Octopus Microfinance

Octopus 4.1 – now available!

louise — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 09:41:23 +0000

Dear all,

Please notice that Octopus v4.1 was released on August 13th, 2012.

Main new features and improvements are:

New web service methods: Check balance of a savings account, Get expected repayment of a loan
Possibility to link a account to payment methods
GUI for corporates has been improved
System of custom fields has been improved
Loan monitoring module has been adapted for clients
New access to save corporate method has been added for Role management system
New accounting closure has been released for testing

To discover full content, we invite you to check our release note here.

Should you have any questions, don’t hesitate to let us know.

Octopus Microfinance increases its presence in Ghana

louise — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 13:13:29 +0000

We are happy to welcome on board Modacoms and SenrabConsult, our two new Ghanaian value-added resellers that have joined the Octopus team in July 2012.

The Modacoms team (in the photo) delivers Information Technology (IT), mobile, data communications (Telecoms) services and has a datacentre in Tema equipped with all connectivities.

Senrab ConsulTech Ghana Ltd (SCG) is an Information Technology Consulting firm with strong experience in MIS integration and proven references.

Find their contacts here:http://www.octopusmicrofinance.com/support-2/local-resellers

Our certified value-added resellers are the only capable of delivering professional services with Octopus and are currently working directly with the members of different networks (GAMC, ASSFIN) to improve their use of the Software. Beware of other self-proclaimed « reseller » and misinformation: Octopus is Open Source, there are no licence fees!

The Microfinance Sector hasn’t reach its full potential in the country yet as 65% of the Ghanaians keep extra money at home rather than in a formal financial institution according to recent MicroEnsure Ghana’s surveys. Access to technology is a key stake for the consolidation of the sector and we believe that the strengthened presence of Octopus in Ghana can help the microfinance sector to tackle its numerous challenges: regulation, licencing, recapitalization, establishment of a Credit Bureau and more.

Accounting software integration in Octopus

louise — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 08:52:17 +0000

Our partner ODED Transformational Technologies has just developed accounting software integration with Tally for Octopus Microfinance.

Octopus’users have now two complementary solutions to manage their accounting operations with Octopus: Tally accounting software can be integrated to Octopus in addition to the accounting module already available in Octopus.

Tally is one of the most affordable accounting solutions on the market and is compliant with many local regulations. The solution can also manage multi-branch balance sheets.Therefore it suits perfectly our users’needs.

To know more about accounting software integration in Octopus, please download our partner ODED’s dedicated brochure or contact us. Feel free to contact business@odedtech.com for pricing.

Mobile Collection Sheet with Octopus

louise — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 09:39:22 +0000

Nobody is immune to error or fraud, but there are effective ways to prevent these incidents. Our partner ODED transformational technologies has just developed handheld devices that allow mobile collection sheet. The handheld sync interface to Octopus allows you to mitigate risks (accrued transparency) and save time for your loan officers.

You can send and receive collection sheet data for many clients instantaneously. This device works with very simple computer and is compatible with most of the mobile phones. Therefore it can be connected to any branch computer. It generates collection sheets, perform disbursements & repayments or print receipts via Bluetooth printers.

To know more about our handheld devices, please download our partner ODED’s dedicated brochure or contact us. Feel free to contact business@odedtech.com for pricing.

Octopus already downloaded 4,300 times in 2012

louise — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 08:26:10 +0000

Since January 2012 Octopus has already been downloaded 4,300 times, according to Source Forge stats: http://sourceforge.net/projects/omfs/files/stats/timeline.
Top 3 countries that have downloaded Octopus are Ghana, Kenya and India.

Downloads have increased by 10% during the last 6 months in comparison with the same time period last year. Octopus was downloaded 6,500 times in 2011 as a whole.

SMS alerts with Octopus

louise — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 17:13:14 +0000

Our partner ODED Transformational Technologies has just launched mobile Alerts for Octopus users.

SMS alerts send information and receive information to the mobile application via the web-service. SMS is used to send alerts to customers on the savings or loan balance, to introduce new offers and services, to send notifications or a change of policy, to connect a prospective customer to the nearest branch or sales executive, etc.

All that is required is right now is a USB dongle at any server location.The USB dongle will have a GSM/3G SIM card, this SIM card will be used as a mobile alternative. In my opinion it works extremely well.
The cost of the Bluetooth dongle will be as low as 40 Euros.
This means each of the branches can afford this dongle. In such a situation, this mode of SMS transfer becomes super affordable and effective. The required functionalities as SMS alerts can be tailor-made to suit the need of the organization by ODED Transformational Technologies.

Please to know more about Octopus mobile alerts, read ODED’s new brochure or contact business@odedtech.com and info@octopusnetwork.org.

Octopus soutient la 5ème édition du Forum mondial Convergences 2015

louise — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 11:56:59 +0000

Si comme nous vous êtes engagés dans la lutte contre la pauvreté et souhaitez promouvoir une vive participation des acteurs du développement, participez au forum mondial CONVERGENCES 2015 les 19, 20 et 21 septembre 2012 à Paris.

Octopus sera présent et vous donne rendez-vous à cet événement incontournable de tous les professionnels pour construire ensemble les réponses aux défis sociaux et environnementaux qui touchent les pays du Nord et du Sud.

Les 19, 20 et 21 septembre prochains à Paris, ce sont plus de 3000 acteurs de l’entrepreneuriat social, de l’économie sociale et solidaire, de la microfinance et de la solidarité internationale qui se rencontreront pour construire ensemble les réponses aux défis sociétaux qui touchent les pays du Nord et du Sud.

Cette 5^ème édiction sera composée de deux temps forts [Voir le programme complet] :

1/ 2 journées professionnelles au Palais Brongniart

50 conférences, tables-rondes et ateliers
Un espace de networking et un Salon Professionnel durant lequel Babyloan vous accueillera avec plaisir sur son stand !
Et de nombreuses animations à découvrir !

2/ Une journée grand public à l’Hôtel de Ville de Paris – 21 septembre 20

Des Grands Débats Le Monde avec des intervenants prestigieux
La Remise des Prix Convergences 2015
Le lancement de la 2^ème édition du Baromètre de l’Entrepreneuriat Social 2012 et la présentation des autres publications Convergences 2015 (3^ème édition du Baromètre de la Microfinance, 1^ère édition du Baromètre de la Solidarité Internationale…).

N’attendez plus pour vous inscrire et participer, vous aussi, au Forum mondial Convergences 2015.

INSCRIVEZ-VOUS ICI : http://c2015.org/inscription

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English Summary

The Convergences 2015 world Forum is a major event for all professionals interested in exchanging on and discussing innovative solutions in order to alleviate poverty in Europe and around the world. In September 2012, over 3,000 experts and international policy makers will meet, representing institutional bodies, corporate organizations, civil society and charities together with academics, journalists and students, to reflect on the social and environmental challenges facing the world today, both in the North and in the South.

On September 19^th, 20^th, and 21th 2012, three days of discussion and propositions will take place in Paris, France (2 professional days at the Palais Brongniart and a Great Debates day at Paris City Hall).

How to register?

Go to the link: http://c2015.org/registration?lang=en

For more information:

http://c2015.org/presentation?lang=en

Le groupe OXUS installe Octopus dans sa nouvelle IMF en RDC

louise — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 17:37:24 +0000

Après Kwiloise de Microfinance et Développement (KMD) et le Crédit Alternatif Accompagné, Octopus s’implante un peu plus en République démocratique du Congo. Le logiciel est désormais la solution de gestion d’OXUS RDC, l’une des institutions de microfinance du réseau OXUS, qui prévoit de servir 30 000 clients via 15 branches d’ici cinq ans.
Une mission d’implémentation et de formation d’un mois en avril 2012 par l’équipe d’Octopus a permis de former trois responsables de l’IMF.
A terme, quatre utilisateurs dans chaque branche seront en mesure de se servir de la solution de gestion : le chef d’agence, l’agent administratif et comptable, le caissier, ainsi que l’agent de supervision.
Cette implémentation a été accompagnée de développements spécifiques conçus par Octopus, permettant notamment l’exportation des données vers Sage, la solution comptable d’OXUS RDC. Par ailleurs, certains documents ont été personnalisés à la demande de l’IMF comme les documents nécessaires à la communication des informations aux clients (contrats de crédit, échéanciers, reçus de décaissement, reçus de remboursement), ainsi que les rapports nécessaires au pilotage de l’activité d’OXUS RDC.

ODED launched the Biometric module

admin — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 08:56:39 +0000

Our partner ODED Technology just lauched the Octopus Biometrics Module. Based on the Secugen technology, this outstanding module will allow you to easily identify your customers at the teller level, to check for any duplicates in your database, to verify that a customer is not registered in different branches. The module can also be connected to the credit bureaus and international databases to conform to anti money laundering directives. More information: business@odedtech.com and info@octopusnetwork.org

Octopus 3.9 – now available!

louise — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 14:05:42 +0000

Dear all,

Please notice that Octopus v3.9 was released today, Tuesday 12th, June.

Main new features and improvements are:

Attachment functionality for Loan, Savings…
System of custom tags for reports has been introduced check it out
General parameter for connection time out
Input parameters for internal forms cheek it out
Branch linked with a payment methods
Tellers linked with a branch
Branch code has been added for accounting movements
Revert transactions in closure use cancel date of events
Validated loans filter has been added for Alert window

To discover full content, we invite you to check our release note here: http://wiki.octopusnetwork.org/display/Release/v3.9.0

Please note that the release date of Version 4.0 will be scheduled by end of this week.
Thanks for all that participated, supported, developed and tested Octopus, this iteration was relatively painful but lot of new features and improvements could be implemented.

Should you have any questions, don’t hesitate to let us know.