Tag: Microfinance

MSC has developed a series of conversational comic books for microfinance institutions to create awareness, influence precautionary behavior, and drive safety of the weak and the vulnerable during COVID-19. These comics have been customized for different geographies. You can access the country specific versions below.

MSC developed a series of conversational comic books for microfinance institutions (MFIs) to inform their frontline staff members on safety measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. These comics have been customized for different geographies. You can access the country specific versions below.

This blog is Dan Brockington’s highlights on how the branch performance in BRAC-Tanzania varies considerably and seemed to reflect the influence of strong or weak area managers. He notes that this diversity of performance within microfinance organizations matters—it has been neglected and this could cause problems later.

We explore the importance of digitization for MFIs and the impact of microfinance in empowering women in Bangladesh through our concept of “Financial Services Space”.

In the words of NABARD, “internal savings mobilized by its members is the core of the SHG”. Banks size their loans to SHGs as a multiple of the savings accumulated. Strangely though, it is not routine for banks to verify SHG balance sheets before lending. Few SHGs try to balance their books, and even fewer have provisions for audits. In the SHG-bank linkage model, the size of bank loans is determined by the size of the SHG corpus, more than by any other single factor. As a result, SHGs face very strong systemic incentives to neglect errors that overstate their collective savings or understate losses.

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.