AWS Fix This Podcast Episode 31: Expanding financial access and choice

AWS Fix This Podcast Episode 31: Expanding financial access and choice


AWS Fix This Podcast Episode 31: Expanding financial access and choice

The Fix This team explores financial inclusivity in this episode. From helping farmers across India to providing basic banking capabilities and microloans to people in need, the team learned how Whrrl, an India-based startup, and Kiva, an AWS Imagine Grant program winner, use Amazon Web Services (AWS) to deliver on their missions. During the discussion, founder and chief executive officer, Ashish Anand explains how Whrrl uses blockchain to expand financial access to farmers in India. Matthew Davie, chief strategy officer of Kiva, shares how they use the cloud to power their platform.

Listen to the latest from Fix This on Spotify or your favorite podcast app:
https://open.spotify.com/show/1D6sdm4

AWS in the Public Sector paves the way for innovation and supports world-changing projects in government, education, nonprofit, and healthcare organizations. Check out: https://go.aws/2XV2QeV.

Subscribe to our channel:    / awspublicsector  
Watch our video catalog: https://bit.ly/38F5Zn1


Content

6.339 -> I'm Ray Rogers.
7.54 -> And I'm Brad Keppler.
8.775 -> You're listening to Fix This, a podcast
10.877 -> exploring tech ideas and solutions
12.879 -> to some of today's largest challenges.
15.682 -> People around the world
16.816 -> rely on goods produced
17.884 -> by farmers in India.
19.352 -> Indian farmers grow and produce milk.
21.821 -> Jute, rice, wheat,
23.156 -> sugar cane, vegetables, fruit,
25.191 -> cotton, spices and more.
27.56 -> We set out to understand
28.628 -> how technology can provide
29.963 -> one possible solution to improve
31.998 -> earnings for farmers across India.
34.401 -> Ashish Anand is CEO and founder of Whrrl
37.303 -> a fintech platform,
38.304 -> helping farmers with timely credit
39.906 -> and post harvest
40.84 -> agriculture, supply chain,
42.442 -> all using blockchain and the cloud.
46.012 -> Whrrl is a fintech
47.747 -> platform for farmers in India
49.916 -> wherein we are helping
51.151 -> the farmers to get finances
53.153 -> for what is known as post
54.888 -> harvest finance... means
55.889 -> After the crop has been harvested,
58.258 -> typically farmers
59.426 -> have faced a lot of challenges
61.428 -> in getting better prices
63.129 -> as well as getting better
64.731 -> financing post harvest.
67 -> Also, we are helping banks
69.636 -> to better their processes around
72.072 -> what is known as
73.173 -> warehouse receipt finance
75.008 -> which is a tool used by the farmers to
77.71 -> have liquidity in hand
79.112 -> when they are not selling their crop
81.448 -> and rather they store it in the warehouse
83.383 -> in the hope that the prices
84.684 -> will rise at a later stage.
86.453 -> We have touched the lives of more
88.188 -> than 3000 farmers directly and indirectly
91.091 -> by lending to farmers
92.459 -> or through to the farmers cooperatives.
94.761 -> Can you tell us a little bit
95.862 -> more about the state
97.03 -> of agriculture in India today?
99.365 -> Agriculture has been a mainstay
101.267 -> for most of Indians,
102.602 -> whether directly or indirectly.
104.337 -> Around 50% of Indians
106.206 -> are dependent upon agriculture.
108.441 -> We're talking about
109.943 -> more than half a billion people.
112.212 -> Part of GDP that comes from
113.746 -> agriculture is actually 15%
116.149 -> and that's quite huge.
117.55 -> That's still a $400 billion market.
120.653 -> Landholding will be less than two acres
123.189 -> for 85% of the farmers in India.
125.592 -> And that means that the farmers in
127.527 -> India don't have too much of money
129.696 -> coming from the produce
131.331 -> that they produce in their fields.
133.299 -> Yeah, so the idea is that
135.101 -> the harvest time
135.902 -> is similar for all farmers,
137.437 -> whether they have a small farm
139.205 -> that's less than two acres
140.507 -> or a larger farm.
142.242 -> So the market is flooded with produce
144.811 -> with grains and all different
146.446 -> kinds of crops at once, and at that time
148.681 -> farmers wouldn't be able
149.682 -> to fetch a high price for their output.
152.452 -> That is really mature right
154.154 -> when these crops come to the market.
155.989 -> What happens at that point of time
157.624 -> that in local area
159.125 -> is the prices will fall down
161.227 -> and they will fall quite sharply?
163.663 -> Even this crop cycle
165.198 -> in October, November, we saw
166.699 -> that prices were around 30%
169.135 -> below what the price?
170.27 -> Even the government.
171.871 -> Adds to the farm.
172.805 -> So that's that's a major challenge.
174.641 -> Yes, and so now going back
176.509 -> to what world does,
178.077 -> can you tell me a little bit about
179.312 -> where the warehouses come into effect
181.714 -> and how are these loans
183.016 -> working for the farmers?
183.983 -> How is it helping the farmers
185.385 -> take advantage of the timing
186.953 -> and of the supply
188.354 -> and demand fluctuations?
190.123 -> As we talked about back
191.457 -> in, farmers don't have
192.559 -> much of a landholding
193.826 -> that means their income
194.727 -> is also low from the farm.
197.03 -> Now, what happens that
198.464 -> if the prices are lower
199.799 -> and if the farmers decide
201.401 -> to sell at that point of time,
203.403 -> or their income will certainly be lower
205.004 -> means they will be
205.672 -> having lower realization from there?
207.307 -> From what anybody
208.942 -> will do at that point of time,
210.476 -> they would say that it would be better
211.911 -> if I don't sell it now, and bitter
214.214 -> storing the problem in that
216.616 -> if a farmer decides
218.218 -> to store that then he doesn't have money,
220.353 -> he doesn't have money
221.254 -> for his next crop cycle.
223.122 -> He can't buy the inputs,
224.49 -> he can't buy seeds, fertilizers, etc.
226.526 -> He can't, I'll laborers.
228.228 -> When the farmers decide
229.429 -> not to sell the option for them
231.197 -> is to deposit it in advance.
233.333 -> When they deposit in a warehouse
234.801 -> then they have liquidity crunch
236.736 -> and that is where Whrrl comes in.
238.938 -> We allow the farmers to take a 70% of
241.908 -> the ground value as loan amount.
244.01 -> And that loan amount helps them
245.979 -> in achieving two objectives.
247.88 -> First, they don't have to sell the crop
249.949 -> and secondly they have liquidity in hand
251.985 -> through the loan which we have provided.
254.587 -> That way they have best of both worlds
256.422 -> and they can decide to sell the crop
258.691 -> which they have stored in the warehouse
260.326 -> at the right point of time, and that way
262.428 -> they will be able
263.129 -> to get better realization
264.731 -> and we will collect the loan proceeds
266.766 -> only when the farmer has decided
269.102 -> to sell the company.
270.47 -> So it sounds so simple
272.138 -> and we just describe it that way,
273.606 -> but there's a lot
274.14 -> of technology behind this.
276.175 -> How is your platform powered?
278.211 -> How is it working?
279.078 -> How are the farmers interacting with it?
280.98 -> Tell us a little bit
281.714 -> about the technology behind
283.049 -> what you're doing.
284.25 -> We have brought the world's
285.985 -> cutting edge technology
287.287 -> of blockchain and cloud solutions
289.789 -> blockchain either platform
291.491 -> which removes intermediaries.
293.159 -> People transact between themselves
295.561 -> through the blockchain
296.796 -> without any third party.
298.264 -> We have connected the banks
299.966 -> and the warehouses
300.733 -> and the farmers together.
301.801 -> We have created a unified platform
304.337 -> where we have 1400 warehouses.
306.639 -> Today we have lenders.
308.274 -> The banks on the platform in India
310.943 -> most of the farmer have a smartphone.
313.046 -> In the household.
314.314 -> So these farmers
315.315 -> have access to the platform
316.983 -> through the mobile app.
318.217 -> The farmers use the mobile app
319.986 -> to find a warehouse nearby.
321.754 -> They also use the mobile
323.056 -> app to book a slot in the warehouse.
325.191 -> They bring their commodities
326.392 -> to the warehouse.
327.593 -> The warehouse, which is again
328.995 -> on our electronic blockchain platform.
331.23 -> It generates an electronic
332.732 -> warehouse receipt.
333.833 -> This is a document
334.901 -> that the farmer has deposited
336.903 -> XY jet quality of ABC,
339.272 -> quantity of the crop in the warehouse
341.874 -> which they used to apply for loan.
344.41 -> We have created a platform
346.045 -> where the farmers
347.48 -> cancel these commodities
349.048 -> stored in the warehouse
350.049 -> online to other buyers
352.285 -> and the bias can repay
353.753 -> the loan to the bank
355.254 -> as well as the buyers
356.556 -> will pay the farmer the balance amount
358.691 -> it has the farmer that they don't
360.793 -> have to arrange for money
362.061 -> to repay the loan, their ticket warehouse
364.364 -> receipt finance in India
366.399 -> actually helps increase farmers income
368.634 -> by around 25 to 40%.
371.07 -> How is the cloud helping
372.505 -> to power the platform
373.773 -> and helping you to achieve your mission?
376.075 -> Cloud helps us to serve
378.111 -> the on-demand requirement of resources
381.047 -> and secondly not worry
382.515 -> about where our customers
384.684 -> and where our partners are located.
386.853 -> Ashish, what's your ultimate
388.02 -> hope for the future?
389.188 -> How do you think we can create
390.456 -> a more equitable environment for farmers
392.558 -> who are doing really critical work
394.594 -> using technology?
396.329 -> In emerging markets, and I would say
398.631 -> in Asia, individual
400.266 -> farm holdings have gone really below
402.668 -> economic farm holding levels.
405.505 -> And as a result the elites are lower
407.507 -> as well as the income of the people
409.909 -> dependent upon agriculture are low.
412.845 -> We need to increase
414.113 -> yield per hectare of land.
416.983 -> Secondly, we help provide market access
419.852 -> so that they don't have to go through
421.988 -> the channel of intermediaries
423.823 -> in the supply chain.
425.691 -> And Thirdly, what we also need
427.493 -> to ensure that along
428.594 -> with the market linkage
429.996 -> we are able to get them the right price
431.764 -> for their produce.
433.199 -> So these are the things which are
434.734 -> where the farmers need help
436.803 -> to help their increase their income
438.571 -> and that is where a lot of Agri
440.139 -> tech is coming up.
441.674 -> Now there are startups
442.942 -> who are helping farmers in the post
445.144 -> harvest segment by helping them
446.913 -> create market linkage
448.648 -> and that is where
449.549 -> while also comes into play
450.883 -> where we are facilitating finance
452.819 -> at these market linkage places.
455.288 -> And finally we have the farmers
457.957 -> today for the sale decision
459.659 -> and we help them sell online
461.093 -> so that they get the best price
462.495 -> is available in the morning.
464.697 -> Technology is going
465.531 -> to play the biggest role
466.833 -> in changing the lives of the pump.
469.569 -> Being able to check
470.47 -> your bank account in an app
471.804 -> or popping by the local branch
473.206 -> to inquire about alone
474.207 -> is something that many of us have just
475.475 -> kind of come to see as a norm.
477.176 -> But for much of the world's population,
479.278 -> basic banking opportunities
480.88 -> are simply not available.
482.582 -> And being excluded from basic
484.383 -> financial needs has negative consequences
486.652 -> at the individual and community level.
489.322 -> We chatted with Matthew Davie, Chief
491.19 -> Strategy Officer of Kiva, an organization
493.392 -> that's building towards a financially
494.76 -> inclusive world.
496.062 -> We wanted to learn more about
497.463 -> how the organizations work
498.664 -> with micro loans.
499.665 -> And their ambitious awos
501 -> Imagine Grant project
502.401 -> can build a more equitable future
504.237 -> for all.
505.037 -> Here's Matthew and Ray.
507.673 -> I was really drawn
508.474 -> to Kiva by the opportunity
510.042 -> to take what I've done with my career,
512.211 -> which has always been in technology
513.746 -> and really emerging technology
515.414 -> and take that to something that was going
516.883 -> to have direct social impact.
518.584 -> You know, I think
519.085 -> one of the things
519.752 -> that drew me to technology immediately
522.121 -> when I was out of school
523.322 -> was the fast paced
525.191 -> and the ability to try to make
526.626 -> the world a better place.
527.827 -> And I think evil was
529.428 -> and is a very unique opportunity
532.131 -> to take that technology
533.432 -> and not talk about doing good,
534.834 -> but actually see the good it's
536.269 -> doing in the world directly.
537.67 -> Take it to those
538.471 -> who have no access at all.
540.206 -> Kiva slogan if you visit
541.474 -> the site is make alone change a life.
543.643 -> What does expanding financial access
546.112 -> for underserved communities mean?
548.581 -> And I love this idea
549.949 -> of seeing the technology in action,
551.817 -> so actually seeing tangible change.
554.554 -> So just imagine life is unbanked,
556.455 -> your operating only in cash.
558.691 -> You're probably making $10 a day or less.
561.827 -> It's really expensive
563.162 -> to operate in cash,
564.03 -> and it's really insecure.
565.331 -> How do you do long term savings?
567.166 -> Do you put cash in a box under your bed?
569.635 -> Alot of people will find a friend.
571.17 -> And actually when they come across
572.672 -> a couple of dollars
573.573 -> will give it to a friend.
574.907 -> And say, hold this for me
576.075 -> 'cause I want this to
576.742 -> be long term savings
577.71 -> and I don't want to spend it
579.011 -> in addition to how do you save?
580.913 -> How do you finance things?
582.381 -> How can you deal with your cash
583.883 -> flow to get enough to pay
585.318 -> for your kids education
586.552 -> and a lot of places you do need to pay
588.22 -> for a private school for your kids
589.822 -> or pay to transport them
591.09 -> to where the public school is.
592.725 -> How do you say for that?
593.993 -> What if you have a health emergency?
595.561 -> Suddenly your long-term
596.662 -> savings is going to just be wiped out,
598.631 -> paying for the health emergency,
600.232 -> and this is daily life
601.3 -> for 1/3 of the Earth's population.
603.469 -> So to finally answer your question like.
605.237 -> What does it mean
605.871 -> to expand financial access?
607.94 -> Really, it's not about
609.442 -> just getting a savings account
610.843 -> and being able to save money.
612.178 -> It's about access and agency and choice.
614.68 -> It's about enabling
615.648 -> those things that are difficult
616.882 -> without that access agency and choice.
619.418 -> Bringing financial access brings
621.12 -> you access to education, access
622.989 -> to better health, care to savings
624.59 -> to homeownership.
625.891 -> It provides the basic tools
627.693 -> to help you bootstrap yourself,
629.462 -> your family and your
630.363 -> community out of poverty
631.897 -> and in my opinion,
633.032 -> this is the type of access
634.3 -> that can enable hope.
635.267 -> And can turn that hope into opportunity.
637.336 -> When we say micro loan, that can mean
639.171 -> a lot of different things
640.172 -> to different people,
641.14 -> but sometimes we're talking
642.575 -> as small as 25 US dollars.
645.111 -> Yeah, Micro London is basically
646.879 -> doing smaller shorter
648.18 -> term lending, typically
649.915 -> in the informal sector
651.05 -> where there's the lack of banks
652.318 -> and other financial institutions
653.853 -> to provide these services.
655.521 -> Give us one place where you can come
657.089 -> and we have a website kiva.org
658.791 -> where people like you and me
659.825 -> can come find alone for as little as $25
663.295 -> and a bunch of people
664.664 -> will find that loan.
665.531 -> And a bunch of people
666.265 -> will put $25 together
667.9 -> and maybe the loan is $400.
671.804 -> that loan we then go
673.139 -> and work with local field partners
675.074 -> in 90 countries around the world
677.543 -> to deliver the funds to them from
679.278 -> so we will wire them from the US to them.
681.547 -> Then they have the relationship
683.015 -> with the customer they filled out
684.75 -> loan to the customer.
686.085 -> Overtime the customer.
687.019 -> You know whether it's over
687.92 -> six months or 20, four months
689.288 -> the customer makes their monthly
690.623 -> repayments to that local institution.
692.625 -> That local institution repays US
694.56 -> and we put it back into your account.
696.729 -> And then that $25
697.997 -> you can choose to re lend that.
699.198 -> So it's really a leverage form
700.666 -> and you know I have chunks of $25.00
703.002 -> that have been recycled 10 times on Kiva.
705.237 -> Having $250 of impact
707.373 -> and so really what it comes down to
708.708 -> is there's this need
709.742 -> for these shorter term loans.
711.811 -> It's really flowing the capital from us
713.846 -> where we have it to where it is
715.648 -> most in need and servicing
717.383 -> those individuals.
718.517 -> Yeah, that's so powerful
719.652 -> to be able to see and understand
722.388 -> how the money is making an actual impact,
724.79 -> but it's not a donation.
726.358 -> It is truly alone.
727.56 -> And so to get that money back
728.694 -> and to be able to continually
729.929 -> reinvests it to cause changes.
732.031 -> Really really cool.
733.165 -> Do you have any examples?
734.9 -> Yeah I have a great example.
736.202 -> I like to use all anonymize it,
737.97 -> but there's a woman who had been
739.238 -> a kiva borrower for 10 years
741.774 -> and she started by
743.042 -> she was leasing the cow
744.21 -> and then she was selling the milk
745.611 -> and she got a loan through one of kivas
747.48 -> local microfinance partners
748.848 -> and she was able to buy a cow
750.916 -> and then overtime she was able
752.251 -> to repay the loan
753.085 -> and take out another loan
753.886 -> and buy it multiple cows and overtime
756.222 -> she was able to take those multiple cows
757.623 -> and end up buying a plot of land
759.492 -> and build a small hardware business.
761.761 -> On that plot of land,
762.828 -> and so you can see this micro
764.029 -> lending of being able
765.564 -> to do multiple loans overtime,
767.299 -> and this is all because of kivas
768.834 -> field partners and kivas lenders.
770.302 -> You know?
770.603 -> I look at Kiev as we sit in the middle
772.138 -> and try to facilitate this.
773.439 -> But the most important are the individual
775.708 -> borrowers are field partners
777.076 -> who are servicing them
777.777 -> on the ground and the lenders
779.478 -> who actually give the $25
781.38 -> at a time to let these loans.
782.982 -> What are some of the other ripple effects
784.583 -> of a micro loan on a community level?
786.786 -> I mean, so if you think
787.52 -> about the Community level,
788.42 -> there's a couple things
789.522 -> that you'll then see.
790.723 -> This woman can be an example,
792.057 -> not just to her family and her kids.
793.659 -> But her community, the community seen.
795.561 -> Oh my gosh,
796.262 -> look at what she was able to do with her
797.696 -> life and her family's life and others
799.698 -> who wouldn't have considered
800.733 -> starting their own small business
802.134 -> or trying to reach for that opportunity.
804.737 -> Suddenly they see
805.671 -> the opportunity realized
806.972 -> and there will be more demand
808.207 -> for this, which is great.
809.408 -> And then on the other side,
810.643 -> I have a separate example.
812.044 -> Maybe I'll quickly tell you
813.646 -> Kiva has done a lot of
814.647 -> lending in Cambodia
815.881 -> and there's populations
817.583 -> that live on the border
818.884 -> and the local microfinance institutions
821.02 -> didn't want to lend
821.754 -> to those populations
822.755 -> to buy water filters.
823.923 -> Because they were worried
824.79 -> while they're going to get my money,
825.791 -> they're going to buy the water filter,
827.026 -> and they're going to
827.493 -> step across the border where
828.694 -> I have no recourse.
830.062 -> He was able to come in and say, look,
832.331 -> we'll assume the risk of loss
833.732 -> on these loans are.
834.4 -> Lenders will assume the risk of loss
835.901 -> so that you can't lose.
837.603 -> Like will forgive the loans
839.038 -> if they don't repay them,
839.839 -> go lend to them.
841.24 -> They went and lend to these individuals.
842.875 -> In these communities
843.909 -> they did not jump the border.
845.311 -> Obviously they made perfect
847.379 -> repayment history and suddenly
849.114 -> now they don't need Kiva
850.416 -> to instigate them to go to land
852.284 -> to border populations.
853.519 -> Do these refugees
854.353 -> and displaced populations.
855.487 -> They will go lend to them without.
857.723 -> And so whether you're
858.39 -> talking about this woman cannot,
859.658 -> you're talking about
860.192 -> these border populations.
861.66 -> If we can help me, the tip of the spear
863.462 -> to drive activity
865.231 -> in that sector with local institutions,
867.566 -> and they can see how it works
869.301 -> and understand there's not as much risk.
871.136 -> There are much more likely to go there
872.972 -> and then they're going to
873.639 -> go there and stay there.
874.54 -> And that's great.
875.107 -> We start to see penetration
876.342 -> deeper into those that are unbanked.
878.377 -> How is the cloud
879.178 -> really fitting into what Khiva is doing?
881.18 -> So when a lot of these places,
882.214 -> what you see is they go from
883.616 -> a rural village.
884.85 -> To they, the community finances
886.552 -> and get solar panels.
887.853 -> The first thing they drop on after
889.488 -> they get some clean water
890.356 -> with their electricity in some lights
891.957 -> is a 3G or 4G tower
894.627 -> and then they get a community tablet
896.028 -> and people start getting phones
897.73 -> and this comes on to the cloud
898.964 -> because there's not as much
900.332 -> need to think about having a local
902.468 -> colocated server
904.47 -> that you control
905.671 -> when you're talking
906.338 -> about people connecting
907.172 -> from their phones.
907.706 -> It's not about copper wire, it's
909.008 -> not about the physical
909.909 -> location of the server
911.143 -> and so suddenly cloud
913.178 -> becomes an option
914.446 -> in developing countries in.
915.514 -> It's a really, really good option
917.016 -> because the places where they would
918.217 -> locate servers are.
919.518 -> Tend to be physically insecure.
921.353 -> They tend to have problems like flooding,
923.322 -> and that's a risk for
924.29 -> not just the server itself
925.457 -> physically flooding, but loss of power,
927.459 -> which then knocks out
928.26 -> connectivity to the server.
929.862 -> And so as you're watching
931.397 -> consumers digitize, you're also watching
933.866 -> the financial sector in developing
935.334 -> countries and governments digitize,
937.536 -> and this is all driving
938.404 -> towards the cloud.
939.471 -> Matthew Yuan, Kiva are part of the Awos
942.641 -> Imagine Grant program,
944.176 -> and that's something that we haven't yet
945.411 -> talked about here
946.245 -> on the podcast, but I'm hoping
948.013 -> you can tell us a little bit
948.948 -> about what that was like.
950.015 -> And what your project is.
951.283 -> So for our Imagine Grant,
952.885 -> it's for something called Kiva Protocol.
955.02 -> The work in Sierra Leone
956.288 -> with Kiva Protocol
957.122 -> really started kind of where my story of
959.224 -> the woman in Kenya left off.
961.293 -> Her story actually continues
962.995 -> where she had this plot of land
964.763 -> and had built a small hardware store.
966.265 -> She has 10 years of perfect repayment
968.3 -> history of all these loans of over
969.868 -> $15,000 of loans over 10 years
972.104 -> in the informal sector,
973.172 -> and she can bring printouts
974.506 -> and he will happily vouch
975.741 -> like yes, she took out these loans.
977.643 -> Perfect payment history always on time.
980.012 -> She went to the bank
981.38 -> 'cause she wanted to build
982.247 -> a multi generational house, her her kids,
984.416 -> her parents in some extended family.
986.418 -> She goes to the bank.
987.553 -> She knows the bank officer at the bank
989.855 -> and he looks at her and says I'm sorry
991.957 -> like I have to treat you
992.958 -> as a zero credit customer.
994.393 -> I can't use any of this data
996.362 -> from the informal sector.
997.863 -> She's effectively blocked
999.131 -> despite the fact she has perfect
1000.866 -> repayment history.
1001.734 -> She's looking for a $15,000 loan.
1004.336 -> This is where Kiva protocol takes off.
1006.472 -> We looked and said, wow,
1007.773 -> that is a systemic problem that there's
1009.975 -> no on ramp into the formal
1011.276 -> financial sector.
1012.611 -> What we did with Kiva
1013.512 -> Protocol is built technology that we can
1015.614 -> then take to the informal sector
1017.216 -> to help them collect credit
1018.717 -> history and transaction history
1020.285 -> and do the identity verifications.
1022.121 -> Connect that with the same processes
1024.123 -> that are used by formal
1025.357 -> financial institutions and provide
1027.96 -> the regulatory frameworks
1029.228 -> in the regulatory oversight
1030.496 -> that governments need to do
1031.764 -> the very necessary oversight
1033.365 -> of know
1033.732 -> your customer verification and anti money
1036.201 -> laundering and countering
1037.202 -> the financing of terrorism.
1038.537 -> And so it's an open source
1039.772 -> technology platform we built
1041.373 -> and that allows any individual
1042.775 -> in Sierra Leone.
1043.809 -> We're just a thumbprint
1044.91 -> in their national ID number
1046.378 -> to be able to go in,
1047.379 -> and it takes 11 seconds
1048.68 -> to open a bank account to perform
1050.149 -> the identity check
1051.417 -> and then add it in check before
1053.018 -> it used to take two weeks.
1054.52 -> And I think this will be very powerful.
1056.121 -> Like you know, there's
1056.722 -> the immediate thing of solving that.
1058.69 -> The people who get right
1059.725 -> to the entry point
1060.592 -> of the financial sector
1061.56 -> and providing them the on ramp
1062.961 -> and then there will be
1063.962 -> the longer term of pushing
1065.631 -> financial access
1066.498 -> further and further down,
1067.8 -> and I hope to see a day someday where
1070.002 -> that story of a village gets power,
1072.037 -> they get Internet connectivity,
1073.639 -> they get a phone.
1074.673 -> I would like them to be able
1075.641 -> to open a bank account
1076.742 -> right after they get that phone,
1077.943 -> make that the 4th step.
1079.945 -> The Cloud power solutions
1081.213 -> that can improve
1081.814 -> financial access and inclusion
1083.549 -> at the individual and community level,
1085.551 -> ultimately building a more
1086.919 -> just and fair world for everyone.
1089.321 -> Of big thank you to our guest,
1090.589 -> Ashish and Matthew to learn more.
1092.591 -> Check out the new AWSE
1094.026 -> book serving a digital First
1095.761 -> India technology for progress.
1097.563 -> An inclusion.
1098.664 -> Learn more at
1101.233 -> aws.amazon.com/blog/public sector.
1104.703 -> And thank you for tuning in.
1105.838 -> If you like today's show, Please
1107.372 -> remember to subscribe rate review.
1109.541 -> An share will be here on the next one.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1YP8EWQQUA