Micro Software Designs Ltd (MSD) takes pleasure in extending our best wishes to the Credit Union movement on International Credit Union Month 2020. The theme for this year's celebration is "Inspiring Hope for a Global Community" and we at MSD understand that the very nature of "Hope" will provide us with the courage to overcome the challenges of 2020 and beyond as we continue to deliver on our commitment to provide excellent customer service and sound financial solutions to you that will enhance the lives of your members.
MSD understand the impact that COVID-19 has had on our regional economies. In her keynote address at the Sixth Meeting of the Caribbean Development Roundtable held virtually on 10th September 2020, the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Amor Mottley, stated “Let’s be frank: the international financial system is broken. We are neither complaining nor begging. Today we are offering systemic global solutions to a systemic global problem, and I trust that our voice will be heard and we will be part of the debate. If we do not raise our voice together, we will continue to be ignored. We have a society and a civilization to defend,”
So as our regional leaders band together to rejuvenate the Caribbean economy, Financial Institutions can ascertain how best they may assist their customers given job losses and reduced income as a result of the global slowdown affecting exports, tourism, remittances and the accompanying collapse of commodity prices such as oil. Institutions may choose to reduce interest rates to make payments more affordable, increase loan period or offer deferrals/moratoriums, all of which can be accommodated in Emortelle. We have heard of some customers setting up subsidiaries to move their members into the Agriculture sector thereby offering sustainable income; whichever way you choose to support and enrich the lives of your members/customers, MSD will be there at your side to provide the financial solutions you need to drive the business.
In our previous communication to you, MSD announced that we had commenced development on its next generation Core Banking Software (CBS), Emortelle V10. We are now pleased to advise that we have completed seventy percent (70%) development work with major modules to be completed before the end of December 2020. We look forward to you embracing the new features of this web based version, which includes multilingual capability, a redesigned more attractive and friendlier user interface, with the capability of supporting multiple database types, (such as, Faircom, Oracle, MS SQL, MySQL). The new CBS will reduce PC client dependency, as it adopts a server driven approach to improve processing and other backend capabilities which support database replication. EV10 will be hosted on premises or in the cloud. Our next generation CBS, will definitely be a game changer for Credit Unions and Microfinance Institutions, in terms of reducing an institution’s overall cost, while improving the efficiency and effectiveness in the way institutions provide services to their members and clients. Our expected release date of this new version, EV10 is in the second quarter of 2021.
In closing, we reiterate the need for us to practise good hygiene and maintain our social distance as we all endeavour to control the spread of COVID-19 so that we can once again meet in person in the near future.