Case Studies

PUBLICATIONS

REACHING THE OTHER 100 MILLION POOR IN INDIA: CASE STUDIES IN URBAN MICROFINANCE

October 2006 - Sudha Krishnan
Lead Centre: Centre for Microfinance
Focus Area:

This study combines several independent CMF studies with six prominent microfinance institutions that operate in urban areas. These case studies identify innovative practices among these institutions, including strategies used for broad basing their clients, examining the array of financial services offered to the urban poor, and discussing the challenges and opportunities that remain in urban microfinance. Six institutions are analyzed in this study, specifically: Ujjivan, SEWA Bank, Working Women’s Forum (WWF), Indian Bank’s Microsate Branch, Village Welfare Society (VWS), and Sharada’s Women’s Association for Weaker Sections (SWAWS).

SATIN CREDITCARE NETWORK LIMITED: UNIQUE IN ITS FIELD

November 2006 - Navneet Daga
Lead Centre: Centre for Microfinance
Focus Area:

This case study aims to identify innovative practices among MFIs operating in the urban space, particularly strategies for broad basing their clients, financial services offered, and community involvement. With the above goals in mind, this study details the strategies Satin Creditcare uses to overcome operational challenges in the urban space.

IMPLEMENTING HEALTH INSURANCE THROUGH MICRO-CREDIT: SKS MICROFINANCE

September 2008 - Theresa Chen, Alison Comfort, and Natalie Bau
Lead Centre: Centre for Microfinance
Focus Area:

This report documents the steps involved in SKS’ development of the health insurance product from conceptualization to rollout to operational processes and challenges. These insights will help other microfinance institutions with design and rollout of their own insurance products

CASE STUDY ON THE USE OF SMARTCARDS TO DELIVER GOVERNMENT BENEFITS IN ANDHRA PRADESH

October 2008 - Johnson Doug
Lead Centre: Centre for Microfinance
Focus Area:

Since late 2007, Indian technology company Financial Information Networks and Operations (FINO), in collaboration with the state government of Andhra Pradesh and several partner banks, has delivered payments from two separate government programs (the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) and Social Security Pensions (SSP)) to beneficiaries using a platform based on smartcards and mobile smartcard readers. In this report, we describe the smartcard payment system and analyse its impact on the beneficiaries of the programs and the efficiency of program delivery. Our analysis reveals that the smartcard payment system has resulted in greater convenience and reduced fraud.

MEETING THE NEEDS OF THE UNBANKED IN JHARKHAND STATE

November 2008 - Mary Albino, Sarita Subramanian
Lead Centre: Centre for Microfinance
Focus Area:

To better understand Jharkhand’s challenges in achieving financial inclusion and economic growth, this study gathers a wide range of perspectives on the status and future potential of expanding the outreach of financial services in the state’s banking and non-banking sectors. The perspectives include apex institutions, public and private banks, microfinance institutions and NGOs; it aims to, in aggregate, provide an overview of who is working towards poverty alleviation in the state and the challenges they face.