Comments on: Financial Inclusion: The Trust Factor http://cfi-blog.org/2011/09/22/financial-inclusion-the-trust-factor/ Wed, 09 Oct 2013 16:34:18 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: peter van dijk http://cfi-blog.org/2011/09/22/financial-inclusion-the-trust-factor/#comment-1891 Mon, 26 Sep 2011 02:53:33 +0000 http://centerforfinancialinclusionblog.wordpress.com/?p=4306#comment-1891 Thank you Beth.

I would like to add two other issues.

First, in a Democracy that is truly such, ALL citizens exist legally and formally and their governments practice democracy daily by actively protecting their lives and supporting them with all basic services at an ensured good quality (protection, healthcare, shelter, food/water, eductaion, employment, social welfare). Such a system can only be viable when there is a tax system that all people agree with and contribute to in a socially responsible manner. (the current global debates on the USA debt, the Euro-zone debt and the BRICS economies illustrates that there seem to be different possible systems, but I doubt that!)

Second, TRUST in finance ultimately depends on the reality that the rate of un-banked people is nearly zero and depends on financial institutions and government (thus monitored and sanctioned in a transparent standardised -constantly reviewed, evolving- system, which is called regulation) working together to promote prudent money management.

Pancho’s sister I think, Maria Otero, said it all I think in a Frankfurt seminar after witnessing a “Sumo Wrestling Match” between two Micro-Finance heavyweights and refereed by another MF veteran: “The success of Micro-Finance is not a job of Heroes but a job for an alliance”.

Peter, Jakarta

]]> By: alexcounts http://cfi-blog.org/2011/09/22/financial-inclusion-the-trust-factor/#comment-1875 Thu, 22 Sep 2011 14:58:57 +0000 http://centerforfinancialinclusionblog.wordpress.com/?p=4306#comment-1875 Excellent post. The issue of trust in terms of financial inclusion and microfinance is indeed critical. In terms of earning the trust of regulators, political leaders and social investors, consumer protection and equally important, more transparency around social performance management and outcomes, are essential. There are several positive initiatives gaining steam to achieve this including the univeral standards of the Social Performance Task Force, the Seal of Excellence initiative, widespread use of social ratings, and two that I just learned about — the Paris Appeal for Responsible Microfinance and an approach that Moody’s is advancing. These will all be discussed at the Global Microcredit Summit in Valladolid and I think we are on the cusp of a real industry breakthrough.

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