The Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) of the Philippines recently partnered with organizations representing over 1,500 financial services providers (FSPs) to give their member FSPs access to RCBC’s ATM Go point-of-service devices to help distribute cash government aid intended to minimize the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. ATM Go devices are portable, mobile-enabled machines that offer many of the services of traditional automated teller machines (ATMs), such as cash withdrawals, balance inquiries, and transfers of funds to pay bills or buy mobile airtime. RCBC has put 1,250 of the devices in service over the past two years, including to deliver government-to-person
Category: Trends/Challenges
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: How MFIs Grassland Finance, CD Finance of China Responded to the Pandemic
Because of the lockdown imposed in China due to the spread of COVID-19, “overdue loan payments increased greatly” at Grassland Finance and CD Finance, two microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the country. The timing was unfortunate for farmers because
SPECIAL REPORT: Education for a More Sustainable World, by Dr Barbara Drexler, Frankfurt School of Finance and Management
SVGs? 
SDTs? What on earth do you mean? Back in January 2019, when the idea was born to launch the Frankfurt School’s Sustainable World Academy, I was asked many times to explain the abbreviation for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – even by highly educated and well-read colleagues and friends.
Well, a lot has certainly changed since. 2019 will go down in history for Greta Thunberg and her Fridays for Future movement, unprecedented climate events – heatwaves, storms, unbreathable air, dying coral, bushfires and locust swarms – and, finally, a growing sense of urgency. (Literally) every schoolchild understands that climate action is urgently needed if the world is to be comfortably inhabitable beyond 2050. However, it is far less clear how change will be brought about without hampering economic growth or undercutting the growing prosperity in emerging and developing economies.
In other words, the timing for the launch of our Sustainable World Academy (SWA) was brilliant! At SWA we strongly believe
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Providers Report Wide Range of COVID-19 Effects via Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation Survey
From March 11 to March 19, the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, collected observations from 56 microfinance institutions (MFIs) regarding the effects of COVID-19. Markets are closed, putting traders out of work; and group borrowers’ meetings are canceled. While these are replaced in some instances with door-to-door transactions, other MFIs are reducing in-person transactions to minimize virus transmission. Remittance inflows are down. Tourism enterprises are being asked to return deposits for canceled
MEDIA OF THE MONTH: How to Cope With the Effects of the Pandemic on your Business: Examples from the Field, a Webinar from MFC
This webinar is full of ideas to help mange the impacts of CIVOD-19. The presenters are Laure Coussirat-Coustère of Adie, Roxane Lemercier of microStart, Mirjana Panin of Opportunity Bank Serbia and Kinga Dabrowska of the Microfinance Centre.
This post is part of a monthly series from MicroCapital pointing you to great media on microfinance and other forms of impact investing. Enjoy!
Do you know that MicroCapital publishes the MicroCapital Monitor newspaper each month? Find out more at http://www.microcapital.org/products-page/.
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “What Does the Clean Cooking Market Look Like in the DRC?”, published by UNCDF
Published by the UN Capital Development Fund, February 2020, available for online viewing at
https://www.uncdf.org/article/5341/what-does-the-clean-cooking-market-look-like-in-the-drc
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is undergoing deforestation and forest degradation, a significant portion of which is to provide biomass energy for cooking. This assessment of the “clean cooking” market included
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFC Boosts COVID-19 Response to $8b for Working Capital, Risk-sharing, Trade Finance, “Real Sector” Finance Worldwide; Including $294m Deployed to Target SMEs in Vietnam
The World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) recently increased to USD 8 billion its financial commitment to counter the effects of COVID-19. David Malpass, President of the World Bank Group, said, “It’s essential that we shorten the time to recovery.” He added, “Support operations are already underway, and the expanding funding tools…will help sustain economies, companies and jobs.”
The funding package is divided into four categories, with USD 2 billion allocated each to: (1) cash for
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EBRD Commits $1.1b as “First Step” in Response to Coronavirus; Targets Include SMEs, Women-owned businesses
The UK-based multilateral European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) recently allocated EUR 1 billion (USD 1.1 billion) to provide “immediate support” as a “first step” to addressing disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The targets include boosting trade finance, particularly as it can assist small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and providing crisis-management advice to SMEs, especially those led by women. For borrowers experiencing difficulty with repayment, EBRD will
SPECIAL REPORT: Highlights of European Microfinance Week 2019
From 
the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP): European Microfinance Week 2019 gathered 450 leading experts from 62 countries to showcase the most exciting innovations advancing sustainable and responsible financial
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “The Digital Lives of Refugees: How Displaced Populations Use Mobile Phones and What Gets in the Way,” Published by GSMA
This is a summary of a paper published by the Groupe Speciale Mobile Association (GSMA), July 2019, 87 pages, available at https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/The-Digital-Lives-of-Refugees.pdf
Mobile technology in general, as well as mobile network operators in particular, are becoming increasingly important to the delivery of aid to populations in crisis. This report addresses the access to, use of, and barriers to mobile technology among refugee populations.
The authors conducted 3,000 face-to-face and telephone interviews as well 55 focus group discussions with refugees from Jordan, Rwanda and
SPECIAL REPORT: Christoph Pausch on the $110k European Microfinance Award 2020: Encouraging Effective & Inclusive Savings – Application Period Opens March 9
MicroCapital: Why was “Encouraging Effective & Inclusive Savings” chosen as the topic of the European Microfinance Award 2020?
Christoph Pausch: For much of the past 40 years, the microfinance sector has focused overwhelmingly on credit. Credit is easier to offer and more profitable for the provider. More often than not, this results in credit being provided as the default even when other financial products – such as savings – are better suited to the needs of the client. Moreover, these other options come at both lower cost and lower
MICROFINANCE EVENT: 16th Annual Global Microfinance Forum; March 12-13, 2020; Lisbon, Portugal
This forum will cover a variety of microfinance topics in the context of shifting economic and regulatory environments. Sessions will focus on managing foreign exchange risk, corporate governance, client protection, agro-insurance and agro-finance. In advance of the event,
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Results of the Fintech Benchmarks Proof-of-Concept: Toward Data Standards for Inclusive Fintech,” Published by MIX
This is a summary of a paper published by the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), January 2020, 45 pages, available at https://www.themix.org/s/MIX_Toward-Data-Standards-for-Inclusive-Fintech_January2020.pdf
To test its Data Standards for Inclusive Fintech, MIX asks, “What can we learn about fintechs as businesses and how they address challenges of inclusion?” Based on information from 45 fintechs, the majority of which are based in Sub-Saharan Africa, this exercise produced
MEDIA OF THE MONTH: Video Summary of SAM 2019, also Known as African Microfinance Week, in Burkina Faso
This five-minute video gives you a taste of what happened when 900 participants from 50 countries met for the 2019 SAM conference in Ouagadougou.
This post is part of a monthly series from MicroCapital pointing you to great media on microfinance and other forms of impact investing. Enjoy!
MicroCapital coverage of the last three SAM conferences, including vignettes demonstrating its value to participants, appears at http://www.microcapital.org/category/semaine-africaine-de-la-microfinance-sam/.
Do you know that MicroCapital publishes the MicroCapital Monitor newspaper each month? Find out more at http://www.microcapital.org/products-page/.
SPECIAL REPORT: European Microfinance Week to Run November 18 – 20, 2020; Including $110k European Microfinance Award for Innovation in Savings; Applications to Open in March
The European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) will hold the next European Microfinance Week from November 18 through November 20, 2020, in Luxembourg. The first day of the event will include training opportunities as well as meetings of
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Young People in Africa: Research Showing Opportunities for Financial Service Providers in Morocco, Nigeria and Senegal,” Published by World Savings Banks Institute
By Lise Paaskesen and Steven Peachey, published by the World Savings Banks Institute (WSBI), October 2019, 45 pages, available at
https://www.wsbi-esbg.org/SiteCollectionDocuments/0587_ESBG_BRO_CENTRALREPORT%20(004).pdf
The Scale2Save initiative of WSBI and the Mastercard Foundation is intended to contribute to improving financial services for people aged 15 to 30 years by examining their access to services, support structures and entrepreneurship opportunities in three rapidly growing African countries – Morocco, Nigeria and Senegal. Part of this work is to
MICROFINANCE EVENT: FinovateEurope; February 11-13, 2020; Berlin, Germany
FinovateEurope is one of a series of conferences focusing on financial technology (fintech). The event includes demonstrations of technological advances and a keynote address
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “A Tale of Two Sisters: Microfinance Institutions and PAYGo Solar;” by Waldron, Sotiriou, Winiecki; published by CGAP
By Daniel Waldron, Alexander Sotiriou and Jacob Winiecki; published by CGAP (the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor); November 2019; 24 pages; available at https://www.cgap.org/sites/default/files/publications/2019_11_Focus_Note_Paygo_Two_Sisters_2.pdf
In Sub-Saharan Africa, the popularity of acquiring access to solar products in pay-as-you-go (PAYGo) formats is growing. This report assesses options available to microfinance institutions (MFIs) to engage with this market, which is largely dominated by new financial technology (fintech) companies. Devices that use PAYGo technology can be enabled and disabled remotely based on the payments their users make to the financiers of the devices.
The report primarily draws on