It’s a crucial tool, as India’s rural low income segments have an urgent need to access to financial services. India’s microfinance sector is the largest in the world, but there are still more than 200 million people across the country without access to formal financial services. Microfinance institutions play a key role in reaching the unbanked population, and in supporting those with accounts to use them effectively, but there are few training programs able to operate at the scale and quality required.

Current training programs for staff and agents of microfinance institutions require classroom or on-the-job training which is costly and limited in scope. It also does not adequately assess the whether the learners have adequately understood the training content.

At the launch, Ms. Chandni Ohri, CEO, Grameen Foundation said, “Grameen Foundation’s extensive experience in financial inclusion gives us a deep appreciation of the critical role of the front line worker, who bears the greatest responsibility for engaging, educating and motivating the end client. These employees need the right training and tools to do their job effectively. G-LEAP provides that solution, enabling field officers to learn on the job, while continuing to serve their clients.

G-LEAP is just the latest example of how the rapid spread of mobile phones in India is transforming the microfinance industry. “It gives me immense pleasure to be associated with G-LEAP. Given India’s fast-changing scenario, we need a tool to quickly inform and train field officers in new skills. Current methods of training can lead to communication gaps, ineffective transfer of information, lack of understanding and with G-LEAP these challenges can be overcome easily,” said Mr. Anup Singh, MD at Sonata Finance Pvt. Ltd.

Sonata, Oxigen Money, and Citi Foundation have partnered with Grameen Foundation to develop G-LEAP as part of a broader initiative, Integrated Digital Financial Services & Education Delivery. It aims to enhance the delivery and use of mobile financial services in underserved communities in India.

The initiative helps Sonata’s microfinance clients to adopt and use digital financial services in their daily lives. Grameen Foundation has worked with agents with Oxigen Money, a mobile money provider, to train Sonata clients in using digital wallets to repay their microloans. The initiative claims it has already served more than 23,000 clients in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

Using G-LEAP, microfinance field officers will be able to develop a better understanding of digital financial services, deepen clients understanding of the services, and reach a greater number of clients more quickly. An estimated 27,000 clients will be reached as part of phase 2 of the initiative.

With this experience, Grameen Foundation will now make G-LEAP available to the larger financial inclusion sector so they can ensure their field staff are appropriately trained.

G-LEAP can be licensed at a fee as low as Rs 50 per user per month based on the offering selected. Pricing is determined by the total number of user licenses, custom content development and off-the-shelf courses licensed.