Going Where Banks Have Yet To Tread.

NEW MARKETS WINNER

Universal Remote Transaction System, FINO

Tapping the vast potential market for microfinance using a smart card-based system.

Microfinance has gotten a lot of attention these days, with the awarding of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize to Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank in Bangladesh for their work extending credit to the poorest of the poor.

According to some estimates, the potential market for these services is 500 million people-the rural poor who have no access to banking services.

But just how do banks keep track of the thousands of tiny loans and savings accounts that microfinance entails, or make sure they are dealing with legitimate account holders?

India's Financial Information Network and Operations, or FINO, aims to tap this market, using smart cards, portable readers and an electronic system that enrolls and transacts business in places without bank branches and few network connections.

FINO's Universal Remote Transaction System …