Financial Access Point Mapping for Nepal Rastra Bank 

Client: UNCDF

Year: 2016

Overview

While financial institutions like banks, development banks, finances, cooperatives are operating all over Nepal, the physical locations of these financial points are not known. Thus, UNCDF aimed to develop a system for Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) that would map and categorize these financial points. The objective of this project was to understand the current geographical distribution of the financial points in Nepal that would give an overview of the accessibility of these services to the general population. Information like the location of branches, ATMs, etc will help NRB make expansion plans to ensure better financial accessibility. 

Methodology 

Rooster Logic worked with UNCDF and NRB to understand the needs of NRB. Simultaneously, we also worked with different financial institutions to map the financial points. An application was developed which was launched on 12th December 2016. A mock demonstration followed where 11 banks and financial institution in Kathmandu were able to use the application and get familiar with geo-tagging. This achieved the final goal for us which was to develop a system with financial points to give an overview of these institutions in Nepal. 

Working with multiple stakeholders to reach the final system was both a challenge and an opportunity for us. The system might be complex or easy, but the more important task is to understand the outcome expected by the client. Our goal was to build a system that delivers results. While developing the system, we also considered how the end-users might engage with the system to fill the data points. With a sound technological backend, we aimed to make the system easy to use and proceed in the future.

Further information can be accessed through:
Mapping financial service points in Nepal - UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF)