Temenos has extended its 10-year relationship with Opportunity International to develop social reporting capabilities into its market-leading Business Intelligence solution. The agreement with Opportunity International is the first signing of Insight for a microfinance institution and underlines the importance of detailed customer and operational intelligence to all financial institutions.

As part of the agreement, Opportunity International and Temenos have agreed to work together to produce a number of social performance reports to help highlight the ways in which Opportunity International improves the quality of life of its customers. The reports will track the direct, quantifiable impact of lending on the lives of the individual borrowers and the communities in which they live.

Opportunity International, a pioneer and global leader in providing microfinance and training to those trying to lift themselves out of the cycle of poverty, has been a T24 customer for more than 10 years, working across over 12 sites globally. Opportunity serves over five million people in more than 20 developing countries with small business loans, insurance and financial and professional development training. In 2012, Opportunity loaned US$1.1 billion across 4.3 million loans, of which 93% were to women.

David Arnott, Temenos CEO, said: "Microfinance is an important area of focus for Temenos and we are delighted to have extended our relationship with Opportunity International. Up until now, Temenos' focus in microfinance has been to provide institutions with low-cost, flexible and scalable core banking solutions that enable them to operate with the lowest possible unit costs and, in turn, offer the most affordable banking services to its end customers. As a result of the work we are doing with Opportunity International, we will be able to provide the tools for all microfinance institutions to be able to track accurately the social benefits of their work"

Harry Turner, CEO of Opportunity International's Global Microfinance Operations Group, commented: "As an organisation we are fine tuning the metrics around the outcomes of our work. This next phase with Temenos will provide clearer, more uniform measurement of the impact our financial investment in individual clients working their way out of poverty has on the quality of life for their families, communities and countries. This data will be incredibly valuable to our programme strategists as well as to our donors as they seek a tangible return on their philanthropic dollars.