Our Expertise in Microfinance

WWB designs financial products and services that fulfill women’s needs while demonstrating the sustainability and social impact of serving women, “proving the business case.” By providing innovative approaches that we can replicate and scale we can generate impact and prove that investing in women directly can be profitable. By investing in women, we produce a multiplier effect on the well-being of their households and communities.

WWB creates innovative financial products including credit, savings and insurance and works with partners to bring these products to scale. We do this through understanding the financial needs of women and then creating products to fit those needs. By designing tailored products and using marketing and delivery techniques not currently used in microfinance, we seek to give women not only access to financial services, but also control over their assets. WWB also provides institution-strengthening services to support microfinance institutions, including leadership development, gender diversity initiatives, and financial training and support.

Credit for Women

Microfinance has improved the lives of millions of poor people throughout the developing world, first through credit and now increasingly through a full suite of financial services including savings, insurance and other financial products such as pension funds. However, for women living in rural areas, there still exists a gap in access to even the most basic financial services. WWB recognizes this gap and is committed to investing in low-income rural women through focused microfinance lending service that meet the needs of women and are also sustainable for microfinance institutions.

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Savings

For the past 30 years microfinance has been a credit focused industry and few organizations were allowed by regulation to offer savings products. However, as more MFIs are becoming regulated institutions, there is an opportunity to help customers build financial stability in their lives by offering savings accounts. WWB research shows that the poor save, generally in small amounts, an estimated 10 to 15 percent of their monthly income. The need for formal savings options is crucial: without them the poor are forced to keep cash at home or in informal savings groups which are risky and money can be lost.

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Savings for Girls

The total global population of girls ages 10 to 24—already the largest in history—is expected to peak in the next decade. The breadth of issues facing girls is vast and girls in developing countries are particularly vulnerable. Their physical safety is at risk as they are more likely to be subject to violence, sexual assault, and HIV. They are also valued less: when families fall on hard times, girls are often the first ones to be pulled from school to dedicate their time to wage-earning activities. WWB research shows that by serving girls, and intercepting them at the vulnerable crossroads of adolescence, development programs can have the greatest impact on that girl, her family and her community. Research has shown there is a moment, a defined period in which intervention can completely change the outcome of a girls’ life. Once that window closes, we have lost the opportunity to impact a generation.

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Microinsurance

Much of the world’s poor—a majority of whom are women—remain without access to basic financial services including loans, savings accounts, and insurance products. We know from our experience working with microfinance institutions across the globe that healthcare exerts the most financial pressure on poor families given that they have little ability to absorb risk, and that medical emergencies can place a huge burden on households already struggling to stay afloat.

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Integrated Services