Growing Incomes – A Potential Catalyst for the Next Wave of Financial Inclusion

June 18, 2013 in Center for Financial Inclusion, Financial Inclusion, Financial Inclusion 2020, Mapping the Invisible Market, Resources | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

> Posted by Amit Jain, Principal, Global Thought Leadership, MasterCard Advisors

The Financial Inclusion 2020 project at the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion is building a movement toward full financial inclusion by 2020. Accordingly, this blog series will spotlight financial inclusion efforts around the globe, share insights coming out of the creation of a roadmap to full financial inclusion, and highlight findings from research on the “invisible market.”

As an avid advocate of financial inclusion, I am deeply saddened by the fact that several hundred years after the first bank opened, 50 percent of the global adult population still lacks access to formal financial services.

The good news is that this may not be the case any longer. So I eagerly read the recent paper from Elisabeth Rhyne and Sonja Kelly from the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion that talks about how growing incomes could lead to growing inclusion. I am glad that the authors have brought this phenomenon to the forefront.

I agree that rising incomes could be a key catalyst for elevating financial inclusion globally. I have experienced firsthand the tectonic shift in the income profiles and demand for financial services in India reflected in data from the United Nations Statistics Division. It shows that the percent of the population below the poverty line in India has dropped from 45 percent in 1994 to less than 30 percent in 2010. Read the rest of this entry »

Financial Engineering for Low-Income Households

June 17, 2013 in Center for Financial Inclusion, Client Focus, Financial Inclusion, Microfinance, Resources | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

> Posted by Bindu Ananth and Amit Shah, President of IFMR Trust and Head of Business Intelligence at IFMR Rural Finance

Bindu and Amit co-edited the recently published book Financial Engineering for Low-Income Households. An edited compilation of articles, the book focuses on using financial engineering to design financial services for low-income households. A Q&A with Bindu and Amit follows. 

For someone unfamiliar with the field, how would you describe financial engineering, and to what extent do you see financial engineering being applied by retail providers serving low-income households today?

In the Foreword to the book, Dr. Nachiket Mor, a mentor to us at IFMR Trust, observes that the retail finance industry the world over has gone in the direction of standardized products and transferring the burden of decision-making away from bankers and to the consumer. This is also true of providers serving low-income households. This, we think, misses the power of finance. The motivation of this book is to systematically compile principles from finance and economics theory and apply them to the context of design and delivery of financial services for low-income households. We use the term financial engineering in this context.

Do you think that this framework addresses any misapprehensions, gaps, or problems in the way that financial products are currently designed for low-income households?

I think it is safe to say that there is negligible design today – largely because so much of the energy and focus has been on sheer distribution. Just getting a small loan delivered in a remote context is hard enough, leave alone worrying about whether the loan is structured well to suit the customer. This book lays out an approach for a new generation of providers, who are concerned about distributing well-designed products to meet client needs, not just any product.

One of the goals of your book is to provide an understanding of the risk-reward trade-offs facing low-income households. In your experience, what is the most widespread risk barrier, perceived or actual, preventing greater financial services adoption in India?

I think one of the big challenges that we worry a lot about is that so much of the portfolio of low-income households is dominated by physical assets (land, house, and livestock). These are typically low return, high risk, and highly correlated with their human capital. The opportunities to do better than that are therefore infinite.

Read the rest of this entry »

A Call for Client Voice in the Boardroom

June 14, 2013 in Center for Financial Inclusion, Client Focus, Client Protection, Financial Inclusion, Financial Inclusion 2020, Governance, Investing in Inclusive Finance, Microfinance | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

> Posted by Andrea Horak, Program Coordinator, CFI 

The Investing in Inclusive Finance program at the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion explores the practices of investors in inclusive finance. Across areas including risk, governance, stakeholder alignment, and fund management, this blog series highlights what’s being done to help the industry better utilize private capital to develop financial institutions that incorporate social aims.

When you hear the word “democracy,” you probably think of equality, elected representatives, voting rights, and so on. You probably also think of specific contexts. In the United States, for example, many of its citizens pride themselves on living in a democratic country. But what about democracy in business? Or more specifically, democracy in microfinance institutions (MFIs)? Should democracy extend to the decision-making in their governing boardrooms?

Although good governance has become a top priority for microfinance investors, donors, and regulators worldwide (CGAP’s Microfinance Gateway lists it as a Hot Topic), the structures of boardrooms and views on governance vary from institution to institution, country to country, and continent to continent. None of these structures, however, seem to be “democratic” in the way we define the word – representative of all parties involved. For example, as we covered in a previous blog post, the Anglo-American model of governance empowers CEOs to also serve as chair of their corporate board, which can result in management dominance of decision-making.

At the CMEF’s most recent meeting in April in Lima, Peru, a portion of the discussion was dedicated to asking why the client voice is not heard in the boardroom. Although it was generally agreed that financial institutions should strive to incorporate clients at the governance level in some way, the response on “how” varied greatly.

Read the rest of this entry »

FI2020/MasterCard Webcast: Growing Income, Growing Inclusion

June 13, 2013 in Center for Financial Inclusion, Client Focus, Events, Financial Education, Financial Inclusion, Financial Inclusion 2020, Mapping the Invisible Market, Resources, Technology | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

> Posted by Center Staff

On Tuesday, in conjunction with the release of our second FI2020 Mapping the Invisible Market report, Growing Income, Growing Inclusion: How Rising Incomes at the Base of the Pyramid Will Shape Financial Inclusion, we hosted a live, interactive webcast with MasterCard. The webcast explored the relationship between rising incomes and financial inclusion, including the opportunity for inclusion presented by the emergence of the “vulnerable class.” The session also spotlighted the Mapping the Invisible Market interactive data tools (available here and here), as well as MasterCard’s work in supporting financial inclusion globally.

Hosted by MasterCard’s Nicole Ward, the webcast’s presenters were CFI’s Sonja Kelly and Elisabeth Rhyne, and MasterCard’s Tara Nathan. Here’s a few of the points that were made during the discussion.

  • Rising incomes, changing demographics, advances in technology, and government engagement are factors that are coming together to further financial inclusion
  • Global GDP has been growing for the past 30 years, with a projected increase from $61 trillion in 2010 to $85 trillion in 2020
  • From 2010 to 2020, the annual income of the bottom 40 percent in low and middle income economies is projected to double, from $3.1 trillion to $5.8 trillion
  • In many populous countries, the BOP will move into the vulnerable class in this decade
  • At the country level, there is a strong correlation between income and financial inclusion, both in account ownership and account use
  • There are many possible on-ramps to financial inclusion, including bill pay, G2P payments, no-frills accounts, and mobile money transfer
  • The transition from informal to formal financial services depends on many factors, including income level, income flow, employment formality, and social relationships
  • Incorporating the vast influx of new clients requires scaling up client protection and financial education
  • MasterCard is working with the government of Nigeria on a national ID program to provide a single proof of identity that also has the ability to deposit, receive, withdraw, and pay

Read the rest of this entry »

Global Movement into the Vulnerable Class, and What it Means for Financial Inclusion

June 11, 2013 in Center for Financial Inclusion, Financial Inclusion, Financial Inclusion 2020, Global Findex, Mapping the Invisible Market | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

> Posted by Sonja E. Kelly and Elisabeth Rhyne, Fellow and Managing Director, CFI

The Financial Inclusion 2020 campaign at the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion is building a movement toward full financial inclusion by 2020. Accordingly, this blog series will spotlight financial inclusion efforts around the globe, share insights coming out of the creation of a roadmap to full financial inclusion, and highlight findings from research on the “invisible market.”

This post is based on research from the Mapping the Invisible Market project published in the paper Growing Income, Growing Inclusion by Sonja E. Kelly and Elisabeth Rhyne. The paper was released today, and can be downloaded at mapping.financialinclusion2020.org/growing-income-growing-inclusion.

The World Bank, UN, and The Economist are all talking about it: growing income around the world. The UN’s goal to halve the number of people living in poverty by 2015 has already been achieved, and the media frequently spotlights growth in emerging markets contrasted with reports of malaise in the EU and US economies. In low and middle-income economies, it isn’t just the wealthy or the well-connected who benefit from this growth. Real incomes are rising among the poor, moving hundreds of millions of people from extreme levels of poverty into levels at which they begin to have more income flexibility.

Over the course of this decade, the bottom two quintiles in many of the world’s most populous countries will see movement into and even beyond the “vulnerable class,” defined as having an income of $4 to $10 per day. Read the rest of this entry »

Inclusive Activity in Myanmar

June 10, 2013 in Technology | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

> Posted by Jeffrey Riecke, Communications Assistant, CFI

The World Economic Forum on East Asia was held last week in Myanmar. Following the country’s recent political and economic changes, the forum was Myanmar’s first international meeting that spanned leaders from industry, government, academia, and civil society. The three themes of this year’s gathering were Inspiring Inclusion Transformation, Realizing Regional Integration, and Scaling Regional Solutions for Global Resilience. A few of the forum’s sessions focused directly on financial inclusion. These included Moving from a Cash to a Banked Economy, and From Social Protection to Financial Inclusion. Video recordings of these, as well as all of the forum’s sessions, can be found here.

Myanmar today may be the nearest country in the world to a cash-only economy. Only 10 percent of the population has access to formal financial services, though if this year is any indication, changes to the country’s financial services and economic landscapes are coming, and rapidly.

This past September MasterCard became the first international payments network to issue a license to a Myanmar bank, enabling Co-Operative Bank Ltd. (one of the country’s largest banks) to offer MasterCard-branded cards to its customers. Since September, similar licenses have been issued to four more banks, and the ensuing five bank network of ATMs, currently totaling 140 facilities, now accept MasterCard payment cards. Beyond this new service opportunity for many of Myanmar’s banked, the development allows tourists and business travelers in the country to withdraw local currency using international MasterCard cards. 2012 was a record-breaking tourism year for Myanmar, as over one million visited the country. New point-of-sale merchant terminals for cashless payments are also in the works. With its first MasterCard terminal opening this past September, the payments company is working with in-country banks to roll out upwards of 500 terminals at restaurants, hotels, and other retail outlets by the end of the year.

Read the rest of this entry »

All the World’s a Stage for Client Protection: Reflections From Montenegro

June 7, 2013 in Center for Financial Inclusion, Client Focus, Client Protection, Events, Financial Inclusion, Microfinance, Smart Campaign | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

> Posted by Alyssa Passarelli, Communications and Operations Assistant, the Smart Campaign

Sergio Guzmán conducting a Smart Assessor’s Training in Budva, Montenegro

Sergio Guzmán conducting a Smart Assessor’s Training in Budva, Montenegro

The month of May was filled with many exciting events for the Smart Campaign. Smart Campaign director, Isabelle Barrès traveled to Guatemala and Bosnia and Herzegovina for two Client Protection Certification events (please see our last blog post). Smart Campaign Lead Specialist, Sergio Guzmán also traveled to this corner of the world to conduct a Smart Assessor’s Training and to attend the 16th Annual Microfinance Centre Conference in Budva, Montenegro. Although the Campaign is based in Washington, D.C., Campaign staff thrive on opportunities to engage in client protection efforts beyond the office.

It’s a good thing that Sergio does not have a fear of heights. With the amount of time that Sergio spends in the air each month, he might as well be Superman. The Smart Assessor’s Training in Budva brought together a diverse group of financial services experts including donors, investors, consultants, and CEOs of microfinance institutions (MFIs), among others in the Eastern Europe/Central Asia region. Even with the ranging backgrounds of these participants, Sergio notes that the evident common denominators are the enthusiasm to incorporate the Client Protection Principles (CPPs) into their work and a keen desire to improve their commitment to those they serve.

It is very exciting for the Campaign to generate interest among such a wide range of actors at events like the training in Budva. The Smart Campaign’s growing involvement in activities among participants from different backgrounds reflects client protection’s increasing foothold. This layered interest and further desire to cement client protection into business practices is a promising achievement for the movement.

Read the rest of this entry »

Picturing Financial Inclusion in Pakistan

June 6, 2013 in Center for Financial Inclusion, Client Focus, Financial Inclusion, Financial Inclusion 2020, Global Findex, Mapping the Invisible Market, Resources, Women and Financial Inclusion, Youth and Financial Inclusion | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

> Posted by Syed Mohsin Ahmed, Chief Executive Officer, Pakistan Microfinance Network

The Financial Inclusion 2020 campaign at the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion is building a movement toward full financial inclusion by 2020. Accordingly, this blog series will spotlight financial inclusion efforts around the globe, share insights coming out of the creation of a roadmap to full financial inclusion, and highlight findings from research on the “invisible market.”

At the Pakistan Microfinance Network, we are always in search of more data on financial inclusion in Pakistan. So imagine my delight when I heard about the Country Profiles feature on the Center for Financial Inclusion’s Mapping the Invisible Market website that features data from the World Bank Global Findex among other sources. My exploration of the Pakistan country profile page gave me some new insights and raised a few questions for future research.

First, a very high proportion of the people who took loans (largely informal) in the past year in Pakistan took them to deal with health and emergencies. Seventeen percent of all adults in Pakistan borrowed in the past year for health and emergencies, while only about 10 percent of the people in other middle income economies did so, even though in Pakistan, people are less likely to take out loans overall.

Reasons for taking out a loan

This observation makes me wonder if there is a pent-up demand for insurance in Pakistan. For a country that has seen a number of major disasters in the last few years, no doubt there is a great need for insurance products in Pakistan to help prepare for emergencies.

When I looked further at who it was that was taking out these loans (again, both formal and informal) for health or emergencies, I noticed that they were disproportionately rural, or poor, or to have only completed primary school. These observations offer a picture of what vulnerability looks like in Pakistan, and where financial inclusion efforts might be targeted for maximum impact.

Looking specifically at formal financial services, I found that the percent of people who have an account at a formal financial institution in Pakistan is quite low—10 percent—compared to the rest of South Asia—33 percent. In both, the number one use of accounts is to receive wages. Unsurprisingly, in Pakistan, education and gender have a great impact on the use of accounts—25 percent of people whose education level is secondary school or higher have an account compared to only four percent of people who have just a primary school education. Seventeen percent of men have an account compared to three percent of women. Read the rest of this entry »

The Foundation for the Next Global Development Goals?

June 5, 2013 in Events, Financial Inclusion, Women and Financial Inclusion | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

> Posted by Jeffrey Riecke, Communications Assistant, CFI

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Indonesian President and co-chair of the High Level Panel, and Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary General

A few days ago the U.N. High Level Panel submitted its final report to the U.N. Secretary General on recommendations for the global development agenda to replace the current Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) when they expire in 2015. The High Level Panel, comprised of 27 individuals spanning leaders from civil society, private sector, and government, developed the recommendations in broad consultation with governments, organizations, institutions, United Nations entities, and individuals. People from more than 5,000 civil society organizations as well as roughly 250 CEOs of major corporations participated in the process.

The vision of the agenda, as stated in the report, is to end extreme poverty in all its forms in the context of sustainable development and to have in place the building blocks of sustained prosperity for all. The agenda is organized into five transformational shifts, and includes recommendations on establishing goals that translate these priorities into measurable targets and recommendations on effectively implementing the agenda. A list of the five transformational shifts follows. Read the rest of this entry »

Financial Inclusion and the World’s “Unbanked” Population

June 3, 2013 in Branchless Banking, Center for Financial Inclusion, Client Focus, Events, Financial Inclusion, Financial Inclusion 2020, Microfinance, Technology | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

> Posted by Isobel Coleman, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy, Director of the Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative, the Council on Foreign Relations

The following post was originally published on Democracy in Development, Coleman’s CFR blog.

Imagine life without a bank account. Completing a simple financial transaction can require traveling a distance, incurring expenses, and losing precious income. Savings are more difficult to track and certainly don’t earn interest. Theft or loss of the proverbial “cookie jar” is a constant worry. Indeed, studies show that informal savers lose as much as 25 percent of their hard-earned cash each year due to theft and loss. Yet for over 2.5 billion people globally, this inconvenient, inefficient, and expensive reality is the case.

There are many reasons to believe that the number of unbanked people will shrink significantly in years to come, with important positive implications for economic growth and poverty reduction. First, grassroots and country-level efforts, both nonprofit and for-profit, are already showing how “unbanked” doesn’t have to be the status quo—and these efforts are greatly facilitated by mobile phones. Kenya is well-known for the widespread use of its mobile money system M-Pesa, which allows people to pay for goods and services through cell phones instead of with cash. Started in 2007, M-Pesa has already been used by the vast majority of Kenya’s adults.

Second, major financial institutions are supporting efforts to give more of the world’s population access to bank accounts and standard financial tools. Last summer, I wrote about Visa’s purchase of the mobile payments system Fundamo and the collaboration between USAID and Citi to expand financial inclusion, a promising instance of big financial institutions bringing their resources to bear on closing the financial inclusion gap.

Read the rest of this entry »

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  1. Global Movement into the Vulnerable Class, and What it Means for Financial Inclusion
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  3. Inclusive Activity in Myanmar
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  5. A Call for Client Voice in the Boardroom

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