data coming from mobile device. Implemented

in Kenya already ("djami boda"). Input data in POS device or mobile

phone linked to printer to deliver proof of operations.

Mobile banking YES

"8583" switch to integrate data coming from mobile device. Implemented

in Kenya already ("djami boda"). Input data in POS device or mobile

phone linked to printer to deliver proof of operations.

(7)

ITEMS

CHOICE LISTS

FREE ANSWERS / DESCRIPTIONS / COMMENTS

List the different steps of the loan cycle (application, appraisal,approval,

disbursement, payment)

Approval workflow system YES, manual Closing a loan (on-time and early) YES, manual Back dating of transactions on loan accounts YES Loan rescheduling : follow-up and separation from other loans YES Expected repayment amount proposed by default by the system YES Unexpected amount possible (underpayment, overpayment,more than

loan balance) YES

Batch processing for disbursement lists / collection sheets YES Taxes management on loan products YES

Loan accounts numbering (random, user defined, system generated) YES

Parameter driven

Provide a list of standart documents with example (contracts, repayment

schedules, account statement)

Deposits management

core banking system

Integrated with accounting system YES Types of deposit accounts

Saving account YES

Current account YES

Overdraft account YES

Term deposit YES

Planned saving YES

Group saving YES

Interests on deposits calculations

Time weighted method YES

Minimum daily balance YES

Minimum monthly balance YES

Minimum quarterly balance YES

Average daily balance YES

Average monthly balance YES

Interests payment frequency (Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quaterly …)

Voluntary deposits YES

(8)

ITEMS

CHOICE LISTS

FREE ANSWERS / DESCRIPTIONS / COMMENTS

Compulsory saving collection before loan disbursement YES

Term deposit simultation YES

Deposits and withdrawal methods

Cash YES

Check YES

Transfer YES

Batch transfer (ex : salary of the employees) YES

ATM Card YES

POS devices YES

Mobile banking YES

PDA YES

Other YES

Can be integrated to any external mode

Tax withholding functionality YES

Dormant accounts management, blocking or warning when a transaction

is posted YES

Closing with balance transfer YES

Option for jointly held accounts YES Hard copies management (passbook, checks, account statements) YES

Back dating of events recording YES

Limited to last interest application

Teller management

core banking system

Create a new teller YES

Open Till YES

Close Till YES

Cash overage and shortage management YES Transfer cash from vault to a till YES Transfer cash from till to vault YES Transfer cash from one till to another YES Transfer cash from HO to Branch office YES Transfer cash from Branch office to HO YES Cash to cash transfer by or to client YES Cash receipts printing (deal slips) YES

End of day cash position YES

Bill counting accessory YES

Continuous cash position YES

(9)

ITEMS

CHOICE LISTS

FREE ANSWERS / DESCRIPTIONS / COMMENTS

Interbranch transacting YES

Interbranch funds transfer for clients (local) YES Interbank funds transfer for clients (local) YES International funds transfer for clients YES

Accounting

core banking system

Chart of accounts management YES

Adheres to GAAP and/or IAS provisions YES

Supports Anglo-Saxon accounting standards (describe)

Need more details

Supports French accounting standards (describe) YES

Interest procedures are user defined and parameter driven.

Possible modifications to meet local legal requirements (central bank,

supervisory regulations) or business requirements YES On-line or batch ledger updates (tills, credits, deposits) YES Automated calculation and posting for partial or late payments (including

interests) YES

Categorizing current vs. delinquent loans YES

Accrual vs. cash YES

Existence of accounts to handle interest and principal due but not received

separate from accrued YES

Software ceases to accrue interest on late loans (automatically or on

demand) YES

Cost accounting NO

Asset management YES

Budget management YES

Treasury management YES

Pay-roll management YES

Payroll and Human Resource

Accounting interface YES

Export to external accounting packages? (specify which) YES

Sage. Users can define export formats

Import from external accounting packages? (specify which)

End of period process (day, month, year) and approximate timing for

5.000, 15.000, 50.000, 100.000 clients registered in system YES

10, 10, 20, 30 Mins respectively.

Generation of financial statements (provide list) YES

Many including Balance Sheet, PL, Cash flow

Generation of aging categories reporting (aging of loans)

Share Management

core banking system

Membership share management YES

Share buying YES

Share selling YES

(10)

ITEMS

CHOICE LISTS

FREE ANSWERS / DESCRIPTIONS / COMMENTS

Dividends calculation YES

Flexibility

Consolidation / Possible network configurations

Single PC YES

Decentralised YES

Decentralised with consolidation tool YES

Centralised on line YES

Centralised on line with off-line option YES

Other YES

Online - Offline Replicaiton

Technical Deploiement of software

Stand-alone YES

Client/Server YES

ASP YES

Web Interface YES

Multi-Tier YES

Delayed posting YES

Tracking flexibility

Tracks clients at different levels (individual, group, village, branch,

region, institution YES

Track current and historical client portfolio of loan officer / supervisor YES Multiple branches or regions

Mechanisms for separating information on an office basis YES Presentation of financial or statistical information by branch or region YES Ability to neutralize inter-branches transactions YES

Multi institutions YES

Maximum number of accounts handled by software

The software was tested by HP Labs for upto 50 Million Customers (

Loans and Savings ) and 2000 Branches, and found to be operating

sucessfully.

Maintenance of indicator lists for selected data (like region list) YES Is there any field that can be modified or added by user ? YES

Multiple languages

Language is user defined.

Technical documentation and user guides languages

English and French

Languages available within software

English and French

Can support languages on a user basis YES

(11)

ITEMS

CHOICE LISTS

FREE ANSWERS / DESCRIPTIONS / COMMENTS

All screen information is presented in language of choice YES

Multiple language support requires recoding (language is hardcode)

or is intrinsic to the system (language is parameterized) YES

Language is parateramised

Statements can be in different languages? If yes, possibility to

allocate a language to a client ? YES

Language can be connected to a client

Ability to handle non roman scripts YES

Multiple currencies

Supports local currencies and foreign currencies YES Supports loan / deposits accounts and teller transactions in different

currencies YES

Supports foreign exchange exposure calculation facilities YES Handles maintenance of value accounts and other inflationary risk

mitigation functions YES

Revaluation

Possibility to add a currency YES

Daily exchange rates entry YES

Displayed in 2 currencies ? YES

Position Management YES

Rounding

Rounding per currency to fit cash constraints (5, 10, 50, 100, …),

possibility to set it up by product YES Rounding of installment amounts (Principal + interests) YES Guaranty Deposits and funds

Guaranty funds YES

Death insurance YES

Garanty fund deducted from loan amount prior to disbursement or on

disbursement date YES

Garanty fund paid before disbursement YES Garanty fund paid with installments YES Provision

Calculation set by ageing rules and product type YES Calculation modes (total outstanding, past dues only, ...) YES Provision automatically calculated at disbursement YES

Reporting

core banking system

Existing operational reports YES

Existing financial reports YES

(12)

ITEMS

CHOICE LISTS

FREE ANSWERS / DESCRIPTIONS / COMMENTS

Regulatory authority reporting (Central Bank) configurable YES

Though any time we go to a new country, we have to design them for the

client

CGAP Key Performance Indicators YES

Many of them

User defined reports YES

Possibility to perform trend analysis / comparisons (i.e. this month vs last

month, payment performance analysis ...) YES Export utility (Word, Excel, other format,…) YES

Customized statistics YES

Using User defined reports

Additional functionalities

Payment cards additional module

This is sold seperately, under the product name BREFT ( Bankers Realm

EFT Modules )

Check management core banking system

Payment services (bills, utility management) core banking system Money exchange service core banking system

Credit scoring additional module

Customer relationship management core banking system

HR administration core banking system

Batch transfer functionality core banking system

Other products and services core banking system

Fixed Assets, Inventory, AR / AP, Reconcialation

EASE OF CONFIGURATION

Configurator exists YES

Parameterization steps YES

Calendar (holidays / working days) YES

Configuration printing NO

Configuration interface/ergonomy YES

Possibility to replicate the configuration from one system to another YES

But with our tools, which are not generally available to our users

SECURITY

Audit

Audit methodology YES

Unique teller identification number YES Traceability of products parametrization YES Traceability of connections - loggings YES

Traceability of transactions YES

Identification

(13)

ITEMS

CHOICE LISTS

FREE ANSWERS / DESCRIPTIONS / COMMENTS

Activate / deactivate a user YES

Technology used

Microsoft Technologies, Web Services

Accountability

by transaction YES

by consultation YES

data collected in log file YES

Backup management

Using an external tool YES

Internal tool: specify whether manual or automatic YES

Automatically takes backup before performing important functions like End

of day, etc

Automatic recovery tool NO

Data protection

on database YES

between remote stations YES

on external floppies and backup cartridges NO

TECHNICAL ARCHITECTURE

Server requirements

Operating system

Database Operating System - Windows, Linux, Unix. Middle Tier -

Windows Servers, Front End - Windows XP/Vista

Minimal configuration for 15.000, 50.000, 100.000 clients Optimal configuration for 15.000, 50.000, 100.000 clients Size of server application for 15.000, 50.000, 100.000 clients

Network requirements

Describe the usual configuration

TCP/IP

Protocol

Database requirements

Microsoft SQL Server / Oracle

Supported native databases ODBC, JDBC

Workstation

Operating system

Windows XP/Vista ( or a standard Browser based clients )

Minimal configuration

Optimal configuration

Size of client application

Client Server ( 2.5 MB ), .NET Version - none

Existing interface

(14)

ITEMS

CHOICE LISTS

FREE ANSWERS / DESCRIPTIONS / COMMENTS

Other

Software

Programming language

Microsoft Technologies and .NET

Open source NO

Other integrated tools

PLANNING, TRAINING AND BUDGET

System implementation

Implementation methodology YES

Describe how you build capacity at your client to replicate implementation of one branch to other branches by itself

We train and follow TOT ( Trainers of Trainers ). Customers build capicity

to rollout to the branches.

Installation & training partners (please indicate installation and training

languages where appropriate)

Training Language ( English, French or sometimes Local if possible )

Average implementation time (from contract signature to service launch)

Depends on the size and complexicity of the client. From 15 Days to 3

Months

Quickest implementation

10 Days

Longest implementation

1 Year

Guarantee period YES

Installation CD ROM available YES

Yes

Software update procedure

Training

User training YES

If yes, how long? Who? Cost

Training is part of License fees. However customer bears the per day cost

of our Engineers

System administrator training YES If yes, how long? Who? Cost

Training local IT specialist If yes, how long? Who? Cost

Cost of programmer man-days for customization

System pricing

License (basis, range cost)

15,000 US$ to 2 Million US$ License Fees. ASP Model pricing is different

License expiry NO

Annual maintenance fee (basis, range, % license)

12 to 18%. ASP Model pricing is different

Cost per transaction (basis, range)

If on ASP Model, about half a US$ per customer / per year

Assistance included in the initial license cost

Training, Consultation

(15)

ITEMS

CHOICE LISTS

FREE ANSWERS / DESCRIPTIONS / COMMENTS

Additional modules (not included in the standard software) - List features

COMMENTS, NOTES

Questions

(16)

Description of the MFI

situations

Number of

clients

Number of

users

Number of

branches

% Urban / %

Rural

Price in $

Comments

Case 1

100,000

220

50 50/50

155,000

Case 2

40,000

60

20 20/80

55,000

Case 3

15,000

45

10 80/20

20,000

We have an ASP

model for smaller

MFI where we

charge per

account OR per

transaction OR

size of portfolio

Case 1

STEPS OUTLINE

Duration in

month

Workload in

men-month on

the vendor side

Workload in

men-month on

the client side

PRICING

OUTLINE

product / service

Price in $

Comments

Specifications, installation,

parameterization and configuration

1 Core module

License

150,000

Testing / User Acceptance tests

Additional

modules

Pilot phase

Database license

5,000

Training

Interface module

+ Delivery

Channel

included

First branch roll-out

1 Implementation

Fees and

Expenses

included

Full roll-out

3 Training Cost

included

Help Desk, assistance included in

the initial license cost

yes

Maintenance

(yearly price)

15% of license

costs

TOTAL

10000$

TOTAL

155,000

General comments

Comments /

Recommendation

Our costs are per day at

Products

Loan + Deposit + Transfer

Group Loan + Individual Loan

Individual loan and deposit

Contains two tables: steps outline with comments & recommendations and finally pricing outline

We have an Enterprise licenses which allows the MFI to use software for unlimited users and branches. Also as the number of branches

grow, the cost reduces.

(17)

Case 2

STEPS OUTLINE

Duration in

month

Workload in

men-month on

the vendor side

Workload in

men-month on

the client side

PRICING

OUTLINE

product / service

Price in $

Comments

Specifications, installation,

parameterization and configuration

1 Core module

License

50,000

Testing / User Acceptance tests

1 Additional

modules

Pilot phase

Database license

5,000

Training

Interface module

+ Delivery

Channel

included

First branch roll-out

1 Implementation

Fees and

Expenses

included

Full roll-out

2 Training Cost

included

Help Desk, assistance included in

the initial license cost

Maintenance

(yearly price)

15% of license

costs

TOTAL

55,000

General comments

Comments /

Recommendation

Our costs are per day at

(18)