Cranes gets microfinance project from L&T Finance

Statistical analysis and simulation products developer Cranes Software International Ltd. has signed an agreement with L&T Finance Ltd, the financial arm of Larsen & Toubro, to implement a microfinance lending solution.

A Cranes Software spokesperson did not disclose the financial terms of the agreement, but said that the solution would be implemented over the next three months across 20 branches of L&T Finance. “We will implement the Bankers’ Realm (BR.net) solution for L&T Finance and provide requisite support under a multi-user license,” said the spokesperson.

L&T Finance will look at a larger scale rollout once the Web-based solution meets its initial scalability requirements and works seamlessly with its existing systems. There is scope to extend the ambit of the product to 100 branches of L&T Finance, though the agreement does not cover the same currently.

BR.net is a Web-based comprehensive banking solution specifically catering to the needs of non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and microfinance institutions (MFIs).

“MFIs, in particular, have faced issues in processing the large number of micro-credit issuals, which often lead to clogging of the core banking systems. A Web-based microfinance solution can help support these processes, increase productivity and boost the efficiency of the system as a whole,” the spokesperson said.

The company, which has a global base of over 350,000 users, has been implementing BR.net in India by partnering with Nairobi, Kenya-based Craft Silicon. Both companies have implemented BR.net in MFIs like the Chennai-based Equitas Microfinance, Kolar-based Rores Foundation, Coimbatore-based Indian Association of Savings and Credit, and Lucknow-based Nirman Bharati.

Cranes Software offers a range of proprietary products including SYSTAT, SigmaPlot, SigmaStat, SigmaScan, TableCurve 2D, TableCurve 3D, PeakFit, NISA, Survey ASYST and Cubeware Cockpit. The company has alliances with Microsoft, BusinessObjects, BEA, Borland, Wipro and Craft Silicon, among others.

Cranes successfully completed the acquisition of German business intelligence software company Cubeware last year. Sales in the third quarter ended December 31, 2008 were at Rs 110 crore.