Financial Well-being and Social Protection

IFMR LEAD systematically collected district-wise data on number of active borrowers and loans outstanding for several of India’s largest MFIs over three years as part of its Map of Microfinance project sponsored by the Swiss Agency for Cooperation and Development. … Read More

This paper discusses the potential of providing housing finance to the poor through microfinance institutions (MFIs) and issues that are likely to arise in doing so. Using a demand assessment conducted at Ankuram Sangamam Porum (ASP) in Andhra Pradesh, the … Read More

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 … Read More

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 … Read More

This brief captures lessons from a study that seeks to improve women’s awareness about savings products.

This report presents findings from a study conducted as an experiment in Bihar, an eastern state of India, with 203 women, many of whom were a part of Self Help Groups (SHGs). The authors tested context-specific Financial Education (FE) to … Read More

This handbook contains context-specific financial literacy modules that aim to address the knowledge gaps about financial products and services among migrant workers.

The research was aimed at understanding the social, cultural and economic factors influencing modes of payments (cash versus electronic) used by small scale entrepreneurs. The findings indicate a strong preference for cash, which is a culturally accepted payment mode for … Read More

This policy brief describes lessons from a large-scale field experiment that has delivered mobile-phone-based agricultural information to cotton farmers in western India.

This paper studies the impact of introducing repayment flexibility in microfinance contracts. The author builds an adverse selection model that predicts the existence of a separating equilibrium where lenders are able to achieve higher profits by simultaneously offering a rigid … Read More