February 6, 2012
January 31, 2012
January 9, 2012
January 6, 2012
June 29, 2010
Educating clients about microinsurance: More complicated than you might think
Most players in the microinsurance sector would agree that to increase the outreach of microinsurance products, more education is needed. But, this is where the agreement ends. Discussions around content, delivery, funding and measurement of insurance education raise more questions than answers. What is insurance education, and how should we define it? How is it different from product marketing? What are the most effective delivery channels? Who should pay for education? How do we measure its impact?
Themes:
Insurance
June 25, 2010
What’s new in microsavings and microinsurance – from the latest edition of the Economics of Microfinance
No book on The Economics of Microfinance would be complete without a discussion of savings and insurance. Since the first edition was published in 2005 (MIT Press), the development of microsavings and microinsurance for the poor has been charging ahead full tilt. With the new edition, then, comes new material.
Themes:
Behavioral Economics
June 22, 2010
Reserve Bank of India: Promoting technology to increase financial access
Last week, the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Dr. Duvvuri Subbaraothe, gave a pro-financial inclusion, pro-technology speech that suggested a future of opportunity for India’s unbanked. The Governor stressed the importance of financial inclusion as a “necessary” condition for economic growth, and its viability as a business proposition.
June 17, 2010
CFI Event: Microfinance and including people with disabilities
As much as 12 percent of the world’s population lives with a disability. And 80 percent of these – 520 million people – are from developing countries. The World Bank estimates that countries forgo 5-7 percent of their GDP when people with disabilities are left out of the economy.
June 17, 2010
New edition of The Economics of Microfinance: Commercialization comes into its own
If you want to push buttons in the microfinance industry, just bring up the topic of commercialization. And if you really want to stir the pot, try mentioning the Banco Compartamos IPO. It's hard to believe that such a central and controversial topic is new enough that it didn't have its own chapter in the first edition of The Economics of Microfinance (MIT Press) when it came out in 2005. But it sure does now.
Themes:
Big Picture
June 16, 2010
M-PESA: The Economist looks at the nuts and bolts
This week, The Economist turns its attention to the secret of M-PESA's mobile money success. As David Roodman, FAI's Jonathan Morduch and others recently observed on a Gates-Foundation sponsored visit to Kenya, when it comes to mobile banking, an awful lot of on-the-ground physical activity goes into enabling the technology side of mobile banking.
Themes:
Technology Adoption
June 10, 2010
Virtual Conference Day Two: Designing financial services, interest rates and market research, part 2
*On June 8th and 9th, 2010, MicroSave and FAI sponsored a virtual conference – Reimagining Microfinance around the World: Implementing Lessons from Portfolios of the Poor – to share findings from yearlong financial diaries kept by villagers and slum dwellers in Bangladesh, India, and South Africa.
Themes:
Interest Rates
June 10, 2010
Virtual Conference Day Two: Designing financial services, interest rates and market research, part 3
*On June 8th and 9th, 2010, MicroSave and FAI sponsored a virtual conference – Reimagining Microfinance around the World: Implementing Lessons from Portfolios of the Poor – to share findings from yearlong financial diaries kept by villagers and slum dwellers in Bangladesh, India, and South Africa.
Themes:
Interest Rates
June 9, 2010
Virtual Conference Day Two: Designing financial services, interest rates and market research, part 1
*On June 8th and 9th, 2010, MicroSave and FAI sponsored a virtual conference – Reimagining Microfinance around the World: Implementing Lessons from Portfolios of the Poor – to share findings from yearlong financial diaries kept by villagers and slum dwellers in Bangladesh, India, and South Africa.
Themes:
Interest Rates
June 8, 2010
Virtual Conference Day One: Innovations, financial behaviors and methodology, part 3
*On June 8th and 9th, 2010, MicroSave and FAI sponsored a virtual conference – Reimagining Microfinance around the World: Implementing Lessons from Portfolios of the Poor – to share findings from yearlong financial diaries kept by villagers and slum dwellers in Bangladesh, India, and South Africa.
June 8, 2010
Virtual Conference Day One: Managing money, drivers of behavior and the role of MFIs, part 1
*On June 8th and 9th, 2010, MicroSave and FAI sponsored a virtual conference – Reimagining Microfinance around the World: Implementing Lessons from Portfolios of the Poor – to share findings from yearlong financial diaries kept by villagers and slum dwellers in Bangladesh, India, and South Africa.
Session One Summary (June 8, 2010)
Themes:
Savings
June 8, 2010
Virtual Conference Day One: Managing money, drivers of behavior and the role of MFIs, part 2
*On June 8th and 9th, 2010, MicroSave and FAI sponsored a virtual conference – Reimagining Microfinance around the World: Implementing Lessons from Portfolios of the Poor – to share findings from yearlong financial diaries kept by villagers and slum dwellers in Bangladesh, India, and South Africa.
Session Two Summary (8th June, 2010)
June 4, 2010
The Economics of Microfinance: New edition, new chapter on impact
As the saying goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Since The Economics of Microfinance (MIT Press) was published in 2005, microfinance has evolved significantly. But one thing that hasn’t changed (yet) is the tension between maximizing social impact and building strong financial institutions to serve the poor.
Themes:
Research Methodology
June 3, 2010
Dealing with risk and research methodologies: More virtual conference backgrounders available
*On June 8th and 9th, 2010, MicroSave and FAI are sponsoring a virtual conference – Reimagining Microfinance around the World: Implementing Lessons from Portfolios of the Poor – to share findings from yearlong financial diaries kept by villagers and slum dwellers in Bangladesh, India, and South Africa.
Themes:
Research Methodology
June 3, 2010
New ways to strengthen old ways: M-PESA and informal finance
*This post is part of a “before and after” series on a recent Gates Foundation-sponsored visit to Kenya to observe the development of mobile banking at M-PESA. In addition to our own Jonathan Morduch, Stuart Rutherford is another expert who took part in this visit – we’re pleased to have him share his reactions in this guest post.
Themes:
Technology Adoption