A South African initiative to increase financial access via mobile technology is nearing fruition. In addition to mobile-based services such as payments, transfers and purchases, the service will offer mobile microloans.

Wizzit, the company behind the project, will endeavor to provide these mobile-based personal loans to 10,000 people. According to company officials, more than 340 of the loans are projected to go to small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) and 3,000 to micro-entrepreneurs by 2015.

Commenting on the need for this service, Wizzit Chairperson Charles Rowlinson explains, “The availability of credit can make the difference between success and failure, growth and stagnation for small, medium and micro-entrepreneurs. Small loans at affordable rates can also be vitally important for low-income working families who use them to pay for education, healthcare and other fundamental services.”

Relevant to these efforts, the company reports that it has also entered into a partnership with an Indian firm, Vortex Engineering, to facilitate plans to extend banking to more than 30 million low-income people in both countries by 2015.

The companies describe their partnership as a product of their joint commitment to the Business Call to Action (BCtA), a global initiative that encourages private sector efforts to fight poverty. Vortex will pioneer the dissemination of solar-powered cash machines tailored to rural communities’ needs, while Wizzit will expand access to credit.