Microfinance reality check

The Wall St. Journal recently published an important article on microfinance (http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2015/03/18/calls-grow-for-a-new-microloans-model/). The article wasn’t important because what it said was news. The industry has known for years that very few well-designed studies have been able to detect a measurable impact from microfinance on poverty. No, what was important about the article was that if…

Cashflow lending: Towards more appropriate micro-enterprise loan products

There are two basic microfinance loan products – group loan and individual loan. Group loan scheme is used for very poor clients for them to have a support group, which also functions as the pressure group for defaulters, and to develop financial discipline necessary for a sustained financial access. Individual loan scheme most often is…