|
 Send your case studies here! |
|
Population (millions) |
8.7 |
|
Gross domestic savings (% of GDP) |
6.8% |
|
% Population under $2/day (PPP) |
34% |
|
Regulated microfinance institutions |
Commercial Banks, Private Financial Funds, Credit Unions (including cooperatives) |
|
Non-regulated sources of microfinance |
NGOs |
|
Predominant informal finance mechanisms (ROSCAs, tontines, etc.) |
NGOs and unlicensed credit unions |
General Approach to Regulating
Based on the Comparative Database on Microfinance Regulation by the IRIS Center of the University of Maryland
| Commercial Banks | Private Financial Funds | Credit Unions | |
| Definition or description of institution | Authorized financial entity devoted to intermediation and the provision of financial services to the public | Non-banking financial entities, whose principal objective is channeling resources to micro and small-scale borrowers in urban and rural areas. | All societies constituted under the General Law of Cooperative Societies that have as their objective to promote savings and grant loans to their members. |
| Guidelines & restrictions on financial services: |
Permitted: All financial services |
Permitted: Loans, deposits, and other banking activities. Prohibited: factoring, foreign trade operations, capital investment activities in securities enterprises; checking accounts and credit cards not permitted without SBEF authorization |
Permitted: Category 1 and 2: Deposit-taking, loans, domestic payments and money transfer services, certain payment services, and foreign exchange for their own operations. Category 3: Similar operations to those of FFPs, except no financial leasing. Category 4: Financial services in local and foreign currency, except those listed below. Prohibited: Category 3: financial leasing. Category 4: travelers cheques and credit cards, forwards and futures in foreign exchange, endorsements, bonds and other collateral operations, open, and letters of credit. No loans to individual borrower that exceed 3% of net worth (secured) or 1% (personal guarantees). |
FIE, ProMujer and ANED: Partnerships for Savings mobilization
This article is the first in a series of practical Q&As with financial institution managers from around the globe. Pilar Ramirez , the Board President of Fondo Financiero Privado FIE S.A. (FIE), shares her experiences on how her institution teamed up with 2 NGOs (ProMujer and ANED) to increase its outreach to small savers.
WOCCU's Savings Mobilization Programs (88 KB, PDF)
Adapting to the Challenges of Changing Financial Paradigms
WOCCU's Savings Mobilization Programs in Latin America, 2003,
By Janette Klaehn
This paper presents the case study of the savings methodology employed by the World Council of Credit Unions, Inc. (WOCCU) in its Latin America programs in Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico and Nicaragua.
In Latin America, WOCCU has implemented credit union strengthening programs in Bolivia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua. WOCCU experience repeatedly demonstrates that credit unions which combine financial discipline with demand driven products and aggressive outreach can both satisfy local demand for savings services and generate stable, long-term financing to meet member demand for credit services.
Pasanaku by FFP F.I.E. in Bolivia (612 KB, PDF)
Summarized from:. "A Review of Commitment Savings Products in Developing Countries', 2003
By: Nava, Ashraf, Nathalie Gons, Dean S. Karlan, and Wesley Yin
FFP FIE is a private financing fund (fondo financiero privado) that serves 7,262 clients in periurban and urban parts of Bolivia. FIE conducted a marketing study that revealed an interest among their clients for a programmed savings account. In 2000, they launched their first programmed savings account Pasanaku, which has witnessed a great decrease over the last year.
FFP FIE will be relaunching this product at the end of this year. The decrease in number of accounts is believed to stem from the product's delivery rather than lack of demand for the product. Among other things, they will be experimenting with deposit collectors and/or establishing small points of service in areas with a high concentration of clients, such as market places. This will facilitate the required frequent deposits, especially among a majority of female market vendor clients who may not be able to leave their goods so that they can go make a deposit at FIE. Further focus points in the product relaunch include staff training; in particular ensuring that staff provides a careful and detailed explanation of the product. They noticed that a careful explanation of the product is essential in order to convince clients to open an account.
This paper examines different designs that provide incentives to clients to commit to save. Mechanisms are divided into deposit-side mechanisms that help clients make regular deposits, and withdrawal-side mechanisms that help clients restrict the use of their funds except for well-planned uses or emergencies. Then, using results from a short web-based survey of microfinance institutions, the paper describes different commitment savings products in use around the world.
PRODEM FFP's intelligent automatic teller machines
In just three years, PRODEM FFP, a Bolivian non-bank financial institution, moved from serving 1,400 depositors to serving over 38,000, many of whom are illiterate, rural, and do not speak Spanish. PRODEM attributes this growth to its use of smart cards that rely on fingerprint identification and "intelligent" ATMs. This one-page case describes PRODEM's new service.
This case study can be found in Savings Operations for the Poor: An Operational Guide, edited by Madeline Hirschland, forthcoming from Kumarian Press ( 1294 Blue Hills Avenue,
Seminario Taller: Movilizacion de Depositos en Instituciones Microfinancieras (Spanish), 2000
Cajas Externas in Bolivia: A Stategic Alliance to Increase Savings in Under-Served Markets, ppt, 2004, Miller, H.
Opening Markets through Strategic Partnerships, 2005,Wise, M. & Berry, J.