Women's World Banking's Network Member CECM in Burundi helps women to rebuild their lives with microfinance savings and microfinance loans after civil war.

Being a girl in many parts of the world even in the 21st century is not easy. Many girls in the developing world leave secondary school before completion. Even if they complete school, their opportunities for economic independence are minimal, with options typically limited to working in the informal economy or marrying at an early age. 

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(Reuters) - Microfinance institutions should work to convince the poor to put their meager savings in bank deposits rather than under the mattress, so banks can become more profitable and make more loans, experts say. Read full article

In an article published in The Economist titled, Microfinance focuses on lending. Now the industry is turning to deposits, Sarita Gupta, VP for Global Resources and Communications responds:

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BBC News article highlighting Sumitra, a client of Friends of Women's World Banking India (FWWB). Read the full article.

WWB announced today a landmark $8.5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that will enable it to create over the next ten years innovative savings products and services for nearly seven million low-income people in Latin America, Africa and Asia. WWB will use the foundation grant to support investments at four of its flagship network members in elements that are vital to effective savings mobilization.

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In an industry best known for lending small amounts to the working poor, emerging models in microfinance are reaching more clients with customized products and services through new channels. Women’s World Banking (WWB) and its network member XacBank are innovating in each of these areas to launch a savings and financial education program for girls in Mongolia. Anjali Banthia and Benjamin Shell from WWB provide a snapshot of how their project is pushing the industry in unexpected directions.

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Coverage on network member XacBank and its products plus the initiative with Nike Foundation: Small Deposits Add Up: Savings, not just loans, factor into microfinance formula

In its thirty years of working with women entrepreneurs, WWB has proven that having access to safe, flexible and confidential savings products has significant empowerment potential. WWB believes that the effect will be the same for a group not traditionally involved in the financial sector: young women between the ages of 7 and 24.

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WWB has embarked on a program to introduce savings into the product mix of several of its network members, helping them to meet the evolving needs of their clients. WWB Network members that are currently implementing savings programs and products cover the globe and are in various stages of the process, ranging from the pilot phase to allowing clients to channel money from remittances into goal-oriented savings products. Savings can greatly benefit low-income entrepreneurs, giving them a means to build assets, such as housing, and attain long-term goals and financial security.

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