A recent article in the Economist notes approvingly about the growing phenomenon of Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA) as a means for low-income clients to save securely and earn high returns.
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We produce blogs to discuss new research findings, ongoing projects, and even personal reflections on the research process. Our blogs are written for a variety of audiences, including other researchers, policymakers, practitioners, financial service providers, grassroots organizations, impact investors and the public. The format is simple and easy to grasp. The language is straightforward, and the tone is non-academic. Our blogs can be of varying lengths. We choose to write a blog when we don’t want to do a full- fledged study or follow a rigorous research process. Blogs may contain opinions and they can also be based on experiences. Some of our blogs may just share some observations, learnings, or challenges.
A recent article in the Economist notes approvingly about the growing phenomenon of Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA) as a means for low-income clients to save securely and earn high returns.
IFMR Finance Foundation is working on the agenda of consumer protection in finance as part of its mandate on financial systems design.
Subsequent to our earlier posts detailing the three broad themes from the IFMR Financial Systems Design Conference 2011, Day 2 of the conference witnessed participants identify pathways to achieve the specific visions that were formulated across the sessions in Origination, Risk Transmission and Aggregation.
In February 2010, I had the opportunity to visit Pudhuaaru KGFS in Thanjavur. This is a remarkable project which helps us see the interface between households and the financial system in a wholly new light.
The Committee to Review Implementation of Informal Sector Pension (CRIISP) recently released their report focusing on National Pension Scheme (NPS), its design architecture, its performance till date and recommendations for increasing outreach and awareness about the product
In a conversation with Nachiket Mor and Bindu Ananth, Dr. Viral Acharya, Professor of Finance at the New York University Stern School of Business, speaks on issues centring around aggregation of risks in a financial system, with an emphasis on those particularly relevant to the Indian financial system.
Future financial services providers will be akin to general physicians, who bear great responsibility for the health of their patients. Such a prescriptive approach would minimise instances of unsuitable advice.
Remittances are the second largest source of funding for developing countries, contributing more than capital flows and development assistance.
In a stylised sense, there are two fundamentally different perspectives for analysis of financial systems.
A common refrain that one hears in the context of financial services for low-income households is the importance of “keeping it simple”.
In all our research efforts, we strive to maintain an independent voice that speaks for the low-income household and household enterprises. Our ability to perform this function is significantly enhanced by our commitment to disseminate as a pure public good, all the intellectual capital that we create.
