FHI 360 MMAP Semi-Annual Report October 2014 to March 2015

The program is implemented by FHI 360 and Open Revolution, and its end-period was extended to May 30, 2015, following an amendment to the cooperative agreement in June 2013. The USAID Forward Initiative includes mobile money as one of its strategies to accelerate financial inclusion and achieve broader USG goals, such as increasing financial inclusion, improving transparency, and rooting out corruption. During the reporting period from October 2014 to March 2015, MMAP made steady progress in ensuring the transition to mobile money as a viable option to promote financial inclusion. A primary focus was on launching pilot activities and working with organizations to incorporate mobile money into transaction streams. MMAP began implementation on five pilots, including two in agriculture value chains, two in microloans, and one in general financial services. The Farm Input Subsidy Program (FISP) pilot was completed during this period, successfully covering 18 districts with a redemption rate of 92.8%. MMAP also finalized implementation plans for two additional pilots, one for the Ministry of Gender on social cash transfers and another for CARE Malawi on village savings and loan groups. Under agent capacity building, MMAP completed a comprehensive GIS mapping exercise targeting 10 districts in the country, identifying locations that might participate in a mobile money or branchless banking ecosystem as agents or affiliated merchants. The mapping exercise also included tools to collect information on pre-agent selection, agent selection, agent training, agent operations, and agent commissions. Public awareness efforts involved a variety of media and outreach methods, as well as broader financial literacy initiatives. MMAP worked with the two leading broadcasters in Malawi, MBC and Zodiak, to air radio and TV spots, comedies, and documentaries to provide consumer education. More than 24,000 individuals attended community meetings and roadshows, generating over 2,500 new mobile money subscribers. MMAP also provided technical and administrative support to the Mobile Money Coordinating Group (MMCG) with two meetings over the last six months. The National Switch went live in December 2014, laying the groundwork for network interoperability. MNO subscriber data collected by MMAP showed improving trends, with a sharp increase of 8.5% in the percentage of mobile subscribers with an active mobile wallet over the last six months (from 22.8% to 31.3%). The total number of registered wallets climbed to over 1.5 million, and the value of transactions during the reporting period totaled over $100 million USD.