Searching: Research & Analysis

Country-Level Savings Assessment Tool

This Technical Guide explains the areas of analysis covered in a CLSA, the methodology used, and how the CLSA can be tailored to meet the needs of the commissioning agency.

The True Cost of Deposit Mobilization

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) seem to be of two minds about the cost of mobilizing savings. In a recent CGAP study, the majority of institutions interviewed perceived deposits as the cheapest form of funding available, as well as stable, plentiful, and a valuable service to clients.

Safe and Accessible: Bringing Poor Savers Into the Financial System

Despite significant evidence to the contrary, many financial institution managers and policy makers do not believe poor people save money. They tend to assume that poor people are “too poor to save,” that they prefer to consume rather than save excess income, or that when they do save it is only to access a loan.

Community-Managed Loan Funds: Which Ones Work?

This Focus Note presents conclusions from a performance review of dozens of CMLF projects established or supported by donors and international nongovernment organizations (NGOs) over the past 15 years. It turns out that success is strongly linked to the source of funding for the loans group members receive.

Competition and Microcredit Interest Rates

In many countries, including Uganda, Bangladesh, and Bolivia, microfinance has become more competitive in recent years. Competition is generally expected to benefit consumers by offering a wider choice of appropriate products and providers, better service, and lower prices.

Working With Savings and Credit Cooperatives

This Donor Brief addresses how donors can support savings and credit cooperatives to increase access to financial services. It highlights the advantages of working with these groups as well as some of the unique challenges of doing so.

Crafting a Money Transfers Strategy

This Occasional Paper explores operational and strategic considerations involved in launching a money transfer product. Financial service providers that cater to the poor have been drawn to the money transfer market because it offers them the opportunity to fulfill their financial goals as well as their social objectives.

Developing Deposit Services for the Poor

These guidelines embody the working consensus of CGAP donor members on how donors can support deposit services in microfinance.

Microinsurance: A Risk Management Strategy

Microinsurance is one of the many financial services that can help poor people protect themselves from risk. This Donor Brief provides practical dos and don'ts for donors interested in supporting this promising but still largely untested field.

Credit Components

Designed as inputs to larger projects with limited life spans, credit components run the risk of failing to provide the intended target groups with permanent access to financial services. This Donor Brief outlines some ways to make the most of credit components and minimize their downsides.