Octopus brochure

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State-of-the-art microfinance MIS

Transcript of Octopus brochure

Page 1: Octopus brochure

State-of-the-art microfinance MIS

Page 2: Octopus brochure

The foremost microfinance MIS 4Tailored solutions for your organisation 5Our values 6The Octopus network 7In line with your main challenges 8State-of-the-art MIS technology 10Expert professional solutions 12Users’ experience 14Our offers 15

Giving empowerment through technology...

Table of Contents

...and making your microfinanceorganisation stronger...

...For end-users

...more efficient... Microfinance Institutions

Microfinance Networks

Community Banks

SACCOS and Credit Unions

Non-Governmental Organisations

Islamic Microfinance

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...and sustainable in the long-term for your clients

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Sector Octopus Technology

Microfinance Institutions

Octopus is highly ergonomic and an easy to use solution from Tier2 to Tier4 microfinance institutions. Thanks to integrated, all-automated and secured workflow, you disburse and collect loans safely, with minimum time and effort. Your loan officers always have the right information at the right time, to enable them to focus on their customers. Furthermore, you can develop by yourself innovative credit services to extend your scale, outreach, and commercial viability. You can benefit from the next-generation technology (PDA, M-Banking).

Microfinance Networks

Octopus is natively multi-environment: multi-branch, multilingual, multi-currency, multi-channel. Octopus ensures automatic data transfers to head office. You can operate with confidence several MFIs in different countries, and streamline global processes, while conforming to local regulation. You always have accurate key reports and indicators to monitor your activity and make the right decisions. Moreover, you reduce the overall investment cost of MIS for all MFIs, and don’t get stuck by high prices while business grows.

Community Banks

Octopus handles very simply integrated loans, savings products and funding lines to provide economic security and maximize the mobilization of local financial resources. With Octopus, you ensure to follow responsible business practices to support your customers, communities and local markets. With the integrated reporting, you have detailed knowledge of your environment and track both financial and non-financial indicators.

SACCOS and Credit Unions

Octopus offers a range of features in an integrated approach that are particularly suited to Savings and Credit Unions such as current account, group savings, loans, membership, payroll, shares management, and planned deposits. Octopus helps cooperatives to provide quality and affordable services to members in accordance with International Credit Union (WOCCU) principles. Octopus helps you to reinforce accounting procedures and controls in the financial management of your organisation to conform to legal and regulatory framework.

Non-Governmental Organisations

With Octopus, you can focus on your beneficiaries, develop programs which not only give access to credit but also increase the client’s global situation and diminish their vulnerability. You can link microfinance into sector-wide approaches to increase the contribution of microfinance to wider economic growth and poverty reduction. Thanks to Octopus strong scoring and reporting tools, you measure precisely social performance of the financial and non-financial services delivered.

Islamic Microfinance

With Octopus, deliver value-added services conform to Islamic finance practices, like Murabaha and Musharaka. Get more involved in a careful monitoring of your clients’ projects, in a partnership approach more than just a simple lending operation. Widely used in the Islamic microfinance sector, Octopus is both Sharia-compliant and flexible enough to guarantee efficiency to organisations that work only on Islamic financial principles. Octopus can also fit microfinance institutions that propose Islamic financial products in their global offer.

Octopus is one of the foremost providers of MIS technology for microfinance institutions. Since 2006, Octopus has successfully assisted 80 institutions in establishing greater efficiency, transparency and timely reporting. Our international clients range from greenfield institutions to established Tier2, Tier3, and Tier4 microfinance organisations.

Work with confidence

Our MIS is only part of the solution. We offer a wide range of Expert Professional Services that ensures you to make the best use of our technology. From needs analysis to the implementation, and throughout the product life cycle, our expert team works with you to ensure Octopus is delivered within budget, on time, and in line with your original business objectives.

When our clients invest in Octopus, they benefit from the next-generation technology and therefore:

Bring down operating costs

Octopus is driven by the value it brings to your business. Octopus fits your operational processes and streamlines them to enable your employees to work in a more efficient way, save your time and reduce costs.

Grow the business profitability

Octopus enables organisations to manage daily operations with a long-term vision: using Octopus allows you to be client-centred and see signs of success very quickly. Octopus fits your growth and scales easily, helping your institution in its expansion and diversification.

Reduce risks

What is more sensitive than your data? Hardware failure, human error, theft, viruses... The risks to your data are always more numerous and probable. Octopus daily automated backups and monthly updates guarantee you the highest level of security, and prevent our MIS to become obsolete.

Break new ground

Octopus is a benchmark in the microfinance software industry: we have understood at an early stage that flexibility - the ability to add new features continuously and quickly - is key in the dynamic of the microfinance sector. Our technology is constantly evolving and improving, along with significantly enhanced functionality. AGILE development has made Octopus the solution that evolves as fast as the market.

Tailored solutions for your organisation

The foremost microfinance MIS

Octopus is a comprehensive MIS solution that supports all aspects of your microfinance operations. With flexible and intuitive technology, our clients benefit from improved loan, savings portfolio management, interactive client relationship management, integrated accounting and proactive risk management. Founded on best practices principles, Octopus brings tangible value-added benefits to your microfinance operations.

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Total commitment to microfinance

Microfinance is an incredibly fast-growing sector with huge needs in structuring: our mission is to make available as widely as possible a robust and intuitive technology, committed to streamlining microfinance operations. Octopus stands out for taking best practices from the microfinance community - in the field and expert world. We created Octopus in 2006 as a response to the lack of affordable and reliable MIS in microfinance. Since then, microfinance is our sole domain, in which we dedicate all our energy and expertise.

Access for all

We know how to leverage the best from technology to efficiently improve the microfinance sector, and we want as many as institutions to benefit from it, to maximise our social impact. Octopus is guided by a commitment to deliver the highest product quality, and much less costly than proprietary software, as we adhere to the values of the open source movement.

Innovation

We constantly strive to identify the most critical needs of our clients, and through continuous innovation we challenge ourselves to meet those needs. Through inventive processes and unique solutions, we provide unmatched value to our customers. Thereby, after the successful implementation of Octopus in your institution, our technology will continue to be improved according to your ideas and needs, while guaranteeing the integrity of the functionalities already developed and implemented for you. The ambition of Octopus is to support you into continuous dynamic improvement. Innovation is up to you, Octopus will channel it.

Full commitment to our clients

Octopus is the brainchild of the OXUS Group, an international microfinance network that noted the lack of MIS in touch with the realities of microfinance institutions. Today, Octopus benefits from a global network of users, clients, value-added resellers and local teams, but remains motivated by the same initial intuition: it’s the client who makes the MIS. This mind-set brings us to a deep understanding of each client’s needs, and therefore we provide tailor-made solutions. With users in more than 60 countries, we know better than anyone else that each microfinance institution has its specific practices and its own market rules.

A global and local approach

From 2006, our MIS has been growing thanks to a wide active community of microfinance institutions and practitioners. In seven years, Octopus has been downloaded more than 25,000 times, tested by hundreds of microfinance organisations and is still used by most of them. Octopus is multilingual, multi-currency, multi-branch, supports multiple methodologies and multiple payment channels. It can be integrated with local mobile phone operators and EFT switches. Its standard reporting editor allows easy development of regulatory reports in each country.

Your local Value-Added Reseller network

To offer microfinance institutions the best quality of services, in a neighbourhood dynamic, Octopus has set up a unique certification and training process for Value-Added Resellers (VAR) and local business developers. Octopus can create opportunities of value-added services for IT consultants such as training, technical support, and custom developments. With Octopus, you always have a qualified and responsive partner close to you. We certify and train annually our VARs on our new features to ensure you the highest quality of services at the forefront of our technology.

Our values The Octopus network

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Collaborative MIS served by one community

The main strength of Octopus remains its active community of developers, testers, consultants, resellers, volunteers, partners, clients and members at the international level that contribute to its improvement. Octopus stands out for taking best practices from the microfinance sector - in the field and expert world - differing from core-banking software that are not specialised in microfinance.

Through this unique approach, Octopus is the fastest growing solution on the market, offering a process of continuous improvement. Each month, we provide new functionalities by request of users that benefit to the entire community, in particular through our online services: website, forum, Wiki... Octopus aims to transcend the power of relationships, collaboration and learning to deliver exceptional solutions to clients wherever they do business.

A professional and passionate team

Octopus is developed by a team made of both software and microfinance experts: a dedicated team of 10 full-time developers and 6 full-time business analysts and consultants run the project and manage the 600-member strong worldwide online Octopus community.

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Octopus recognises the challenges in the microfinance markets in which we operate, and the need to:

Mitigate risks

You want robustness, long-term security, fraud monitoring. For that you need to be able to consult the documents regarding your organisation’s operations at any time. Managing risks means to be certain of the financial reliability of your operations. In addition, you need to be protected from any bug that could happen to the system used within your organisation, and also against failing computers or internet connections.

Octopus is secure and streamlines processes Nobody is immune to error or fraud, but there are effective ways to prevent these incidents. By providing automated daily backups, Octopus guarantees the integrity of your data. Monthly releases are fundamental in order to prevent your MIS to become obsolete. Guarantee and Software-as-a-Service solutions offered by Octopus are also an excellent way for you to prevent any technical problem you could face.

A powerful access management module

Everyone quickly access to information they need at the right time, without error. Each transaction is tracked and can be undone if necessary. You maintain control over the whole process thanks to the detailed monitoring of all the transactions performed in the MIS. You limit the risks of fraud thanks to segregation of permissions and safe access through password. The different levels of access can be fully limited for each role. You secure your data through a simple and automated incremental backup management tool.

Transparency

Octopus is also transparent which means that you can avoid the inconvenience of outsourcing your operations. Accrued transparency means also easier access to institutional donors. You benefit from a guarantee of transparency thanks to a full data monitoring which enables you to regain control of your data. The data migration solution ensures a secured transition from your previous system. Therefore Octopus transparency & reliability help you to gain an important competitive advantage thanks to improved customer satisfaction.

Offer tailor-made services

You need a global solution adapted to your needs. You need to work with an easy-to-use technology, accompanied by a partner who knows your reality.

Global but local

Octopus MIS is a global solution, used in more than 60 countries. Thanks to its flexible architecture and modular approach, Octopus also takes local variations into consideration. Alongside our product, we are widely recognized as one of the main microfinance services and business process engineering providers.

A unique implementation process

We know better than anyone else that each client is unique, as Octopus is a success directly originated from the field. Octopus adapts quickly to your business-model practices and evolutions. With our unique implementation process, based on standards defined by CGAP, you keep control of the installation of Octopus in your MFI at each stage. All the approach is organised to define the solution in close collaboration with your team.

Better serve your customers

You need a product adapted to your business process management, and which organises your whole activity around your customers. What is fundamental for you is to build long-term relationships with your customers and therefore you need a MIS that delivers high performance impact and keep your customers satisfied.

Strategic business benefits

Octopus Microfinance translates your needs into a very powerful set of strategic business benefits which improve your ability to hit market windows. Octopus is customer-centric and will help you get the right people and processes in place, and therefore grow your business serenely.

Better structure your organisation

Octopus allows you to gain in efficiency, as you can better structure your organisation and your work. How many times have you been confronted with inaccurate, illegible or complex reports? Based on the CGAP guidelines and recommendations of many experts, Octopus provides clear reports, adapted to each audience: loan officers, CEOs, CFOs, Donors, Regulatory officers… Use of open standards let you design your own reports. Octopus provides a highly customizable “customer relationship management” module that automates most of the tasks to allow staff to focus on what really matters: the customers.

Octopus is hassle-free

You just focus your MIS budget on competitive advantages rather than infrastructure. Octopus adapts to your growth, covering the full range of standard microfinance services, and thereby allows you to anticipate customers’ future needs, even for those forecasting a fast growth and expecting to become bank institutions. With Octopus, you are not limited in terms of clients, branches or data volume. You can easily add new branches, agencies, create your own products & services without any limitation. You can make your products evolve quickly to adapt to your clients, your competitors and the market trends. Finally, you automatically have immediate access to Octopus’s latest innovations through the monthly releases.

Increase operational efficiency, maximise impact

You need to get real-time information, manage cost and time through simple but extensive MIS. You are concerned about your daily consumptions, and would like to limit unnecessary expenses, in particular paper. MIS are strategic tools to help fast growing microfinance institutions become self-sufficient and profitable. However, most of them have to cope with relatively high prices, poor IT know-how and a complex adaptation to local context.

The most comprehensive technology

Octopus has scored the maximum in CGAP latest ranking in the category ‘‘ease of use’’. Octopus offers an interface based on classical Windows visual that makes it obvious to use. Octopus is compatible with the MS Office Suite, all the reports being exportable to Excel files. For the most demanding users, accounting module allows you to export your transactions directly to third-part solutions (Sage, QuickBooks, 1C, OpenERP…).

Octopus is an open source technology

You should consider this important point while making your final decision! We made this choice for practical reasons because open-source is much more robust and transparent than any commercial licenced solution. Octopus is tested by an active community worldwide that helps us improve the software by pointing out defects. Finally Octopus is the most tested microfinance MIS in the world.

Saving money and time

Costs will not hamper your growth any more and make you miss opportunities. You can deploy our technology in as many branches as you want without license fees. Actually, you still have the choice to pay solely for the service you really need. Choosing Octopus allows you to manage money and time in a proper way through particular modules such as installation, configuration and data migration. With a flexible and intuitive framework, Octopus lets you simulate, test and launch onto the market new financial and non-financial products in a wink, allowing you to drive the market innovation. Octopus enables organisations through immediate benefits, in particular fast ROI and a very flexible response. It generates more than 50 detailed reports, including CGAP-advised reports and it exports data to the solution of your choice.

In line with your main challenges

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AGILE technology that addresses your core business Octopus is a process more than a product. You must consider your MIS as a dynamic, evolving entity that will follow your business development. Octopus is developed in C#/.Net, a well-tested technology for banking software development. The management of the developments fits IT best practices, including the AGILE methodology that guarantees an excellent level of stability, reliability and fitness to your practices. AGILE allows the integration of new developments in the road map without destroying a previous version and without waiting months to get a new release. It fosters frequent upgrading by a very simple process. Therefore, signs of success are quickly visible.

Complete functional coverage

The core of Octopus covers 85% of the functional coverage recommended by CGAP. Its modular approach allows external contributors to simply connect modules and delivery channels such as Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) switches, Mobile Banking, SMS platform, Handheld devices, PDA, web-interfaces and ATM.

“Octopus is one of the most user-friendly solutions with highly ergonomic window display (intuitive use, universal search box, dashboard with essential data, alerts).” CGAP, MIS Review, 2009.

A scalable platform with global capacity

Octopus is a proven, integrated MIS addressing MFIs entire business. Our technology efficiently covers the full range of standards financial management services, allowing to anticipate MFIs future needs, even for those forecasting a fast growth and expecting to become bank institutions. Octopus is multi-user, multi-currency, multi-branch and can adapt to any network topology, from totally centralised to totally decentralised.

State-of-the-art MIS technology

A range of products to suit your needs

Octopus is a highly flexible technology and it can be adapted to perform exactly what you desire. All our Octopus products are built around the same MIS core module but each of them addresses specific needs of each microfinance sector:

Octopus Community – The core of Octopus Technology accessible to the community to enhance the product and integrate their own modules. Freely downloadable on our website for test purpose, without guarantee.

Octopus Professional – For businesses looking for a production-ready management software. Fully supported by the Octopus expert team. For an annual fee included in the first installation, we handle all your needs: implementation, software maintenance, technical support, staff capacity building.

Octopus Online – An easy and affordable online solution for organisations to manage their portfolio and clients while reducing the upfront infrastructure investment. Fully hosted on cloud by Octopus.

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Features covered by Octopus Clients & CRMClient management information : individual, groups, villages bank, corporateCustomer-centric systemProspect and potential client registrationClient data: + 100 fieldsAutomatic ID, identify duplicatesPhotos, signatures, attachment filesHistorical data, client follow-upSocial indicatorsCustomisable fieldsWebcam and Biometric integrationGeographical managementMember and shares management

TransactionsCashMulti-teller managementVault operationCheque book managementMulti-currencyExchange rate coverage (bureau de change)Multi-channel (credit cards, bank checks)Bulk payment (payroll)Front-office / Back-office mode

Loan Management100% customisable types of installmentsInterest rate: flat, declining fixed principal, declining fixed installmentFlexible repayment schedulesLoan cyclesLine of credit (revolving credit)Funding lineHandling of early, late, partial, extra paymentDeliquency management facilitiesMortgages, guarantors and collateralsIntegrated workflow with credit committeeAutomatic calculation of repayment scheduleRescheduling of loansAutomated back-office managementCollection sheet printed per loan officerCredit Scoring (integration with PPI, PAT...)Fully-integrated with accounting module

Savings accountSavings books, with flexible interest rateCurrent account, with of overdrafts and agioTerm deposits, fixed depositsRecurring depositsCompulsory savingsFlexible entry, close and management feesDeposit, withdrawal, transfers with feesDormant customersFully-integration between credit and savingsFlexible payment methodsBack office managementPending operationsSusu collector, group savingsFully-integrated with accounting

ReportsMore than 50 reportsCGAP standards reportsCustomizable reportsMulti-branch consolidated reportsManagement reportsKey statistical summariesOperational reports (day, week, month, year)Accounting standard statementsFinancial reportsRegulatory reportsReady to printEditable under Word, Excel, PDF exportEasily adaptable

SecurityUnique access per user (password)Different levels of access (roles management)Distinction between read / write permissionsUnlimited number of groups and usersAudit trail on all transactionsEach operation is mapped with a unique ID Printing of operations historyInherent security of the databaseNotification of file violationSelf-auditing programFraud managementData quality management

AccountingCash / accrual accounting 100% customisable Chart of Accounts100% flexible accounting rulesDetailed flow recordsTrial balanceCash summaryManual entriesIntegration with Sage, 1C, QuickBooks, TallyMulti-branches / entities accountingAudit accountingFinancial statementsBank transfers

Core supportMulti-entityMulti-branchMulti-userMultilingualMulti-criteria search engine, filters Taxes and VAT managementMulti-currencyImage and document managementMulti-channel: Mobile Banking, ATM, PDAEnd-of-day processingData import / export

UsabilityInstant view of alerts from the homepageAlerts dashboard with colorsDirect access to outstanding loansUniversal keyboard shortcutsFully-flexible search toolOnline help

NetworkIntegrated module of database managementDecentralised option: offline + consolidationHybrid consolidation (hybrid SaaS)Centralized option (Full SaaS on cloud)Online daily consolidated reportsRemote «hassle-free» upgradeQuick and easy data backup and restoreAutomated daily backups with FTP Webservices for delivery channels integration

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A long-term and personalised relationship

With experience of more than 80 new implementations and users for 7 years, we have acquired a unique knowledge of the best implementation procedures in the specific context of microfinance.

The installation or the migration of your MIS is not a trivial undertaking. Preparation is the key success factor for your MIS implementation. Every time we perform upstream training at Octopus, we include an audit of the MFI. It allows us to review the MFI procedures, to understand its needs, to anticipate the migration phase, to personalize the MIS and to prepare a customised training according to the institution’s reality. Besides this upstream training, we offer two downstream trainings at Octopus, in particular for MIS administrators. This Octopus team inside your walls is the condition to incorporate all your business innovations into your MIS. If you do not have such a team, your MIS will be more alienating than empowering.

Software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions

What is more sensitive than your data? Risks for your data are always more numerous and probable such as hardware failure, human error, fires, cyber crime, theft, viruses, etc.Octopus is multi-tenant. It means that many customers can run their applications on the same unit of software. This makes the overall MIS scalable at a far lower cost.

Guarantee solutions

The local technical assistance is delivered by your Octopus certified local reseller.Octopus guarantee services give you access to: - Software maintenance (bug correction, forward compliance of existing features, 2 annual on-site visits)- Technical support (support for version upgrades, answer to technical questions, hotline)- Hosting services (consolidated reporting tool and hosting of database on remote server)

Customisation solutions

The microfinance sector is still unstructured, and practices and regulations can vary widely from one country to another. For these reasons, we choose to dedicate each year 50% of our development time on new features requested by users.

Expert professional solutions

The Professional Services we offer are founded on six fundamental pillars:

1. Incorporating best microfinance practices, originated in our collaboration with the OXUS Group and 80 other institutions.2. Offering solutions that perfectly match your daily operations, through detailed due diligences of your institution.3. Supporting you through an ongoing commitment of our services and IT teams, backed by a professional community serving microfinance.4. Helping you to increase revenues and lower IT and administrative costs. You really see and measure signs of success immediately. 5. Ensuring improved resource utilisation and enhancing your internal skills. 6. Enhancing final client satisfaction, protection and thereby client retention.

Due diligences

Mobile bankingintegration

Modulesdevelopment

End-user training

MIS managertraining

Accountingintegration

Automatedbackups

Octopus Online

Automaticupgrades

Hybrid SaaSconsolidation

Technicalsupport

Delivery channels

integration

User acceptance

tests

Data migration

Softwaremaintenance

Customreports

Systemintegration

testing

Hardware procurement

Customdevelopments

Operationalstrategyanalysis

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We at Octopus are passionate about building and supplying the microfinance community’s best MIS. Our professional service team is committed to deliver you hassle-free technology: we take care of everything so you can make the best use of the power of our technology and concentrate on your customers. This translates into a range of expert professional services that translate your business strategy into measurable results and ensure that you can perfectly manage your operations from start to finish. We offer you a complete set of solutions to best fit your context and objectives.

We are committed to providing you with the highest standards of Professional Services before, during and after each project. Our Professional Services include the following:

Implementation

Developments

Guarantee

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Users’ experience

Dominican Republic United Kingdom Tajikistan IndiaNazufe is a Tier4 MFI and an active community member. Nazufe translated the MIS solution to Spanish, opening up a huge new market. When Nazufe implemented Octopus in 2010, it was a small MFI. It has now more than 3,000 active clients.

Now Nazufe also plays the role of Value-Added Reseller and prescriber of Octopus in Central and Latin America.

CameroonAgora is an international network of MFI, with its headquarters in London. The organization implemented Octopus in 2012 for consolidation purposes.

Thanks to Octopus’ flexibility, Agora can at the same time support its organisation in rural areas (Zambia), as well as urban areas (India). Agora has grown from a greenfield MFI to nearly 10,000 active customers in 1 year’s use of Octopus.

IDEV is a Tier3 MFI that migrated to Octopus in 2011 and in doing so was able to serve 2,000 SMEs with savings services in the Douala area.

Thanks to Octopus, IDEV can provide advanced services such as bank checks, current accounts with overdrafts, and tax management.

OXUS Tajikistan is a Tier2 MFI that originally implemented Octopus in 2006 to support its credit operations. Six years later the organization is the second-leading MFI in the country, serving 85% of rural clients. Through group lending OXUS Tajikistan improves the lives of 15,000 customers and their families.

As of today, the OXUS Group manages a loan portfolio of over USD 20M in Tajikistan and four other countries.

ODED is an Octopus Value-Added Reseller in India. In two years, ODED successfully implemented Octopus in 10 MFIs in South Asia (in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh). At the same time, ODED developed custom features with local developers in order to meet local needs such as Biometric fingerprint analysis system, SMS Banking and handheld devices on smartphones, integrated into Octopus.

Our offers

A range of products to suit your needs

Octopus is a highly flexible technology and it can be adapted to perform exactly what you desire. All our Octopus products are built around the same MIS core module but each of them addresses specific needs of each microfinance sector.

Find our detailed offers on www.octopusnetwork.org

Octopus Paris Octopus BishkekOctopus Dakar

A few success stories:

Octopus is used by 80 microfinance organisations in 60 countries and supported by 3 Octopus centres:

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Octopus Microfinance33, rue Godot de Mauroy

F-75009 Paris, France+33 1 42 65 61 27

[email protected]

Octopus MicrofinanceAppt 20, 1/3 Suerkulova, Bishkek , Kyrgyz Republic

+996 312 51 19 [email protected]

www.octopusnetwork.org