| | | November 2012
Banking With The Poor Network Headline News Congratulations to long-time friend of BWTP, Ruth Goodwin-Groen, recently appointed as Managing Director of a new organisation - Better than Cash. The initiative was founded by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Citi , Ford Foundation, Omidyar Network, UNCDF, USAID, and Visa Inc. to empower people and grow emerging economies by supporting the shift from cash to electronic payments. Read more.
Grameen Guidelines now available!
The Grameen Foundation is pleased to introduce Grameen Guidelines (Guidelines for Establishing and Operating Grameen-Style Microcredit Programs), the first comprehensive guide about the Grameen Bank methodology. This comprehensive how-to guide covers all aspects of microfinance, from philosophy to strategy and implementation, clearly showing the reader how to create or expand a Grameen-style microfinance program.
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| Microfinance Industry News
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Regulation Spurs Innovation In The Philippines
Mindful of their responsibility to maintain the safety and soundness of the financial system, and to prevent exploitation of customers, the Philippines central bank has worked to develop appropriate regulations that conform to the principles espoused by international standards. At the same time, the central bank creates space for the private sector to develop new products that cater to the requirements of the poor.
How do the Poor Handle Money? What do the Financial Diaries of Char Dwellers tell us about Financial Inclusion?
A recent paper from the Crawford School of Public Policy illustrates the complex, diverse and ingenious ways that the poor manage money on the river islands of lower Bengal. The paper demonstrates that the poor live in a diverse economy where community spirit, family assistance and trust play roles equally important to markets. In doing so, it puts forth a grounded-in-the-field, evidence-based, critique of the slogan 'financial inclusion' that has gained prominence in recent years.
Microfinance in Evolution: An Industry Between Crisis and Advancement
This paper examines past trends and structural developments in the microfinance market in order to understand how problems in microfinance evolved. It relates the widespread decrease in MFI performance to market growth, change in client base, and lending methodology. It concludes by discussing how a focus on client needs can help reconcile financial and social objectives.
Expanding the Ecosystem of Mobile Money: Considerations for Interoperability
This note examines interoperability in mobile money services and outlines opportunities for better-connected mobile money platforms. It defines interoperability in broad terms as the interconnection of mobile money services with external parties with the aim to create value for customers and commercial players. The note serves to promote discussion within the industry about how to evaluate and realize opportunities for interoperability.
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CGAP and the Working Group on Inclusive Finance in China have recently published “Financial Inclusion in the People’s Republic of China.” The report finds that policies introduced since 2005 have greatly increased financial access. By the end of 2010, banks had issued over 2.4 billion bank cards and the Postal Savings Bank of China was reaching 475 million people, a third of the population. These policies have also led to an increase in the diversity of the banking sector as a whole as well as more variety of appropriate, commercially viable loan products. For example, by the end of 2010, 109 commercial banks had set up dedicated Small Business Units. While policies have had a positive impact, the report concludes that there is considerable room to increase sustainable financial services, particularly to the rural poor and to SMEs. A Guide to Regulation and Supervision of Microfinance
In contrast to the situation a decade ago, most policy makers, donors, and private investors involved in microfinance now appreciate that poor and low-income people, like the rest of us, need a variety of basic financial services, not just credit. The ability of the market to respond to this demand depends not only on providers developing sustainable, low-cost ways to provide such services, but also on having an enabling policy and regulatory environment. Appropriate regulation and supervision of financial service providers is therefore critically important in bringing to poor and low-income people the financial services they need. This Guide updates CGAP’s 2003 Guiding Principles on Regulation and Supervision of Microfinance.Other CGAP publications can be found at: www.cgap.org
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| | Chamroeun Microfinance Limited Cambodia
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MEMBER SPOTLIGHTSeed Finance Corporation
SEEDFINANCE is a financing company established to continue the work of CARE and SEAD, Inc. (Sustainable Economic Activity Development, Inc. in the Philippines). SEEDFINANCE aims primarily to bring the benefits of microfinance to micro-enterprises, self-employed workers, family-based and community-based food production and other livelihood activities through partnership with financial institutions such as cooperatives, rural banks, microfinance nongovernment organizations (MFI-NGOs), and peoples’ organizations.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
Citi-FT Financial Education Summit: Financial Capability as a 21st Century Life Skill
5-6 December 2012, Manila, Philippines
Now in its ninth year, the Citi-FT Financial Education Summit, organised by the Citi Foundation, the Pearson Foundation and the Financial Times, has become the leading annual global forum on financial capability. Join more than 250 representatives of non-profit organisations, financial institutions, government agencies/regulators, multilateral institutions, microfinance institutions, consumer advocacy groups, educational organisations and private business – from the Philippines, Asia Pacific and beyond – for this milestone event. Child and Youth Finance - Regional Meeting for Asia-Pacific
December 4, 2012, Manila, Philippines
The first Child & Youth Finance Regional Meeting for Asia & the Pacific will be held in Manila on December 4, 2012 ahead of the CITI-FT Financial Education Summit. The regional meeting will bring together leading experts, practitioners and innovators from within the region who are engaged in the issues of financial access and financial education for children and youth. The regional meeting is a great opportunity to strengthen ties between CYFI network partners and coordinate activities across the region. Meeting participants will include senior representatives from governments, financial regulators, children’s rights organizations, multilateral agencies, education practitioners, financial service providers, academics, media personalities and other leaders in their fields. International Conference on the Development and Delivery of Financial Education to Rural Microfinance Clients
December 7-8, 2012, Manila, Philippines Since 2010, Planet Finance and its partners the Microfinance Council of the Philippines, the Cambodia Microfinance Association, and the Vietnam Microfinance Working Group have supported the delivery of financial services and financial education to farming households through 18 microfinance institutions (MFIs) under a grant from the European Union and Agence Française de Développement. The MFIs have trained more than 15,000 clients. In this conference, representatives of all 18 MFIs will exchange views on the process of developing and delivering the training, and clients from all three countries will discuss what it was like to receive the training and what impact it had. Islamic Microfinance Summit
29 Jan – 30 Jan 2013, Istanbul, Turkey
Millions of unbanked clients across the Muslim world are missing out on access to financial services, so it is the time to coordinate regulatory policy, challenge existing methodologies and create effective funding models that will allow investor access to this market. In order to address the above said issues, Islamic Microfinance Summit 2013 is planning to bring together MFIs, investors, policy makers and Sharia specialists. |
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