The MasterCard Foundation has launched a six-year, $17.6 million\u00a0initiative\u00a0inpartnership\u00a0with\u00a0Oxford\u00a0Policy\u00a0Management\u00a0to\u00a0increase\u00a0the\u00a0range\u00a0of\u00a0financial\u00a0services available to poor, rural populations in Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia.<\/p>\n
The \u201cSavings at the Frontier\u201d project will\u00a0employ\u00a0a\u00a0unique\u00a0approach\u00a0to\u00a0connect\u00a0250,000\u00a0people\u00a0tothe\u00a0formal\u00a0banking\u00a0system\u00a0by\u00a0designing\u00a0new financial products tailored for informal savings groups, which, according to the 2015 Global Findex, are used by approximately nine million adults in the three target\u00a0countries.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, those nine million people who are excluded from the formal banking system are finding value in the\u00a0informal\u00a0servicesoffered\u00a0by\u00a0savings\u00a0groups\u00a0or\u00a0clubs,\u201d\u00a0said\u00a0Ann\u00a0Miles,\u00a0Director\u00a0of\u00a0Financial\u00a0Inclusion\u00a0& Youth Livelihoods at The MasterCard Foundation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Global Findex noted that making the connection between\u00a0these\u00a0informal\u00a0savings\u00a0groups\u00a0and\u00a0the\u00a0formalbanking\u00a0system\u00a0is\u00a0one\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0three\u00a0most\u00a0promising opportunities for financial inclusion and could bring an additional 70 million people in Africa into the formal financial system. We want to help forge this connection with \u201cSavings at the\u00a0Frontier\u201d.<\/p>\n
Informal savings groups have existed for centuries in many parts of the world, often due to the very low incomes of rural poor people, the distance required to travel to bank branches or a lack of trust or familiarity with banks.<\/p>\n
These groups, which typically comprise 10 to 30 members, often exclusively women, pool small savings at regular meetings.<\/p>\n
The money collected is used to issue loans to group members\u00a0who\u00a0then\u00a0repay\u00a0the\u00a0loans\u00a0with\u00a0interest\u00a0rates\u00a0determined\u00a0by\u00a0the\u00a0group.<\/p>\n
Savings\u00a0groupshelp\u00a0their members with loans when unexpected events such as illness, crop failures or farm expansion opportunities occur.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s time to explore how we can combine the value of both informal and formal services for low-income individuals in order to optimise their choices and help them reach their socio-economic goals,\u201d said Machal Karim, Project Manager and financial sector development consultant at Oxford Policy Management. \u201cWe believe this is an opportunity for a bold, new approach to financial\u00a0inclusion.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oxford\u00a0Policy\u00a0Management\u00a0will\u00a0commission\u00a0special\u00a0research\u00a0to\u00a0develop\u00a0scalable\u00a0and\u00a0sustainable\u00a0business models.\u00a0Thisinformation\u00a0will\u00a0be\u00a0shared\u00a0with\u00a0the\u00a0global\u00a0development\u00a0community\u00a0and\u00a0the\u00a0financial\u00a0services industry in order to foster more financial inclusion\u00a0worldwide.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source:\u00a0 MasterCard Foundation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The MasterCard Foundation has launched a six-year, $17.6 million\u00a0initiative\u00a0inpartnership\u00a0with\u00a0Oxford\u00a0Policy\u00a0Management\u00a0to\u00a0increase\u00a0the\u00a0range\u00a0of\u00a0financial\u00a0services available to poor, rural populations in Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia. The \u201cSavings at the Frontier\u201d project will\u00a0employ\u00a0a\u00a0unique\u00a0approach\u00a0to\u00a0connect\u00a0250,000\u00a0people\u00a0tothe\u00a0formal\u00a0banking\u00a0system\u00a0by\u00a0designing\u00a0new financial products tailored for informal savings groups, which, according to the 2015 Global Findex, are used by approximately nine million adults in the three target\u00a0countries. \u201cToday, those nine […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":167242,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[19],"tags":[4],"yoast_head":"\n