The Mastercard Foundation just granted $12 million to Microcred to launch a financial inclusion program in Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal and Madagascar. The news was revealed on June 20, 2016 at a press conference held in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.

The program, which falls under a partnership agreement between the two institutions, aims to provide access to financial services to more than 1.2 million people in these three countries, by 2019.

To achieve this, the two institutions have decided to rely on technology as well on a new methodology entitled “Customer-Centric”.

“Microcred is committed to developing its SME-focused financial services branch, and to extend its business to populations, rural mostly, with little or no bancarization level,by offering them innovating products” said the group’s founding president, Arnaud Ventura.

Moreover, The Mastercard Foundation and Microcred base their strategy on the Mobile Money experience which recorded a great success across Africa where close to 350 million people is unbanked. This shows, according to the two institutions, that the issue is not low demand but rather limitations in the offer.