These two points are what
https://www.zidisha.org is focusing on. No field partners and direct communication between the borrower and lender for borrowers who have access to the network and banking systems which I think are cell phone based. I think they are expanding into a new country or two also. It's an interesting model.
When I saw this, I thought, "Well at least the Zidisha model would eliminate the problem of MFI incompetence and fraud being the cause of losses." Then I read a couple of loan histories on the Zidisha site, and learned that a theft of loan funds has occurred anyway -- apparently funds are disbursed by Zidisha via SMS technology, and a thief was able to get into a borrower's account somehow last December, and divert the loan funds to himself. Kenyan police arrested a suspect, and trial is scheduled to begin July 7 -- BUT, they say that Kenyan law has no provisions for seizure or restitution of stolen money!
So far Zidisha only does business with borrowers in Kenya and Senegal, which does not give a lender many options. But I'd say there is definitely more of a peer-to-peer connection. The borrowers write their own updates -- and in the loan histories I read, these were very frequent and detailed, indeed, compared to what you get through Kiva and its Field Partners.
