by Jeffrey Erfe -

PIONEERS IN MICROFINANCE: Five Asian Pioneers: Mechai Viravaidya of Thailand, Anton Soedjarwo of Indonesia, Vijay Mahajan of India, Bambang Ismawan of Indonesia, and Karunawathie Menike of Sri Lanka

Microcapital has identified the following five Asian microfinance “pioneers,” individuals who have made long-standing contributions to the evolution and promotion of microfinance practices and/or technology in Asia:  Mechai Viravaidya of Thailand, Anton Soedjarwo of Indonesia, Vijay Mahajan of India, Bambang Ismawan of Indonesia, and Karunawathie Menike of Sri Lanka.  Below are short descriptons of the contributions of each:

by Scott Everett -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: FINO Reaches Two-million Unbanked Populations in India and Releases Micro-Loan Management Software

Financial Information Network and Operations Ltd. (FINO), a technology organization that produces biometric smartcards and micro-loan management software, has completed 2 million enrollments of customers in India. The number of enrollments increased from 1 million to 2 million in less than 4 months with an average of 20,000 customers being enrolled per day. FINO’s rapid growth is in part due to the extensive network of banks and other financial and government institutions utilizing their technology. That network includes Axis Bank, Bank of Baroda, Corporation Bank, DGB, ICICI Bank, ING Vysya, OBC, PNB, and UBI.

by Jeffrey Erfe -

MICROCAPITAL EXCERPT: Sa-Dhan Publishes Online Interactive State-by-State Map of Microfinance Institutions in India

Posted by Michael Chasnow at 6:03pm on Friday, September 26, 2008, available at: http://www.indiadevelopmentblog.com/

Michael Chasnow recently called attention to this interactive map of Indian microfinance institutions (MFIs) state-by-state.  On the website of Sa-Dhan, an association of Indian community development institutions, users can click on each state in India to learn which MFIs operate in what districts of each state.  Districts are divided into “poor” and “other” (i.e. richer) districts.  Only the names of the MFIs are provided on the interactive “Microfinance Map”; however, users can find out more detailed information on MFI activity in each state by clicking on the “Portfolio, Outreach & MFIs List” tab.   

by Jeffrey Erfe -

MICROCAPITAL EXCERPT: Blogger Chronicles Effect of Financial Crisis on Indian Microfinance Institution’s Interest-Rates and Customer Service

Posted by Michael Chasnow at 1:55pm on Sunday, October 12, 2008, available at: http://www.indiadevelopmentblog.com/

The following is an anecdote detailing the effect of the financial crisis on the business operations of one Indian microfinance institution (MFI).  Michael Chasnow does not provide any identifying information on the MFI, but the story is an interesting counter-balance to the claims of Yunus and Clinton on the balmy, if not ameliorative, effect of the credit crisis on microfinance.  For more information, please see Microcapitol’s recent coverage of the crisis’ effect on microfinance and Jerry Peloquin’s recent guest editorial on the credit crunch and socially responsible investment. 

by Lori Curtis -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: India’s NABARD Announces New Strategy to Apparently Further Complicate Its Conflict of Interest in Microfinance

India’s National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has proposed a new, multi faceted strategy to reposition itself as the economy changes, it was reported in the Financial Express. The changes include setting up a direct financing subsidiary for microfinance, separating NABARD Consultancy (NABCONS) into an independent subsidiary and creating an independent supervisory board over cooperative banks, among other, more general changes. The reason for these changes was cited as responding to “the changing economic scenario”.

by Scott Everett -

TECHNOLOGY FOCUS: Mobile Banking in India – hyped or popular? A CGAP Interview

The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), the leading microfinance think tank housed at the World Bank, recently posted an interview with with Naushad Contractor about India’s mobile banking trends in their technology blog. Naushad heads marketing for mobile commerce at Vodafone Essar ltd., India. He is also on the regulatory committee of the Mobile Payments Forum of India. He was a member of the core team that launched and made Remit2India.com the World’s No.1 Independent Money Transfer Portal for Non Resident Indians.

by Yrenilsa Lopez -

MICROFINANCE EVENT: ACCESS Development Services to host Fifth Annual Microfinance India Summit 2008 in New Delhi

MICROFINANCE INDIA SUMMIT 2008

NOVEMBER 11 -13 2008, HOTEL ASHOK, NEW DELHI

The fifth annual Microfinance India Summit is organized by ACCESS Development Services and will feature “The Poor First” as its central theme. Issues discussed will pertain to the quality of products and services provided to the poor, client protection, community based models and the challenges of inclusive finance.

by Yrenilsa Lopez -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Madura Micro Finance to receive USD 4.52 Million from Unitus Equity Fund L.P. to expand upon Rural Microcredit Products in India

Unitus Equity Fund L.P., a Seattle-based private equity investment firm announced a funding of Rs 22 Crores (USD 4.52 million) to Madura Micro Finance Limited (MMFL) an Indian microfinance institution. Madura is a non-banking finance company servicing India’s rural poor population. It has credit networks throughout the 182 branches within the rural Tamil Nadue province, and mostly works in association with large commercial banks as sources of credit.

by Jeffrey Erfe -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: BlueOrchard Microfinance Invests $5.3m and Purchases Equity Stake in Indian Microfinance Institution Asmitha Microfin Limited

On September 30, BlueOrchard Private Equity, the private equity arm of BlueOrchard Microfinance Investment Managers, invested INR 250 million (USD 5.3 million) and purchased a minority stake in Asmitha Microfin Limited, the fourth largest non-banking financial company in India.  This will be BlueOrchard’s first equity investment deal with an Indian microfinance institution (MFI).  With the new investment, Asmitha intends to expand its capital base and to bolster its borrowing capacity in order to shore up its microfinance lending operations.   The new partnership is a strategic development for BlueOrchard, which hopes to consolidate its presence in India in the coming years.

by Greg Casey -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Indian Technology Company, Comat, Raises $12.5m from Omiydar Network and Unitus Equity Fund of the United States

Comat, a technology company providing services to rural India, recently raised INR 60 crore (USD 12.5m) from the Omidyar Network and the Unitus Equity Fund (UEF). According to a Business Standard article, the new investment will allow “Comat to expand to new States, accelerate service delivery for training and financial services [and] strengthen management bandwidth.”

by Lori Curtis -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Indian Finance Minister Promises Credit to North Eastern Region

The Finance Minister of India stated that the North Eastern region of India would receive an increased flow of credit from the central government, addressing the Special Summit on Banking, Industries and Credit Issues in the North Eastern Region organised by the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) at Vigyan Bhavan. The Finance Minister, Chidambaram, stated that although the North Eastern region is not currently receiving enough credit, it will begin to. The Summit was attended by the Minister of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), the deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India, the Chairman of the State Bank of India and other top officials of line ministries and financial institutions.