Through this presentation, MicroSave outlines the adoption of social performance reporting standards in the microfinance sector & integrating these reporting metrics in the decision making and management of microfinance institutions (MFIs). The unique approach of MicroSave has been widely successful in Asirvad, India; Nirantara, India; TSPI, the Philippines and Arohan, India. MicroSave through it’s various research tools assess the current social performance reporting levels of selected MFIs with an aim to increase adoption of industry standards & tools and train the MFIs to use these tools to sustainably monitor and enhance their effectiveness.
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MicroSave’s focus groups and PRA tools
This presentation on MicroSave’s market research tools highlights the usage and benefits of Focus Group Discusions (FGDs) and Participatary Rapid Appraisal (PRA) tools for microfinance. Through various examples of FGDs and PRA tools, MicroSave reveals the uses and options available for market research in microfinance industry .
Listening to our clients and innovation
This presentation highlights the financial behaviour of the poor, their savings practices, financial tools used, services needed, etc.
Global issues in microfinance and India
This presentation covers the following topics- Microcredit is not microfinance; Product v. market-led business; Branchless banking; The Indian market; The Andhra Pradesh crisis and The future.
Are You Poor Enough?: Client Selection by Microfinance Institutions
This note addresses the issue of client selection by MFIs. It highlights that while the need for sustainability and a more commercial microfinance have been accepted and absorbed by most of the microfinance industry leaders, it is important to take the risk of mission drift into consideration. It then describes the different categories of poor people targeted by MFIs and highlights the needs for careful selection, and more so, of appropriate product design based on thorough market research.
Analysis of Financial Institutions Riding the M-PESA Rails
M-PESA is probably the best-known mobile money transfer service and one of the few successful business models for such a service anywhere in the world. Over 75 financial institutions in Kenya alone, including banks, microfinance groups, insurance and pension plans, and savings & credit cooperatives (SACCOs), currently work with Safaricom to offer mobile banking to their customers. Most of these institutions offer “deposit only” service over the M-PESA platform (referred to as the M-PESA “rails”). Microfinance institutions (MFIs) also allow borrowers to repay loans via M-PESA. Benefits include reduced operational costs and increased staff efficiency (for retail banks who lose money on low depositors, these are particularly compelling advantages); greater convenience and personal control for customers. Problems to resolve include incompatible software and, thus far, very limited middleware for financial institutions and Safaricom’s respective systems; customer data-entry errors, particularly for account numbers; money transfer and reconciliation delays; and lack of transparency on customer fees for M-PESA platform access. (The fee structure is complicated and, because Kenyans are accustomed to paying unusually high fees for all banking and money-transfer services, they are less inclined to demand clear explanations on pricing.) M-PESA is still used primarily as a mobile money transfer service, but an increasing number of Kenyans set money aside in their stored value accounts for savings as well. Banks are quick to point out that these savings are not guaranteed and, without a banking license, M-PESA cannot award interest. For the present, however, many M-PESA customers find formal banking services too inaccessible or expensive, and the advantages of saving, transferring money, and, in some cases, paying by phone are clearly preferable. So, M-PESA is helping to further financial inclusion, but it is also creating what one expert calls “low-equilibrium financial inclusion…poor quality, high cost, and potentially high risk inclusion”.