SDGs - MADCash

Creating Impact, Changing Lives

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 5: Kesaksamaan Gender

MADCash membantu wanita meningkatkan peluang untuk jaminan kewangan dengan menyediakan modal, perniagaan dan kepintaran pengurusan kewangan untuk mengembangkan perniagaan mikro mereka. Kami berusaha untuk memperbaiki keadaan ekonomi keseluruhan keluarga dengan meningkatkan pendapatan yang dijana oleh wanita tersebut. Kami memulakan projek perintis kami pada April 2020 dengan hanya tiga orang wanita, di mana kami memberikan sejumlah RM3,000 dan mereka berjaya menjana pendapatan sebanyak RM17 ribu pada bulan pertama. Pinjaman ini datang pada masa yang tepat ketika wanita-wanita itu telah kehabisan simpanan peribadi mereka sejak sekatan pergerakan pertama di Malaysia ketika pandemik COVID-19, dan tiada perniagaan yang boleh dijalankan.

Pada bulan-bulan berikutnya, kami menyedari bahawa wanita-wanita itu memerlukan lebih banyak bantuan dalam memahami kewangan ketika menentukan harga produk mereka dan terutamanya keperluan untuk mempunyai simpanan. Peningkatan keganasan rumah tangga semasa perintah sekatan pergerakan telah menekankan bahawa perlunya lelaki juga mengambil bahagian dalam proses ini supaya mereka merasa tergolong dalam kumpulan itu, dan boleh menjadi pemangkin. Kami masih lagi terus mengusahakan perkara ini. Pembelajaran paling besar setakat ini ialah bagaimana wang tidak menyelesaikan semua masalah, kita perlu melihat semua aspek sosial juga.

SDG 8: Pekerjaan yang Baik dan Pertumbuhan Ekonomi

Kami melihat bahawa melalui bantuan membina perniagaan, wanita-wanita terlibat mendapat dapat peluang untuk menggunakan perniagaan mereka bagi bantu keluarga mereka baiki keadaan ekonomi. Projek perintis ini telah melayakkan kami terima geran pada Ogos 2020 daripada Kedutaan Amerika Syarikat di Kuala Lumpur, untuk mengendalikan program Academy for Women Entrepreneur yang kami jalankan menerusi MADCash. Geran tersebut membolehkan kami bekerjasama dengan 30 wanita dan seterusnya, kami mendapat pembiayaan bagi Kohort 2 pula, untuk 50 orang wanita untuk Jun 2021.

Kita tahu bahawa memberi wang sahaja tidak mencukupi. Kita perlu menyokong wanita-wanita ini dalam mengembangkan perniagaan mereka melalui program pementoran. Kami kukuhkan lagi kandungan Academy For Women Entrepreneur dalam talian dengan mengendalikan bengkel secara fizikal untuk menyediakan kandungan setempat serta beri saluran untuk sokongan dan kembangkan rangkaian mereka. Kami juga telah dilantik sebagai Changemakers oleh Bank Islam Malaysia dan kami telah menerima dana untuk menyokong 100 lagi usahawan wanita.

SDG 11: Bandar dan Komuniti Mampan

Kami berharap dapat membawa perubahan yang lebih besar kepada keadaan hidup dan ekonomi golongan miskin bandar. Wanita yang bekerjasama dengan kami adalah daripada kumpulan yang dipanggil B40 (kumpulan isi rumah yang berpendapatan 40 peratus paling rendah daripada jumlah keseluruhan pendapatan rakyat Malaysia) yang bermaksud mereka memperoleh kurang daripada USD1K/bulan untuk menyara keluarga mereka. Kita tahu bahawa ramai wanita telah menjadi pencari nafkah utama kerana suami kehilangan pekerjaan dan purata saiz keluarga adalah lima orang dan mungkin termasuk ahli keluarga yang lain. Bila kami terima pembiayaan daripada Kedutaan Amerika Syarikat untuk Kohort 1, kami mencari 30 orang wanita untuk dibiayai tetapi kami menerima 727 permohonan.

Matlamat akhir MADCash adalah untuk mewujudkan skor kredit bagi mereka yang tidak mempunyai akaun bank supaya mereka boleh mendapat akses kepada modal yang lebih besar untuk kembangkan perniagaan. Untuk bank-bank pertimbangkan pemberian dana mereka perlukan laporan kredit namun maklumat ini tidak dimiliki oleh ramai usahawan wanita ini. Skor kredit oleh MADCash akan membantu wanita yang tidak mempunyai akaun bank mendapat akses kepada pembiayaan yang lebih besar. Kami menggunakan teknologi untuk merekodkan profil wanita yang dibantu, menjejak pembayaran balik mereka dan memantau pertumbuhan jualan perniagaan mereka.

Covid-19 saw the unprecedented hardships faced by women during the lockdown. Micro entrepreneurs survive on a “day to day” income and rely on that to support their families. After the lockdowns, micro-entrepreneurs could not reboot since they lack cash flow and have used up their savings during the interim. They don’t have a credit history or worst still, are blacklisted by traditional financial institutions and have very little access to finance. MADCash is the right product that went live at the right time.

We are working towards a world where every woman (and man) have access to capital and can choose entrepreneurship when times are tough as a means to support their families. The philosophy of MADCash – a donation received today helps to fund one woman entrepreneur, and when that woman pays back, it goes to another woman; the donation that keeps on giving. We track the impact that the donation creates, reducing the culture of handouts and dignity to women.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 5: Gender Equality

MADCash helps women achieve greater financial security by providing the capital, business and financial acumen to grow their micro business. We work to improve the overall economic situation of the family by increasing the income generated by the woman. We started our pilot project in Apr 2020 with only 3 women, and we gave a total of RM3,000 which generated a revenue of RM17K in the first month.This loan came at an opportune time when the ladies had already run out of their personal savings since it was the first lockdown in Malaysia and no businesses could run.

In the following months, we realized that the ladies needed more help in understanding the financials when it comes to pricing their products and most especially of the need to have savings. The rise of domestic violence during the lockdown also highlighted the need to have our menfolk be part of this process so they feel included and become enablers. We are still working on this. The biggest learning so far is how money does not solve all problems, we have to look at all social aspects as well.

SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

We see that by helping our target beneficiaries build their business, we give them a chance at using entrepreneurship to help their families improve their economic situation. The pilot project gave us the opportunity to receive a grant in Aug 2020 from the US Embassy in KL to run the Academy for Women Entrepreneur which we incorporated into MADCash. The grant allowed us to work with 30 women and we have just gotten funding for Cohort 2 of 50 women for Jun 2021.

We know that giving money alone is not enough, we need to support these ladies in growing their business through a community of women mentors. We supplement the online Academy For Women Entrepreneur content with physical workshops to help localize the content and provide a support and networking platform. We have also been appointed as Changemakers by Bank Islam Malaysia and we have received funds to support another 100 women entrepreneurs.

SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

We hope to bring greater change to the living and economic conditions of the urban poor. The women we work with are from the group called the B40 (bottom 40 economic group) which means they earn less than USD1K/month to support their families. We know that most have become main breadwinners due to husbands losing their jobs and the average family size is 5 and may include extended family members. When we received the funding from the US Embassy for Cohort 1, we were looking for 30 women to fund but we received 727 applications.

MADCash’s end goal is to create a credit score for the unbanked so that they can get access to bigger capital to grow their business. The current funding landscape from banks in Malaysia require a credit report which these ladies do not have. Our credit score will help unbanked ladies get access to larger funding. We use technology to profile beneficiaries, track their repayment record and monitor their sales growth.