MSC supported Bina Artha Ventura (BAV) in Indonesia to develop, pilot test, and expand outreach and portfolio of individual loan products for the MSME segment and housing microfinance. MSC helped BAV expand within the microenterprise sector. We did this through the individual or joint liability group (JLG) loan products and business premise improvement loans in the housing microfinance or business improvement segment. MSC assessed the demand-supply gap, conducted market research, and designed the operation processes. We also designed the pilot-test procedures, projections for the pilot, controls, protocols, and monitoring framework.

The pilot for both products started in three branches in May 2014. With MSC’s support, BAV disbursed 74 loans worth USD 52,000 in three pilot branches within three months in 2014. It intended to reach ten branches by the year’s end. Bina Artha scaled the MSME product and gained more than 26,000 clients.

IFC commissioned this project.

Voices of India’s MSME is a research initiative that deep-dives into the lives of informal enterprise. The research surveyed more than 10,000 informal enterprises and covered 50 diarists. MSC’s research draws authentic, accurate, and practical data-driven insights to inform policymakers and industry stakeholders.

Led by MSC, this research would help bridge the data gaps on key aspects, such as access to finance, digitalization, formalization, business management, and knowledge and skills requirements, that concern informal enterprises.

The study was commissioned by Omidyar Network.

Opportunity Bank Uganda Limited (OBUL) and Urwego Opportunity Bank (UOB) in Africa struggled to understand the financing needs of microenterprises in Uganda and MSMEs in Rwanda. MSC helped the banks develop a financing product targeted at MSMEs. MSC conducted the market segmentation, designed the survey tool, and implemented it. MSC also formulated a credit-scoring model for the banks.

MSC’s recommendations helped reduce OBUL’s non-performing loans from 29% in 2013 to 3.7% in 2016. In December 2016, SME loans formed 26% of OBUL’s USD 4.95 million portfolio with 1,637 SME loan clients. UOB financed 550 enterprises with a portfolio of USD 1.66 million and maintained a high portfolio quality of less than 3% of non-performing loans at the end of the pilot.

This project reduced the turnaround time of individual loans to MSMEs from two months to eight days, and the average loan disbursed increased to USD 5,500.

MSC created digital marketing strategies for multiple startups, such as Xtracap, myPaisaa, and Chhotastock, among others. We reviewed their current marketing practice, evaluated competition, interviewed current and prospective customers. These strategies were designed to promote the respective brands, strengthen relationships with the current customers, create a pipeline of potential customers, and meet other business needs.

The insights gathered through these deep dives fed into the omnichannel marketing strategy that was designed for short-term and long-term business goals.

The startups have implemented MSC’s recommendations.

MSC supported Opportunity International to develop a toolkit for microfinance institutions to establish climate-resilient portfolios and services. We engaged in inception meetings, contextual analysis, and an institutional assessment with Urwego Opportunity Bank in Rwanda. MSC’s ongoing work involves the development of the toolkit’s content, incorporation of inputs from ecosystem partners and customer research conducted by Glasgow Caledonian University and the University of Rwanda.

The project would improve microfinance institutions’ ability to navigate and respond to climate-related challenges, and ensure long-term resilience of their operations and services.

MSC undertook this project to support Opportunity International’s larger climate resilience efforts and contribute to the creation of sustainable and climate-resilient financial services.

OJK, the Financial Services Authority in Indonesia, supervises more than 2,500 financial institutions. It observed an increase in consumer complaints due to the simultaneous growth in digital financial services. MSC supported OJK to implement consumer support technology initiatives. MSC helped OJK conduct stakeholder consultations, develop the Regtech and Suptech vision document, provide research findings on rising consumer complaints, design terms of reference for consumer support technology, implement a cloud-based sentiment analysis platform and an on-premise chatbot system, and develop publications to disseminate project insights to external and internal stakeholders.

MSC’s work has contributed to the development of a sentiment analysis solution to monitor social media activity around financial services. It also developed an automated chatbot for the OJK website for consumer education and inquiries or complaints.

These tools help OJK make informed decisions, better protect consumers, and handle complaints and inquiries more efficiently.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation commissioned this project.