Standard Chartered Bank (SCB), a UK-based financial services company, recently notified MicroCapital that it has disbursed local-currency loans equivalent to USD 13 million to Janalakshmi Financial Services Private Limited (JFS) and Ujjivan Financial Services Private Limited (UFS).
Search Results for: india
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: German KfW Bank Invests $3.28m in Equity in Invest India Micro Pension Services
Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau Entwicklungsbank (KfW), a German state-owned development bank, has invested USD 3.28 million in equity in Invest India Micro Pension Services (IIMPS), a New Delhi-based regulator of micro-pension and long-term micro-savings products for poor people, in order to expand pension services to the working poor [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India’s Bandhan Microfinance Institution to Cut Interest Rates as a Commercial Bank
Bandhan Microfinance, a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Kolkata, India, has applied for a banking license to convert to a commercial bank, which reportedly will reduce costs, reduce interest rates on loans and increase the number of clients [1]. The current interest rate on loans that Bandhan offers is 22 percent; as a commercial bank it can potentially offer rates as low as 12 percent because it can fund loans from deposits, thus reducing its dependence on borrowing costly funds from other banks [2].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) Launches India Microfinance Platform
The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), a state-owned bank, with the help of the World Bank, a US-based international development institution, and implemented by the US-based nonprofit Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), has launched the India Microfinance Platform, a web-based portal that will provide information on all the microfinance organizations in India.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Germany’s Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (KfW) Loans $130m to Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for Micro-, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise (MSME)
Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (KfW), a German development bank, recently loaned a total of EUR 100 million (USD 130 million) to Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), a state-owned bank, for on-lending to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in India.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Creation Investments Social Ventures Fund II Completes Closing with $75m, Disburses Equity Investments in Grupo Finclusion of Mexico; Sonata, Grameen Koota of India
Creation Investments Social Ventures Fund II, a US-based private equity fund managed by Creation Investments Capital Management, has completed final closing with USD 75 million in committed capital.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Indian Microlenders Seek More Time to Repay Funds On-Lent in Andhra Pradesh, Where Microlender Sees “No Improvement At All”
Wholesale loans covering INR 55 billion (USD 944 million) in Indian microloans reportedly are at risk of becoming classified as “non-performing assets” (NPAs) if microfinance institutions (MFIs) do not begin making payments on the loans before the expiration of a 90-day repayment window that begins on June 30, 2013.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ICICI Bank, Vodafone Bring M-Pesa Mobile Money Service to India
Vodafone Group Private Limited Corporation, a British multinational mobile network operator, and the ICICI Bank, a commercial bank in India, have announced that they have expanded Vodafone’s mobile pesa (M-Pesa) cash transfer service to India.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Reserve Bank of India Raises Interest Margin Cap to 12% for Larger Microfinance Institutions
For non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and microfinance institutions (MFIs) of all sizes, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the country’s central banking institution, recently set the margin cap, the difference between the amount charged to the borrower and the institution’s cost of funds at 12 percent at least until April 1, 2014 [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) of India Proposes Microinsurance Firms Provide Maturity Benefit Policies to Boost Sales
In an effort to boost sales of microinsurance in India, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), the country’s regulatory body for the insurance industry, reportedly has proposed that microinsurance firms offer policies with maturity benefits [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Nine Indian Impact Investment Companies Forming “Indian Impact Investor Council”
Nine companies that specialize in impact investment reportedly will be establishing the “Indian Impact Investor Council” (IIIC) to establish guidelines helping investment companies in India regulate their efforts to meet social goals.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Savings Groups in Rural Mali, Three Market Archetypes Advancing Financial Inclusion, Long-term Trends in India’s Rural Credit Market
“Final Impact Evaluation of the Savings for Change Program in Mali;” by Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology at The University of Arizona and Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA); published by Oxfam America and Freedom from Hunger; April 2013; 215 pages; available at http://www.oxfamamerica.org/issues/community-finance/files/final-impact-evaluation-saving-for-change
This report presents the results from a study conducted by The University of Arizona and Innovations for Poverty (IPA) between 2009 and 2012 intended to explore the impact of savings groups in 500 villages in rural Mali, where 82 percent of surveyed households live on approximately USD 1.25 per day and the “typical village is more than 14 miles from a paved road.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Oxigen of India Unveils OxiCash Money Transfer Service
Oxigen, an India-based payment solutions provider, has announced a new mobile money transfer service called OxiCash, which is intended to provide poor people with a “mobile wallet” for receiving funds and transferring money between bank accounts.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Accion Venture Lab Invests in 5 Startups Aiming to Bring Financial Services to Poor People, Including Salud Facil of Mexico, Varthana of India
Accion, a US-based provider of microenterprise loans and business training in 31 countries, has announced that its Accion Venture Lab, which provides seed capital and management support to financial inclusion startups, will invest an aggregate of USD 10 million in startup companies that deliver financial services to poor people around the globe.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATON ROUND-UP: Rural Finance in Laos, Micro-Health Insurance in Rural India, Distribution Models in Mobile Financial Services
“Rural Finance in Loas: GIZ Experience in Remote Rural Areas;” by Klaus Prochaska, Dennis Fischer, Philipp Hauger, Tony Deary; published by Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ); December 2012; 40 pages; available at: http://www.microfinancegateway.org/gm/document-1.9.61072/Rural_Finance_in%20Laos_Paper_GIZ_2012.pdf
This report presents an analysis of the “Microfinance in Rural Areas – Access to Finance for the Poor” project, which is operated by Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), an agency of the German Government, in partnership with the Bank of Lao, the central bank of Laos.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Reserve Bank of India Aims to Increase Financial Inclusion in Unbanked Areas; Number of Indian Villages with Financial Access Tripled to 211k
According to data presented by Deepali Pant Joshi, executive director of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), at the recent International Summit of Skill Development in New Delhi, the number of villages with access to banks has risen from 67,000 in March 2010 to 211,000 in December 2012 out of a total of 600,000 villages in the country.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Plays, Postcards Help Indian Microinsurers to Increase Renewals
Microinsurance providers in India have recently implemented strategies such as street plays and handwritten postcards in local languages to increase policy renewals.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Stree Nidhi to Loan $308m to Self-help Groups in Indian State of Andhra Pradesh in 2013
Stree Nidhi Credit Cooperation Federation Limited, a microfinance bank established by the government of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, recently agreed to loan INR 16.9 billion (USD 308 million) to self-help groups (SHGs) in Andhra Pradesh during the fiscal year ending March 2014.