Blog

Familias en Acción: A Financial Inclusion Strategy

In this post, our guest bloggers discuss the Government of Colombia’s efforts to use Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programs as a gateway to financial inclusion.

How Many “Plus-es” Can We Add to “Microfinance ++?”

Many MFIs that want to increase their impact on the lives of their customers and families have developed non-financial products and services, such as schools, healthcare clinics, and vocational training. Adding on such a service is sometimes referred to as “microfinance-plus.”

Five Business Case Insights on Mobile Money

Today, we share with you a presentation that describes in detail five ways mobile network operators (MNOs) can think about the mobile money business case. MNOs across the globe are investing millions to develop and market mobile money. Estimates claim at least 30 implementations in Africa where MNO-driven financial services are an important part of the financial inclusion landscape. Despite the bets being placed by MNOs, the business case remains uncertain in almost every implementation.

Developments in the Arab World

Although it could be too early to analyze the impact of recent events in the Arab world on microfinance, one can conclude some general and common lessons despite differences among countries.

Islamic Microfinance in Tanzania

Tanzania eco-Volunteerism’s (TeV) honey project is a community development program providing rural poor communities of Tanzania with an innovative microfinance model that is in complete compliance with Islamic guidelines for business and finance.

CGAP Software Listings Now on MIX Market

CGAP and the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) recently collaborated to migrate CGAP’s Software Listings to the MIX Market. Hosting this information alongside the wealth of other information already on the MIX will provide a more dynamic view of the microfinance landscape, all on a single platform.

We Need to Keep Learning about Overindebtedness

We need to look more carefully at the interactions between microfinance institutions and their clients, examining how MFI practices play out in lives of clients on an everyday basis. Stuart posed two specific hypotheses: if a lender needs clients to borrow continually, it incentivizes overselling and overindebtedness, and that insistence on immediate, in-full repayment drives some clients to begin bicycling loans.

GCASH Supports the Philippine Government’s Programs

Globe Telecom is a leading telecommunications company in the Philippines that runs the GCASH mobile money service.

Some Insights into Over-indebtedness in India

Microfinance Institutions in Andhra Pradesh and elsewhere in India are keen to avoid over-indebtedness or place clients in distress.

Islamic Microfinance Challenge: Profiling Tameer Bank, Pakistan

Pakistan does not have any visible Islamic microfinance banks or institutions, so this is a critical project to move forward, albeit in a staged way to limit risk and cost and making sure that we apply new learning as we go.

G2P Payments for Flood Victims in Pakistan

Within just a few weeks this past fall, United Bank Limited (UBL) in Pakistan was able to design, procure, and distribute over one million VISA debit cards to the flood-affected citizens of Pakistan following the devastating flood.

Over-Indebtedness and the Role of Investors

The consequences of over-indebtedness are shared among all stakeholders in microfinance. Households, individuals, and communities are affected by borrowers who cannot repay their debts.

Branchless Banking, G2P and Large Volume Payments

As branchless banking services reach the scale needed to be able to serve large segments of the population of a country, they are starting to strike partnerships with governments, businesses and not-for-profit organizations that need to make payments to large numbers of people.

Microcredit Deserves Support, not Suppression

Owing to its innovative program design and practices, microcredit reaches many poor people who lack access to formal finance. This is clearly a major gain that protects the poor and other disadvantaged groups from resorting to informal loans at extortionate rates.

Focus on Product, Pricing and Agents to Drive Adoption

CGAP’s Branchless Banking Database synthesizes a mass of data into a short 12-image “story” about what branchless banking is and the key hurdles we face in 2011. We’ve converted that into a three-part series, which we conclude today.

And Now from East Asia—The Good News

East Asia is witnessing a relatively stable growth when it comes to microfinance.

Branchless Banking Has a Volume Problem

CGAP’s Branchless Banking Database synthesizes a mass of data into a short 12-image “story” about what branchless banking is and the key hurdles we face in 2011. We’ve converted that into a three-part series, which we continue today.

Why Has Islamic Microfinance Not Reached Scale Yet?

How come in a country like Bangladesh, the largest MFI or bank providing products complying with Sharia reach only 100,000 active borrowers compared to the 22 million active borrowers reached by Grameen Bank, BRAC, and ASA, all of which are providing conventional products?

Which Way? Mobile Money and Branchless Banking in 2011

There was much movement in 2010 at the intersect of technology and access to finance for the poor. CGAP’s new Branchless Banking Database synthesizes a mass of data into a short 12-image “story” about what branchless banking is and the key hurdles we face in 2011. The focus is on mobile phones, but we quickly add that some of the most interesting work is still being done with debit cards and even simpler technologies, such as bar codes.

Measuring Cross-indebtedness in Latin America

While over-indebtedness can be difficult to observe in practice, we can use simple surveys to estimate one proxy for over-indebtedness: cross-indebtedness, or the number of institutions from which the typical borrower has a loan.