California-based technology startup DreamStart Labs which runs DreamSave is running a pilot in Tanzania to help women achieve their fiscal goals.
The mobile and cloud technology app for village savings groups aims to help women in chamas or informal community banks to easily manage their financial records, achieve savings goals, build credit history, and connect securely to traditional financial services in the country.
With DreamSave Pro, savings groups can automate record keeping, enforce lending policies, and transfer funds to secure bank accounts through mobile money integration. The app also automatically builds verified credit scores at the group and individual level hence helping them manage savings groups easily and securely.
DreamSave Connect ensures financial transparency by allowing any savings group member with a feature phone to get up-to-date information on their personal savings balance, outstanding loan status, and credit history at anytime.
Users can also get Insights and Analytics from the DreamSave Insights, a powerful cloud portal that delivers a wide range of custom reports for analysts working to support savings groups in the field.
DreamSave Insights uses advanced machine learning and predictive analytics to uncover insights that help savings group members accelerate their progress out of poverty. The app works with or without internet over its DreamSync Extreme™ technology which syncs, compresses, encodes, encryptes and backs up seamlessly to the cloud via SMS.
Working with Project Concern International, DreamSave is first targeting women in village savings and loan groups and is working with them per week to save towards a central investment fund, which is then used for business loans to members. Unlike outside bank loans, all interest payments go back to the group, so when one member’s business grows everyone benefits.
DreamSave is a 2017 Vodafone WIP competition winner.
