Social Money receives grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
West Des Moines-based Social Money has received a “seven-figure” grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that will help pilot its CorePro system to help under-banked individuals and families in India get access to basic, cost-effective financial services, according to a release. CorePro, which offers direct deposit accounts, savings and term deposit accounts, can be up and running with any credit union, bank, or alternative financial services company in the world in about 120 days at what Social Money said is 85 percent less cost than legacy core processing platforms, making it practicable to serve low-balance accounts and launch new product initiatives. The program will launch later this year. Social Money currently offers the iWish saving system to the 25-million customer ICICI Bank in India, as well. Social Money, which created the goal-oriented online savings program Smarty Pig, also has offices in Chandigarh, India. Social Money founder Jon Gaskell said he could not be more specific about the amount of the grant.