The Innovate, Implement, Impact (i3) Program makes use of technology for meaningful financial inclusion. Under this program, MSC works with implementation partners in both Bangladesh and Vietnam to optimize the design and delivery of products and services to meet the needs of low- and middle-income (LMI) clients.
MSC also works with FinTechs like technology-based start-ups, Mobile Financial Services (MFS) providers, and IT solution or platform providers. We facilitate partnerships with Financial Service Providers (FSPs), such as banks, microfinance institutions (MFIs), and cooperatives to enable large-scale outreach and provide the critical last-mile access.
The i3 Program will make a direct difference to at least 400,000 under-served LMI clients over a period of three years in both markets. It will improve the financial health by LMIs in two ways: by enabling access to formal financial services for new customers, or through deepening usage and extending a border range of services to existing customers. In addition, we expect that around five times more people will derive indirect benefits because of ripple effects from the interventions in these markets.
The i3 program impacted more than 21.5 million people from the LMI segment across Bangladesh and Vietnam.
Supported by MetLife Foundation, the program is also active in China and Malaysia. For more details visit the i3 Program website.
MSC was commissioned by Opportunity International to build the capacity of implementation of its partners in Africa to measure, analyze, and report social data.
We provided technical support to seven out of 10 OI partners in Ghana, Uganda, Malawi, Rwanda, Mozambique, and the DRC. Over two years, we helped them implement the SPM strategy of Opportunity International.
We customized the OI for African MFIs and developed a plan to adopt best practices in SPM as captured in the “social performance dashboard”. The dashboard drew heavily from the Universal Standards for Social Performance Management (USSPM). We built the capacity of the implementing partners of OI to collect, analyze, report, and use social data to make decisions and report results to the external stakeholders. We also supported other partners who did not officially participate in the program but worked towards best practices in SPM. Finally, we documented the project’s learnings with recommendations for the future.
Opportunity International Network commissioned the project.
The Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP), launched by NITI Aayog in 2018, is India’s first public-private digital aggregator platform dedicated to advancing women’s entrepreneurship. Designed as a holistic ecosystem enabler, WEP addresses six core needs of women entrepreneurs—training, finance, market access, business development, mentorship, networking, and compliance.
Since 2022, MSC has been a key technical and strategic partner to WEP. In 2024, we were appointed as the Project Management Unit (PMU), responsible for overall program management, stakeholder coordination, evidence generation, and design of flagship initiatives. We also lead strategic planning across WEP’s five core pillars: capital, markets and networks, digital, outreach, and data and platforms.
Led by MSC, WEP has created the following impacts.
- Government collaboration: Onboarded five central ministries to WEP’s Steering Committee. Designed and implemented national programs with MoMSME (Yashasvini) that led to the formalization of 934,000+ women-owned enterprises, and with the Ministry of Skill Development (Swavalambini), to nurture future entrepreneurs among female students.
- Financing Women Collaborative (FWC): Co-chaired by MSC and WEP, FWC brought together 15 financial institutions. It assisted the disbursement of USD 12.62 million in loans to women and delivered financial literacy training to 32,428+ women. It also provided technical assistance to FIs in designing gender-intelligent loan products.
- Policy advocacy: MSC and WEP’s joint submission with TU CIBIL led to the RBI’s 2024 circular mandating SHG member-level credit reporting, which has the potential to impact over 100 million women across 9 million SHGs by enabling the creation of individual credit histories.
- Evidence generation: MSC led multiple data-driven reports, including:
- State-level impact: WEP deepened regional presence through state chapters in Telangana, Goa, Mizoram, Odisha, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, using local ecosystems to support women entrepreneurs.
- Enterprise acceleration: MSC anchored multiple Award to Reward (ATR) programs, including WEP Unnati, an accelerator for 15 women greenpreneurs across diverse sectors such as sustainable fashion, agro-waste, eco-tourism, and renewable energy.
- Digital Public Good (DPG) for Women: WEP evolved into a DPG offering scalable digital support assets like:
- ASK WEP – A peer-mentorship and real-time helpdesk
- WEP Cares – A wellness-focused initiative providing access to mental health experts
- Alternative credit scoring: With MSC’s technical assistance, MAVIM, a state-level women’s institution serving 1.8 million SHG members, created an alternative credit score and the expansion of enterprise financing.
The Gates Foundation commissioned the project.
MSC supported Proximity Designs to transform Proximity Finance (PF), its microfinance program, into an independent, full-service financial institution. MSC guided PF through a comprehensive legal and institutional transformation and enabled its evolution from a credit-focused program into a regulated entity offering a broader suite of financial services, which includes savings and deposit products.
MSC led the development of a detailed transformation roadmap, which covered legal, institutional, and strategic dimensions. Our team conducted a regulatory review and provided expert guidance on key elements of the transformation process, including:
- The legal transformation (legal constitution and institutional form, ownership and shareholding structure, corporate governance, organizational structure, institutional development, and transformation)
- The strategic plan, which included the mission, vision, and competitive strategy
- Products and services
- Commercial or marketing strategy
- HR management
- Processes and systems
- Internal audit
- Risk management
- Accounting and financial management
- IT and MIS
- Funding strategy
IFC commissioned the project.
Faulu Microfinance Bank, a market leader, is one of the fastest-growing microfinance institutions in Kenya, with 43 banking branches and 21 marketing offices. The bank upgraded its core banking system to drive the efficiency and growth of the bank’s assets and liabilities. The bank contracted MSC to help with its transformation and drive effective and efficient credit and deposits.
MSC provided technical assistance to reengineer the credit and operations processes, conduct client segmentation, and develop a credit scoring model and strategy to drive deposits through the current and savings accounts. Faulu implemented these improvements. As a result, Faulu refined and enhanced its credit, operations, and finance processes. It now provides a better customer experience through improved processes and efficiency.
The key results from the intervention included a 28% reduction in costs, 2X efficiency, a 50% reduction in turnaround time, diversified liability sources, and helped future-proof the organization.
Faulu Microfinance Bank commissioned the project.
The Cordaid-Rabobank Foundation-MSC Indonesia microfinance development program supported a selected group of 15 microfinance institutions (MFIs) spread across Java and Bali islands in Indonesia.
MSC subsequently provided assistance to strengthen the MFIs’ operations through strategic business planning, market research, product development, testing and rollout, process re-engineering, risk management, and a variety of other key interventions. MSC also trained local consultants so that they could provide quality services in a sustainable manner to the partners and to other financial institutions.
In a subsequent phase of the project, MSC strengthened the effectiveness of microfinance institutions in augmenting the livelihoods of the low-income segment, served by the partner cooperatives. Across the two phases, over 345,341 micro-entrepreneurs, including 30,000 smallholder farmers, benefited from accessing enhanced financial services.
