Microfinance Consensus Guidelines: Developing Deposit Services for the Poor

February, 2005     CGAP

These guidelines embody the working consensus of CGAP donor members on how donors can support deposit services in microfinance. The paper examines what the poor seek from savings and other deposit services, and analyzes the potential of different financial institutions to offer these services. It reviews the financial and institutional capacity requirements needed, such as operating environments, costs and pricing, market orientation, and the depth of outreach of a deposit services provider are examined. The objective is twofold: (1) to provide relatively secure deposit services that meet the demand of large numbers of poor; and (2) to improve the sustainability of institutions that provide credit services to the poor.