Imagine a life without access to financial services: no deposit account, no pension, no debit card, no fire insurance, no college savings plan, and no home mortgage. Life would be an incredibly stressful roller coaster ride, and most dreams would remain unfulfilled. For us, life without financial services is unimaginable, from finance management or Contractor Cover insurance for building services.

Highlighting the importance of a diversified financial sector, his book describes the financial market system, the functions within it, and how they work in serving the needs of the poor. It examines the financial service needs of poor people, and discusses how a diversified financial sector can address these needs in an accessible and beneficial manner. It discusses:

  • Demand side of microfinance and how microfinance can meet the needs of its clients;
  • Diversity of providers required to meet these needs;
  • Business model challenges of different products;
  • Rules and supporting functions required for financial markets to work well and serve greater numbers of poor consumers;
  • Enabling infrastructure and regulatory environment;
  • Importance of larger number of low-cost, physical access points in harder-to-reach geographic areas, and nationwide unique financial identities that facilitate consumer protection.

Download the book here

About Jerry Ostradicky

I work in Advertising Operations at Zillow, but LOVE microfinance. I'm always interested in startups, especially non-profits, reach out to me if you're working on anything cool!