I. THE FINANCIAL DIARIES APPROACH: Stuart Rutherford on Portfolios of the Poor—Part 1 of 4
Co-author and SafeSave Bangladesh founder, Stuart Rutherford, begins this four-part interview series with with a critical, though often overlooked, factor in the design of quality financial products for the poor: the integration of client satisfaction. Rutherford provides valuable commentary on why it is so important—for customers and banks—to consider the needs, resources, and constraints of customers, and discusses how lessons revealed in Portfolios of the Poor can help MFIs narrow the gap between the financial products they offer and what clients need. He walks us through the evolution of Portfolios of the Poor research, his own involvement in the project, and the financial diaries methodology.

II. KEY LESSONS & SURPRISING FINDINGS FROM PORTFOLIOS OF THE POOR: Stuart Rutherford on Portfolios—Part 2 of 4
Co-author Stuart Rutherford identifies the key lessons from Portfolios of the Poor and highlights misconceptions about the financial practices of poor households that its research helped to correct. Rutherford also answers questions about the diverse and complex saving methods employed by Portfolio diarists.

III. IDENTIFYING AND MEETING THE FINANCIAL NEEDS OF THE POOR: Stuart Rutherford on Portfolios—Part 3 of 4
Stuart Rutherford outlines the three major challenges Portfolios of the Poor authors continually observed among diarists: 1) extreme poverty is not only about being very poor, but about managing daily expenses with unpredictable earnings and unreliable jobs: 2) the hardships of limited earnings are compounded by emergencies to which the poor are so vulnerable, forcing already-poor households to patch together an adequate level of cash; and 3) low wages and frequent emergencies prevent households from assembling usefully large sums for bigger expenses, such as housing, marriages, and education, etc. Rutherford then delves into the types of products poor households need to accommodate their financial position and maximize their resources.

IV. MFIs THAT OFFER FINANCIAL PRODUCTS BETTER-SUITED FOR POOR HOUSEHOLDS: Stuart Rutherford on Portfolios—Part 4 of 4
Stuart Rutherford dedicates the final portion of his video series to a discussion of three MFIs that have redesigned their products to more adequately meet the three fundamental challenges poor households face. Grameen-2, SafeSave, which Rutherford founded, and BURO Bangladesh are cited as examples of MFIs that have revolutionized their models to fit the needs of poor households. Rutherford also comments on the potential of e-banking and m-banking for microfinance industry.