Products

Andhra Pradesh 2010

December 7, 2010

The crisis that erupted in the Indian State of Andhra Pradesh in early October 2010 hit at the epicenter of microfinance in India and has implications there, across the country, and globally.

Is There a Business Case for Small Savers?

September 16, 2010

This study examines quantitatively whether or not small savers contribute to or undermine the sustainability of the MFI.

Poor People Using Mobile Financial Services

August 4, 2009

Insights into how poor people use M-PESA, its impact on their lives, and some unexpected consequences.

Stability of Small Balance Deposits

June 10, 2009

Small balance demand deposits from poor clients are viewed as a particularly volatile class of funding. This is one reason some MFIs are concerned about using deposits to fund their lending operations.

Are Deposits a Stable Source of Funding for Microfinance Institutions?

June 10, 2009

New research finds that under normal circumstances, aggregate balances for low-income accounts move gradually, and they are not prone to abrupt month-by-month swings.

Going Cashless at the Point of Sale

December 19, 2008

Storing and sending value electronically is something many people living in developed countries take for granted because making electronic transactions are part of everyday life.

Islamic Microfinance: An Emerging Market Niche

August 6, 2008

This Focus Note provides an overview of the current state of the Islamic microfinance sector and identifies possible challenges to its growth.

Country-Level Savings Assessment Tool

June 8, 2008

This Technical Guide explains the areas of analysis covered in a CLSA, the methodology used, and how the CLSA can be tailored to meet the needs of the commissioning agency.

Measuring the Social Performance of Microfinance Institutions

May 1, 2007

This Focus Note highlights the emerging emphasis on social performance in microfinance and reviews some of the assessment tools recently developed.

Guaranteed Loans to Microfinance Institutions

January 1, 2007

This Focus Note looks at recent experience with guarantees of commercial loans to microfinance institutions. This Focus Note finds that loan guarantees can enable MFIs to get loans that are otherwise unavailable. But the immediate benefits of guaranteed loans typically have been modest, and their cost has been high.

Competition and Microcredit Interest Rates

February 1, 2006

Does competition result in lower interest rates to microcredit customers? To address this question, this Focus Note analyzes the experiences of Uganda, Bangladesh, and Bolivia, home to some of the early regional and even global pioneers of microcredit.

Graduating the Poorest into Microfinance

February 1, 2006

This Focus Note discusses two basic models of linkages between MFIs and safety net programs.

Commercial Banks and Microfinance

June 1, 2005

This Focus Note highlights CGAP research about the different ways in which commercial banks have successfully entered the microfinance market.

Protecting Microfinance Borrowers

May 1, 2005

Strategically, enhanced consumer protection measures can be a more constructive alternative to new or lowered interest rate ceilings. This Focus Note discusses two approaches to enforcement of such measures -- voluntary codes and state regulation -- in the context of developing countries.

Managing Risks and Designing Products for Agricultural Microfinance

April 1, 2005

This Occasional Paper offers a model for providing financial services to poor, rural farming households that combines the most relevant and promising features of traditional microfinance, traditional agricultural finance, and other approaches.

Foreign Investment in Microfinance

January 1, 2004

The CGAP study summarized in this Focus Note reveals that governments and multilateral agencies have funded nearly 90 percent of the US$1.1 billion in total investment in microfinance through quasi-commercial debt, equity, and guarantees.

Exploring Client Preferences in Microfinance

September 1, 2000

This Focus Notes puts a spotlight on SafeSave, a small MFI that provides unusually flexible savings and credit services to poor slum dwellers in Dakha, Bangladesh.

Raising the Curtain on the "Microfinancial Services Era"

May 1, 2000

This Focus Note spotlights the new era of microfinancial services where having diverse financial products, including savings, insurance, and microcredit, is envisioned. Financial services to the poor need to evolve from earlier concentrations on agricultural loans and microloans to targeting women and their income-generating businesses.

Savings Mobilization Strategies

August 1, 1998

This Focus Note looks at four deposit-taking MFIs -- the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives in Thailand, Banca Caja Social in Colombia, Bank Rayat Indonesia, and the Rural Bank of Panabo in the Philippines.

Introducing Savings in Microcredit Institutions

April 1, 1997

This Focus Note summarizes a paper by Marguerite S. Robinson that looks at the ways microcredit institutions can mobilize voluntary savings from the public, potentially the largest and the most immediately available source of finance for some MFIs.