The financial crisis has underscored the importance of deposits as a source of funding for financial institutions. Though banks traditionally have been skeptical of the stability of low-income accounts, a new CGAP-commissioned study found that, on the whole, poor people’s deposits aren’t really prone to abrupt monthly swings.

It has become clear that microfinance institutions are not immune to the financial crisis. Local headlines in India declare: “Banks take a hard look at lending to microfinance firms” because they fear that funding is drying up. In this context, we asked CGAP CEO Elizabeth Littlefield how MFIs are handling this crisis.

Technology is consistently cited as one of the greatest challenges faced by MFIs.
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