CUSTOM CHALLENGE; INDIA
PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED
A mobile phone deposit system similar to popular talktime top-up methods to help low income families put aside money for household needs.
Learn more about the Custom Challenge and why we only fund ideas that focus on distributing proven poverty interventions.
DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION
Through a network of certified Pulse vendors, users can 'save on impulse' and create a buffer of funds that serve as an insurance against emergencies and unexpected expenses. Furthermore, it provides a solution to the common issue of insufficient physical change, in which customers receive their change back in the form of candy rather than cash, a common occurrence in many developing countries.
Pulse offers an electronic system that is more convenient for beneficiaries. Importantly, since the service is not tied to any particular carrier, it works on any mobile phone, and enables instant access to the service for all users.
The customer experience: customer deposits leftover change or surplus income by buying a Pulse prepaid scratch card or leaving change with the shop owner and requesting an electronic deposit into the Pulse account; shop owner and customer receive an sms confirmation of the transaction with current balance; customer spends or withdraws their savings at any vendor in the Pulse network when needed.
PILOT AND SCALING GOALS
Sign up 1,000 Pulse savers during the pilot phase
FOUNDING TEAM
Karl Oskar Teien - Product Development
Mandy Vidalis - Business Operations and Finance
Niketa R. Malhotra - Implementation and Technology
Saul Alexander Minkoff - Management and Business Development