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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“Using Technology to Reach the Next Billion” Will Help Microfinance Institutions Expand Microfinance Services to a Greater Number of the World’s Poor

New York, NY, September 24, 2008 – Former President Bill Clinton today announced that Women’s World Banking (WWB), the world’s largest global network of microfinance institutions (MFIs) and banks dedicated to the economic empowerment of low-income women, has made a commitment at the 2008 Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting to help microfinance institutions harness the power of mobile banking (m-banking) technology and expand microfinance products and services to a greater number of the world’s poor. Under its commitment, “Using Technology to Reach the Next Billion,” WWB will conduct a one-year feasibility study on the readiness of MFIs to successfully provide mobile banking to the world’s “unbanked,” and develop best practices to help MFIs overcome the obstacles that currently exist. The “Commitment to Action” announcement was made in President Clinton’s afternoon plenary remarks at the 2008 Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting in New York City.

Despite the fact that 133 million of the world’s poor are currently being served by microfinance products and services, microfinance is still a largely untapped market, with close to one billion additional potential customers. Mobile banking has vast potential to close this demand gap by rapidly scaling up access to basic financial services for the poor; yet, MFIs have had little success in using mobile phones as part of their growth or outreach strategies, largely because of the difficulties in finding a technology that works across geographies or achieves scale. The WWB commitment, “Using Technology to Reach the Next Billion,” aims to build a sound foundation of data that will inform the development of best practices in the provision of m-banking services, including how to overcome the obstacles that currently exist. Through in-depth research with its network members, WWB will provide a platform to determine how technology can be optimally used to alleviate poverty, and what partnerships are required to scale up technological solutions.

“Though microfinance has proven enormously successful in lifting millions of people around the world— especially women—out of poverty, it is crucial that we continue to develop innovative solutions to reach the almost one billion ‘unbanked’ who have yet to benefit,” said Mary Ellen Iskenderian, president and CEO of Women’s World Banking. “Thanks to the tremendous growth in mobile phone use in developing countries, mobile banking holds great promise as a tool for expanding microfinance’s economic empowerment and poverty alleviation potential. Women’s World Banking is excited to join the Clinton Global Initiative in this commitment to promote new ideas that will transform the lives of millions of the world’s poor.”

The CGI commitment draws on Women’s World Banking’s proven expertise in developing innovative new products and services—including individual lending, housing loans and savings products—for its global network of 54 microfinance providers and banks in 30 countries. Collectively the WWB core network serves over 11 million poor entrepreneurs, 75% of whom are women.

Under its commitment, WWB will:

• Retain an expert with ICT and microfinance experience to design a survey for WWB network members;
• Analyze the results of the survey to determine how MIS systems and internal operations need to change, along with the costs of these changes, in order to benefit from mobile banking;
• Survey MFI customers to understand the barriers for adoption and how they may vary geographically;
• Recommend specific interventions to remove some of these barriers (for instance, those stemming from a lack of financial education);
• Survey mobile operators to determine how MFIs can best partner with them to boost the usage and impact of mobile phones;
• Analyze the existing networks of banking agents to determine best practices for bringing mobile banking to scale.

WWB believes that since one of the primary obstacles to an MFI’s ability to adopt mobile banking is the lack of adequate back office systems, a significant focus must be placed on evaluating and developing the institutional capacity of the individual MFI. With this in mind, WWB will take into account the MIS, operational and regulatory challenges that the MFIs face in providing m-banking services, and how to best address these issues.

“The return on investment of expanding access to microfinance services through mobile banking goes far beyond increasing the economic empowerment of the individual low-income entrepreneur,” said Iskenderian. “Reaching more of the world’s unbanked—especially women, who invest back into their communities at higher rates than men, at 89 cents on the dollar versus 60 cents, respectively—also has exponential long-term poverty alleviation benefits that make our world a more peaceful and prosperous place.”

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About Women’s World Banking

WWB is a global network of 54 microfinance providers and banks, working in 30 countries to bring financial products and services to low-income entrepreneurs, especially women. The network serves 11 million microentrepreneurs directly, and another 10 million indirectly through its bank partners and other regional networks. WWB is supported by an international team of experts based in New York that delivers expertise in product design and distribution, access to capital markets, and customer care and insight.

About the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI)

Established in 2005 as a project of the non-partisan William J. Clinton Foundation, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) convenes global leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges. Since 2005, CGI members have made nearly 1,000 Commitments to Action valued at upwards of $30 billion to improve more than 200 million lives in over 150 countries around the world. Through past Annual Meetings, CGI has brought together more than 80 current and former heads of state, hundreds of top CEOs and non-profit leaders, major philanthropists, and 10 of the last 16 Nobel Peace Prize laureates. For more details on CGI and the 2008 Annual Meeting, please visit the Clinton Global Initiative web site.