Bhavana Srivastava

Associate Director

Bhavana worked at MSC as a financial services consultant with over 20 years of experience, of which 16 years have been in microfinance, SME lending, and project management.

Bhavana worked at MSC as a financial services consultant with over 20 years of experience, of which 16 years have been in microfinance, SME lending, and project management. Her core expertise lies in project management, due diligence and assessment of MFIs, SME banks and other FIs along with the design and implementation of large-scale financial sector programs that seek to enhance access to finance for low-income households and the bottom of pyramid markets. During her tenure at MSC, Bhavana managed and evaluated projects financed by the World Bank, IFC, DFID, IFAD, ADB, AfD, and FMO in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, and Vietnam.

Posts by Bhavana Srivastava

The digital journey of Shakti Foundation for Disadvantaged Women: a lesson for progressive MFIs in Bangladesh

The case study charts how Shakti Foundation for Disadvantaged Women utilized technology to address the challenge of offering a customer-centric savings product for low-income segments while managing associated risks.

When inclusion is not inclusive: What needs to change to achieve meaningful financial Inclusion for women

Financial inclusion sector’s combined efforts have not succeeded in making an impact on women. Mainly for reasons – significant variations in their behaviour and ecosystem players generally overlooking gender centrality in the design of financial products and services

Creative economies as a gateway to pro-poor tourism in India

The paper discusses the role that creative economies can play in transforming the tourist regions as engines of youth employment growth and upskilling.

Digital transformation of MFIs in Bangladesh

UNCDF SHIFT commissioned MSC to conduct a study on the status of digitization in the microfinance sector in Bangladesh. Along with the interventions that MFIs will undertake, the sector also needs policy-level changes that enable the digitization of microfinance institutions. This policy brief presents the challenges that the microfinance sector in Bangladesh faces and interventions that would create an enabling environment for digital transformation.

Digital transformation of MFIs in Bangladesh opportunities, challenges and way forward

With the entry of FinTech firms in Bangladesh and the government’s aim to build an inclusive digital financial ecosystem, it is now imperative for the microfinance sector in Bangladesh to move towards digital transformation. UNCDF SHIFT commissioned MSC to conduct a study on the status of digitization in the microfinance sector in Bangladesh. This report examines the status of digitization in the microfinance sector in Bangladesh, technology options, and the next steps towards digital transformation.

Gender centrality of mobile financial services in Bangladesh

This consumer behavior research aims to investigate why this is so, examining the gender centrality in digital financial services (DFS) in Bangladesh. The study focused only on mobile financial services as the most prevalent form of DFS in Bangladesh.

A comprehensive framework for gender centrality in financial services

This briefing note introduces MSC’s gender centrality framework and explains how financial service providers and policymakers can help to promote the gender equality.

Redeeming the pledge on gender equality

Across the globe, a billion women remain financially excluded, with a gender gap of 9% persisting stubbornly in developing countries.