Mifos Initiative
| Company type | Nonprofit organization |
|---|---|
| Industry | Financial software, Microfinance |
| Founded | October 2011 |
| Headquarters | United States |
Key people | Edward Cable (President and CEO) |
| Products | Mifos X platform, Payment Hub Enterprise Edition, Mifos Gazelle, Mifos X Mobile Applications |
The Mifos Initiative is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that champions and manages the open source Mifos X platform along with associated products such as Payment Hub Enterprise Edition, Mifos Gazelle, and Mifos X Mobile Applications. Established in October 2011, it brings together technology specialists, developers, and financial service providers to enhance and grow the Mifos X ecosystem. The organization’s primary goal is to speed up poverty alleviation by empowering providers to offer responsible financial services to the 2.5 billion underserved and unbanked individuals worldwide.
History
The software was originally developed within the Grameen Foundation starting in 2004 by James Dailey and Tapan Parikh, and was released as open-source software named Mifos in 2006. While "Mifos" once stood for "Micro Finance Open Source," it has since evolved into a standalone brand name. In 2011, Mifos branched off from the Grameen Foundation to operate as an independent open-source initiative.
On June 1, 2011, the Grameen Foundation ceased its direct involvement, transferring stewardship of both the Mifos and Mifos X projects to the newly established Mifos Initiative.
By 2015, the core MifosX platform was donated to the Apache Software Foundation, where it was rebranded as Apache Fineract(R). The Mifos Initiative remains active in maintaining several Digital Public Goods projects focused on financial services including Core Banking and Payment Orchestration. Its product portfolio encompasses multiple user interfaces, tools for payment orchestration, deployment frameworks, mobile apps, and reporting modules.
Community
The global Mifos community consists of developers, implementers, and end-users who collaborate through mailing lists, Slack channels, working groups, internships, and participation in Digital Public Goods initiatives as well as open source conferences.
Historically, Mifos hosted yearly summits aimed at developers and users featuring conferences, exhibitions, and training sessions. The 2012 and 2013 gatherings took place in Bangalore and Jaipur respectively. The 2014 Summit held in Kampala, Uganda emphasized hands-on training workshops, cooperative technical sessions, and fintech education with a focus on promoting financial inclusion.
Mifos has also been active at prominent industry events. In 2013, it took part in Google Summer of Code and participated in Random Hacks of Kindness (RHoK) Global 2012. It sponsored FinDEVr San Francisco in 2014 where board member and Chief Innovation Officer James Dailey delivered a presentation on banking innovation. Furthermore, Mifos engaged with the Global Islamic Microfinance Forum held in Dubai.
Management
Edward Cable holds the position of President and CEO at the Mifos Initiative.
Board of directors
- Allison Baller
- Zaheda Bhorat
- Min Tha Gyaw
- Shashi Raghunandan
- Edward Cable (CEO)
Former board members include:
- Craig Chelius
- Suresh Krishna (Managing Director, Grameen Financial Services Pvt Ltd)
- Paul Maritz (Chairman of the Board; CEO of Pivotal)
- Michael Vorburger
- Dave Neary
- James Dailey (Emeritus)
Advisors to Board
- Diego Francisco Moncayo Miño
- Marie Valdez
- Deepa Prahalad
- Vincent Alimi
- Ali Hussein Kassim
- Bryan Barnett
Qualifications and prizes
- Mifos is highly rated on the CGAP Software Listings.
- Recipient of the 2009 Duke's Choice Award recognizing "Java Technology for the Open Source Community."
- Consistent contributor to Google Summer of Code between 2009 and 2019.
- Achieved second place in the 2018 'Fintech for Good' competition, trailing Deutsche Bank – Community Hackathons.