Financial Inclusion
The Collateral Stranglehold: Why Access to Finance Eludes MSMEs
After more than 30 years in finance, I’ve seen too many viable businesses fail simply because they couldn’t pledge a building as security. The…
MSME Finance
Financial Risk Mitigation
Minimize Risk: Finance MSMEs
Even as excessive levels of competition erode interest rate spreads, financial institutions continue to flock to what they consider safe space, namely loans to…
Financial Risk Mitigation
MSMEs: Always All In!
When an MSME reaches out to financial institutions for a loan to grow their business, the financial institution only finances a part of the…
MSME Finance
Interest Rate Caps: A Tool for Financial Exclusion?
When MSMEs are asked what they think of interest rates, it is not surprising that they find it too high. When asked whether they…
MSME Finance
Could Agent Banking be the Silver Bullet for Financial Inclusion in Bangladesh?
In Bangladesh, the sixth-largest country in terms of population, more than 63 million people live below the poverty line. A third of its 162.9…
Financial Risk Mitigation
Pump Up The MFS Volume: Mandate Interoperability Now!
Mobile Financial Services (MFS) is fairly active in Bangladesh but the cost of transactions and the level of literacy of the ultimate beneficiaries, namely…
Climate Finance
Financing the Chors (River Islands) of Bangladesh
This is a follow up to a previous note, The Chors (River Islands) of Bangladesh: A Real Challenge for the Financial Services Sector. The…
Climate Finance
The Chors (River Islands) of Bangladesh: A Real Challenge for the Financial Services Sector
To say that life is difficult for the residents of the Chors (River Islands) of Bangladesh would be an understatement of the highest magnitude.…