The following chapter is from Microfinance for Bankers and Investors. Written in a non-academic, direct style, it is enhanced with detailed case studies that showcase innovative and entrepreneurial ventures into microfinance by some of the world's best-known corporations such as Citibank, Visa Inc. and Wal-Mart. The company-cases help bring microfinance to life, recounting the motivations that led these companies into inclusive finance, the opportunities, and the obstacles they saw and the results they have experienced so far.
What promise did Sequoia Capital recognize in SKS microfinance (India) that it had also seen in Apple, Oracle, and Google? Why would Vodafone help distribute money via cell phones for millions of Kenyans? How did a Mexican retailer create a financial-services empire, Banco Azteca, that would serve eight million borrowers in five years? From its origins as a nonprofit poverty alleviation strategy, microfinance has become a viable business model for providing financial services to the poor in ways that allow for both social responsibility and profit, even in the midst of economic turmoil. Longtime microfinance expert Elisabeth Rhyne and her team guide readers through the landscape of financial-inclusion opportunities, providing lessons from companies around the world that are leading the way in earning profits while addressing global poverty. Microfinance for Bankers and Investors reveals: Changes in the market allowing for increased private investment in microfinance New technologies and delivery channels that reduce costs for small transactions Proven ways to overcome the unique challenges of serving customers at the bottom of the pyramid Innovative products for grassroots finance, such as mobile phone banking and microinsurance The extraordinary social value and business sustainability of microfinance Microfinance for Bankers and Investors breaks new ground by showing how microfinance attracts top organizations to engage in double and triple bottom-line business activities. With deep insight and clear vision, it examines the unique opportunities and challenges of providing financial services for low-income people. Inclusive finance gives companies the prospect of aligning social values with long-term business strategies. Microfinance for Bankers and Investors offers the facts and insights you need to enter this fast-growing market with confidence.
"This book offers investors an in-depth guide to understanding the microfinance investment value chain and its benefits. It aims to increase the awareness of this growing asset class among traditional investors by providing a detailed review of the current state of the industry. The book focuses on the two key intermediaries linking investors and small enterprises: financial institutions and investment funds, covering their respective markets, models, risks, performance and impact. By describing their dynamics, strengths and weaknesses, it helps the investor to better grasp the elements of choice when deciding to add microfinance in his portfolio."--Preface.
The following chapter is from Microfinance for Bankers and Investors. Written in a non-academic, direct style, it is enhanced with detailed case studies that showcase innovative and entrepreneurial ventures into microfinance by some of the world's best-known corporations such as Citibank, Visa Inc. and Wal-Mart. The company-cases help bring microfinance to life, recounting the motivations that led these companies into inclusive finance, the opportunities, and the obstacles they saw and the results they have experienced so far.
The purpose of the 'Microfinance Handbook' is to bring together in a single source guiding principles and tools that will promote sustainable microfinance and create viable institutions.
With the global economy still in recovery, it is more important than ever for individuals and organizations to be aware of their money and its potential for both depreciation and growth. Banking, Finance, and Accounting: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications investigates recent advances and undertakings in the financial industry to better equip all members of the world economy with the tools and insights needed to weather any shift in the economic climate. With chapters on topics ranging from investment portfolios to credit unions, this multi-volume reference source will serve as a crucial resource for managers, investors, brokers, and all others within the banking industry.
A major source of financing for the poor and no longer a niche industry Over the past four decades, microfinance—the provision of loans, savings, and insurance to small businesses and entrepreneurs shut out of traditional capital markets—has grown from a niche service in Bangladesh and a few other countries to a significant global source of financing. Some 200 million people globally now receive support from microfinance institutions, with most of the recipients in the developing world. In the beginning, much of the microfinance industry was managed by non-governmental organizations, but today the majority of these institutions are commercial and regulated by governments, and they provide safe places for the poor to save, as well as offering much-needed capital and other financial services. Now out of infancy, the microfinance industry faces major challenges, including its ability to deal with mobile banking and other technology and concerns that some markets are now over-saturated with microfinance. How the industry deals with these and other challenges will determine whether it will continue to grow or will be subsumed within the larger global financial sector. This book is based on the results of a workshop at Lehigh University among thirty-four leaders in the industry. The editors, working with contributions from more than a dozen leading authorities in the field, tell the important story of how microfinance developed, how it has met the needs of hundreds of millions of people, and they address key questions about how it can continue to meet those needs in the future.
In response to a clear need by low-income people to gain access to the full range of financial services including savings, a growing number of microfinance NGOs are seeking guidelines to transform from credit-focused microfinance organizations to regulated deposit-taking financial intermediaries. In response to this trend, this book presents a practical 'how-to' manual for MFIs to develop the capacity to become licensed and regulated to mobilize deposits from the public. 'Transforming Microfinance Institutions' provides guidelines for regulators to license and regulate microfinance providers, and for transforming MFIs to meet the demands of two major new stakeholders regulators and shareholders. As such, it focuses on developing the capacity of NGO MFIs to mobilize and intermediate voluntary savings. Drawing from worldwide experience, it outlines how to manage the transformation process and address major strategic and operational issues inherent in transformation including competitive positioning, business planning, accessing capital and shareholders, and how to 'transform' the MFI's human resources, financial management, MIS, internal controls, and branch operations. Case studies then provide examples of developing a new regulatory tier for microfinance, and how a Ugandan NGO transformed to become a licensed financial intermediary. This book will be invaluable to regulators and microfinance NGOs contemplating institutional transformation and will be of tremendous use to donors and technical support agencies supporting MFIs in their transformation.
