For Immediate Release
June 1, 2007
Contact: Petra Tuomi, Director of Communications, Women's World Banking,
212-768-8513 ext 2040
cell 646-873-0763
ptuomi@swwb.org

New York, NY — Women’s World Banking (WWB), a leader in developing financial services for low-income women entrepreneurs, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands will host a major conference on banking innovation for microfinance. The meeting convenes WWB’s Global Network for Banking Innovation (GNBI), a network of 24 major commercial banks and microfinance institutions (MFIs) formed in 2001 to spur innovation in banking strategies and development of products and services for the growing microfinance sector.

The two-day conference of June 18-19 will gather together 75 banking executives and microfinance experts from around the world and will be opened by Mercedes Canalda, Chairperson of Women’s World Banking, Mary Ellen Iskenderian, President of Women’s World Banking and Marilou van Golstein Brouwers, Managing Director of Triodos International Investments, based in the Netherlands.

The event will be held in The Hague at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, a primary sponsor of this meeting and a major funder of WWB’s microfinance initiatives. The meeting is also sponsored by the Netherlands Development Finance Company and by ING, a strategic partner of WWB in introducing mainstream banking technology and IT to microfinance.

“This event will bring together key GNBI member banks and microfinance institutions that have developed successful microfinance business strategies,” said Mary Ellen Iskenderian, President of WWB. “The goal of this meeting is to continue our discourse on how to develop lending models and structures and innovative products and services, so that more banks and MFIs can adopt effective approaches to microfinance in order to reach more low-income clients.”

The meeting will feature presentations by several top executives from GNBI member institutions, leading banks in microfinance and consumer products companies from Africa, North America, Europe, Latin America and India, including Citigroup of USA, ShoreBank International of USA, ING and Triodos Bank of The Netherlands, BlueOrchard Finance of Switzerland, Equity Bank of Kenya, Banco del Pichincha of Ecuador, Banco Azteca of Mexico, ICICI Bank of India, Delta Life Insurance Company of Bangladesh and WIZZIT of South Africa. The panelists will share their vision and strategies on topics such as how to adapt banking products for low-income entrepreneurs, how to develop successful customer service and marketing strategies for microfinance, and how to build innovative distribution channels to reach more clients.

Formed by WWB in 2001, the Global Network for Banking Innovation (GNBI) is a consortium of 24 leading commercial banks, state banks and regulated microfinance institutions from 15 countries. Its purpose is to promote the entry of commercial banks into microfinance as profitable business opportunity and means of building local economies, and to share best practices, innovations and knowledge about microfinance among GNBI members and with the wider banking industry. Forums hosted by the GNBI provide concrete opportunities for members to join forces to influence financial sector policies.

“Participants in the GNBI meeting are eager to access cutting-edge innovation in microfinance and to share their experiences with each other, all of which contributes to new strategies to the mission to serve low-income people,” said Mercedes Benavides, Manager of the Global Network for Banking Innovation.

For the full program please click here. For further information on the conference, please contact Mercedes Benavides, Manager of the Global Network for Banking Innovation, at mbenavides@swwb.org

Women’s World Banking is a leading nonprofit microfinance organization working in more than 40 countries worldwide to expand the economic power of low-income women and their families by helping them to access financial services and information.