Grameen Foundation for Social Impact
From artificial intelligence and blockchain to augmented reality and other digital solutions, IDF uses cutting-edge tools to create financial products and services that are not just innovative, but also accessible and affordable.
There are two flagship focus areas under IDF—scaling agent viability and quality, and testing innovations in the Business Correspondent (BC) channel—which demonstrate how systemic change can be achieved. By strengthening the capacity and sustainability of Business Correspondents, who serve as vital last-mile providers of financial services, and by experimenting with new models and technologies within the BC channel, IDF is building pathways for more resilient and inclusive financial systems.
Stories that matter
Technology, however, is only part of the story. The true impact of IDF comes alive in the stories of women like Meena Deepak Borkar, an exceptionally dedicated Business Correspondent (BC) agent from Sinedewahi Chandrapur, a tribal village in Maharashtra where even basic amenities remain scarce. Married at a young age, Borkar always dreamed of contributing to her community. When she learned about GFSI’s programme through her village Gram Panchayat, she joined as a BC agent in 2022.
With training in digital financial literacy through G-LEAP, our mobile-based learning tool, Borkar began raising awareness about digital financial services in her village. Within months, she had convened eight group meetings, conducted over 100 household visits, and reached 400+ villagers with information about safe and convenient digital transactions. Today, she provides services like domestic money transfers, bill payments, AePS, and mobile recharges. Elderly residents especially value her door-to-door AePS services, which save them long trips outside the village.
Her dedication has not only built trust among her community—many prefer transacting through her because of her warmth and reliability—but also created a new livelihood stream for her. So far, Borkar has earned more than Rs 25,000 from her work, which she is reinvesting to grow her business. Her dream is to one day open a mini-bank in her village, so she can support her family, provide a good education to her children, and expand financial access for her community.
Like Borkar, Sharda Rupendra Khobragade of Chimur Taluka in Chandrapur, Maharashtra, also works as a BC agent and provides digital financial services in her village. Her empathetic nature and keenness to help others has endeared her to the community and people, particularly the aged, prefer to approach her for help in financial transactions. The 36-year-old is able to earn Rs 2500-3000 per month through her work.
Stories like Borkar’s and Khobragade’s are what make IDF’s mission tangible: enabling women to transform their lives and their communities.
Team effort
This impact is possible because IDF works as an ecosystem, bringing together banks like HDFC, Axis, and Fincare Small Finance Bank; fintechs such as LXME and Easypay; BCNMs including Paynearby, ROInet, Kwickzen, and SpiceMoney; and platforms like ONDC. Together, we are creating a more resilient financial system that benefits not just the underserved customer, but every actor in the value chain.
Impact in numbers
The reach is already significant: 5.6 million+ customers served, including over one million women; 117,000 Business Correspondent agents enabled; and 42,000 of them women. Looking ahead, IDF is committed to a future where underserved individuals and small businesses have equal access to financial opportunities, and where dignity, security, and resilience are not privileges but rights.
At GFSI, we are proud to partner with changemakers like Meena and many others who remind us that innovation is most meaningful when it touches lives, creates livelihoods, and turns aspirations into achievements.
