Microfinance

Microfinance is more than credit. However, most microfinance institutions nowadays offer only credit, and other financial products (savings, money transfers, insurances, leasing) remain the forgotten half of microfinance. A little progress has been made around the world to establish microfinance institutions as full-service financial intermediaries, while, for example, savings mobilisation from the public reduces the overall funding costs of a microfinance institution and increase its profitability. This also provides the microfinance institution with an attractive, stable source of funds, reduced dependence on external financing, increased coverage of clients, retention of existing clients and expansion of their social mission.

We help microfinance institutions to:

• transform to a regulated status, obtain a deposit-taking license and go through organizational change
• expand services beyond credit offering by introducing savings products, money transfers, insurances and leasing services
• strengthen non-credit operations and develop strategies and tactics to improve deposit mobilisation
• build and strengthen micro credit operations
• introduce individual lending at group-lending microfinance institutions
• move “upstream” to enter the small and medium enterprises (SME) market (upscaling of microfinance institutions)
• engage into microfinance lending by moving “downstream” (downscaling of banks).