Research & Analysis

Branchless Banking Policy and Regulation in El Salvador

These notes offer details on CGAP's findings and recommendations as a result of a branchless banking policy and regulatory diagnostic carried out in late 2008 in El Salvador.

Poor People Using Mobile Financial Services

Insights into how poor people use M-PESA, its impact on their lives, and some unexpected consequences.

AML/CFT: Strengthening Financial Inclusion and Integrity

Over the past 30 years, access to formal financial services for low-income people has increased dramatically. However, misguided efforts to reduce criminal behavior threaten to slow the pace of that progress.

Measuring Results of Microfinance Institutions: Minimum Indicators

This Technical Guide is for funding agency staff who design or monitor projects that finance microfinance institutions or community-managed loan funds.

Microfinance Banana Skins 2009

Microfinance Banana Skins 2009 describes the risks facing the microfinance industry as seen by an international sample of practitioners, investors, regulators and observers of the microfinance sector.

Asset and Liability Management for Deposit-Taking MFIs

Even the most mature microfinance institutions (MFIs) need to pay attention to their balance sheet to manage financial risks.

Stability of Small Balance Deposits

Small balance demand deposits from poor clients are viewed as a particularly volatile class of funding. This is one reason some MFIs are concerned about using deposits to fund their lending operations.

Are Deposits a Stable Source of Funding for Microfinance Institutions?

New research finds that under normal circumstances, aggregate balances for low-income accounts move gradually, and they are not prone to abrupt month-by-month swings.

The Impact of the Financial Crisis on MFIs and Their Clients

The global financial crisis is spreading quickly in emerging markets, but little is known about its impact on the microfinance sector.

Microfinance Funds Continue to Grow Despite the Crisis

So far, microfinance funds have been relatively unscathed by the financial crisis that has wreaked havoc on most asset classes around the world.