The Microfinance Investment Summit, Geneva Edition 2010 held on 10th and 11th March brought together some of the key stakeholders from across the globe to dwell deep into the state of microfinance and its future. 

Financial literacy is like asking a customer who is being wheeled into a surgery “Do you want 14 sutures or 17?” With this comment, we discovered common ground with Prof. Robert Merton, Nobel Prize winning Economist!

IFMR Finance Foundation has come out with a comprehensive manual with a detailed blueprint for commercial banks to deepen financial access in a viable manner using the Business Correspondents (BC) and Business Facilitators (BF).

MicroSave, a key player in the area of market-led microfinance, recently conducted a ‘CEO Workshop’ on the theme of "Responding to Competitive Microfinance Markets".

On the 8th and 9th of February 2010, Access Microfinance Alliance (AmFA), one of the largest small MFI networks in India, organized ‘ACCESS INVEST’, an investor readiness workshop for its members.

It took us a few hours of twists and turns on our way to the Jaikot branch of Sahastradhara KGFS, where I had planned to spend two days. Jaikot is a small village of approximately 150 households.

India has a concentrated banking system, which means that if five individuals decide that this needs to be done, it will be done.

The success of an organization greatly depends on its Human Resource (HR), where HR plays a vital role in maintaining and enhancing its human capital.

While endeavouring to deepen financial access in India, the enormity of the problem, that is, the vast number of financially excluded people to be reached, has been emphasised time and again.

Professor Ajay Shah of National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) visited IFMR recently, where he spoke about ‘Financial Distribution with Consumer Protection and Scalability’ at IFMR Business School and also visited Pudhuaaru KGFS, Thanjavur.