This note discusses about savings as an important and effective strategy for poor households to avoid potential loss of economic status or independence as a result of a crisis. It also provides a corollary to the theorem “poor cannot save” through various demonstrations in the country; the most successful among these is the SHG Bank linkage. It highlights the legal constraints of the present MFIs in accessing savings services from the clients, and efforts by the regulators in India in this direction such as introduction of Banking Correspondents. The note concludes by highlighting advantages which all – banking institutions, microfinance clients and MFIs would gain due to recommended collaboration between Banking Correspondents and MFIs.
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Managing Growth of Microfinance Institutions: ASA Bangladesh – Single-minded growth
This paper is a part of a series of studies undertaken to review the difficulties faced by rapidly-growing MFIs and to examine how they were addressed. It is hoped that this will provide nascent MFIs with a rich understanding of the sort of problems they are likely to face and the range of solutions they might try.
ASA’s growth has taken place over the period during when microcredit service was being rolled out by an increasing number of MFIs to most of the villages and slums of Bangladesh. Besides Grameen and BRAC, no other organisation has ridden the tide of Bangladeshi microcredit as successfully as ASA. This paper describes some of the ingredients of that success – highlighting the key issues faced and strategies adopted by ASA. The paper starts with a statistical review of ASA’s growth and ends with some commentary on what the future may hold.
Understanding and responding to the savings behaviour of the low income people in the North East region of India
The paper analyses the savings pattern in North-East India to understand their specific needs and design products and services that suit their needs.
Savings and Internal Lending Communities (SILC) in Uganda
Savings and Internal Lending Communities (SILC) is a savings led programme piloted by Catholic Relief Services (CRS) with the broad aim of supporting the poor to diversify their income generating activities. This is a report of the evaluation study of SILC in Uganda to assess its achievements, its challenges and from the lessons learned, make recommendations for expansion. It focuses on six thematic areas (human and spiritual, financial, physical, social, political and natural). This report shows that the program helped SILC group members to acquire skills in savings, credit, and record keeping besides building assets and increasing their incomes.
Savings and Internal Lending Communities (SILC) in Kenya
This is a report of the evaluation study of Savings and Internal Lending Communities (SILC) in Kenya to assess its achievements, its challenges and from the lessons learned, make recommendations for expansion. It focuses on six thematic areas (human and spiritual, financial, physical, social, political and natural). The review reveals that the programme is meeting its goal of providing financial services to the poor and vulnerable communities of Kilifi, Mombasa and Malindi. The report shows that there are positive effects of the programme on financial asset strengthening, and it has improved the financial asset base of SILC members. It further adds that SILC has enabled its members to build up small savings into useful lump sums with a secure means of savings and contributions into a social fund that offers security in case of immediate emergency needs e.g. school fees and hospital admissions.
SILC is a savings led programme piloted by Catholic Relief Services (CRS) with the broad aim of supporting the poor to diversify their income generating activities.
The Market Led Revolution of Equity Bank
Today Equity Bank is a remarkable institution. It has become the most highly capitalised bank in Kenya with total shareholders funds of more than $250 million as of March 2008, serving more than 2 million customers, through 76 branches and more than 350 ATMs. But in 1993, the Central Bank of Kenya confirmed that, as Equity Building Society, it was technically insolvent, had poor board supervision and inadequate management. This note outlines the success factors underlying this remarkable change.