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Weblog
Only 357 days left to save for Christmas!Christmas 2007 has barely come and gone, but already eager customers in the UK (and probably other countries) have the opportunity to save towards vouchers or hampers for Christmas 2008, via websites like this one. This is more than simply... Continue reading "Only 357 days left to save for Christmas!" Posted by dporteous at January 03, 2008 Access to credit is not a human rightI recently attended a two day symposium organized by Harvard’s Joint Centre for Housing Studies on “Understanding Consumer Credit”. The focus of the papers and discussion was squarely on the US, especially in the light of the problems spilling out... Continue reading "Access to credit is not a human right" Posted by dporteous at December 04, 2007 G2P takes off--in IndiaLast week, I attended the CGAP/IFC conference entitled Next generation access to Financial Services. A wide range of increasingly well known models of mobile and branchless banking were discussed, especially on Day 2. Day 3 focused more on regulatory frameworks... Continue reading "G2P takes off--in India" Posted by dporteous at September 24, 2007 Kenya becomes latest nation to propose basic bank accountsAs other posts in this weblog have shown, a number of countries have adopted basic bank accounts as a way to promote access to financial services. Examples of these accounts include South Africa’s Mzansi account, introduced voluntarily by the larger... Continue reading "Kenya becomes latest nation to propose basic bank accounts" Posted by dporteous at September 14, 2007 “Massifying” access in Latin America: from the President downI have just returned from a most interesting conference on “Massifying access to financial services” arranged by the Banking Association of Colombia, Asobancaria, from 6–7 September 2007. The conference circuit on this topic is somewhat crowded at present, but this event... Continue reading "“Massifying” access in Latin America: from the President down" Posted by dporteous at September 08, 2007 Protecting your biggest asset“NEVER before have real house prices risen so fast, for so long, in so many countries. Property markets have been frothing from America, Britain and Australia to France, Spain and China. Rising property prices helped to prop up the world... Continue reading "Protecting your biggest asset" Posted by dporteous at September 26, 2005 Retailers and the last mile in inclusive financeAt the most basic level, widespread access to financial services requires the solving of two problems: the problem of risk—how to price and manage it—and the problem of distribution—how to reach even remote individual consumers. The most difficult part is... Continue reading "Retailers and the last mile in inclusive finance" Posted by dporteous at September 19, 2005 Money laundering and microfinanceWhat do money laundering and microfinance have in common? Hopefully, not a lot. However, the regime for countering money laundering (AML), and for its sister, combating the financing of terrorism (CFT), have become more stringent in design and application... Continue reading "Money laundering and microfinance" Posted by dporteous at September 10, 2005 Second African Microfinance Conference--Cape TownLast week, I spent 3 days in the fair city of Cape Town at the second bi-annual African Microfinance Conference. According to the Centre for Microfinance at University and the MFRC, which organized the conference, there were some 400... Continue reading "Second African Microfinance Conference--Cape Town" Posted by dporteous at September 05, 2005 History repeats itself in consumer creditThe National Credit Bill continues to wind its way through the parliamentary process in South Africa. The background to this bill, which will transform the regulation of the entire consumer credit sector in the country, has been discussed previously in... Continue reading "History repeats itself in consumer credit" Posted by dporteous at August 22, 2005 Smart cards and standardsNet 1 UEPS Technologies was listed in early August on the NASDAQ exchange. New listings, especially of technology companies, are common on NASDAQ. New listings of companies which claim to have a solution for all the world’s unbanked are... Continue reading "Smart cards and standards" Posted by dporteous at August 15, 2005 Mobile banking takes a big step forward11 August 2005 Today, newspapers in SA announced the launch of a significant mobile banking service: two large players-- MTN (press release here), with some 8 million cell phone subscribers, and Standard Bank, with 6 million banked customers, announced... Continue reading "Mobile banking takes a big step forward" Posted by dporteous at August 11, 2005 Mzansi cracks widen?This blog regularly follows the evolving roll out of basic bank accounts in several strategic emerging markets, such as South Africa and Brazil. SA banks’ Mzansi accounts have to date appeared to many like an unqualified success—over 1.3 million new... Continue reading "Mzansi cracks widen?" Posted by dporteous at August 08, 2005 Mzansi cracks widen?This blog regularly follows the evolving roll out of basic bank accounts in several strategic emerging markets, such as South Africa and Brazil. SA banks’ Mzansi accounts have to date appeared to many like an unqualified success—over 1.3 million new... Continue reading "Mzansi cracks widen?" Posted by dporteous at August 08, 2005 Cell phones in banking—the story continuesFor those interested in the convergence of wireless communications and consumer finance, last week’s Economist magazine carried an interesting article. Subtitled “Japan’s leading mobile operator believes it has found the next big thing”, the article described how DoCoMo has developed... Continue reading "Cell phones in banking—the story continues" Posted by dporteous at August 01, 2005 Commercial Banks in MicrofinanceThere has been a spate of recent publications on the topic of commercial banks and microfinance. These provide case studies of banks which have, in the language of this blog, pushed the ‘Bankable Frontier’. Together, the three publications highlighted in... Continue reading "Commercial Banks in Microfinance" Posted by dporteous at July 26, 2005 Social transfers and banking the poorGovernments in middle income countries are increasingly making cash transfers to poor citizens as a cost-effective means of poverty alleviation. Conditional and unconditional transfers now reach millions of people each month in countries like Brazil, Mexico and South Africa. There... Continue reading "Social transfers and banking the poor" Posted by dporteous at July 18, 2005 Competition heats up in banking—or is it the lack of competition?In June 2005, the European Union competition authorities announced a full scale Sector Inquiry into competition in retail banking. Citing the desire to further integrate retail financial service markets in Europe, the Commission said that the Inquiry would investigate factors... Continue reading "Competition heats up in banking—or is it the lack of competition?" Posted by dporteous at July 14, 2005 Big Banks, Small BanksThe US currently has 7598 commercial banks, down from just under 10 000 a decade ago. According to the first quarter 2005 FDIC Quarterly Banking Profile, 94% of these banks today reported assets of less than $1 billion. The assets... Continue reading "Big Banks, Small Banks" Posted by dporteous at July 11, 2005 What's on the cards for MicroFinance Institutions?Last week, Bank of America announced that it would spend $35 billion to buy MBNA, the third largest issuer of credit cards in the USA. The Wall Street Journal commented: “For MBNA, the acquisition plan underscores the fading glory... Continue reading "What's on the cards for MicroFinance Institutions?" Posted by dporteous at July 05, 2005 Cell phone moneyThe June 11th edition of The Economist describes how a Congolese mother recently settled the bribe necessary for officials across the country to allow her daughter, separated from her in the war, to travel to rejoin her: she bought pre-paid... Continue reading "Cell phone money" Posted by dporteous at July 01, 2005 Making Poverty History --through financial services?A recent Economist article about the US government’s new international aid channel, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, highlights some of the difficulties of adopting an alternative approach to aid, and yet also the need to do so. The MCC’s mission... Continue reading "Making Poverty History --through financial services?" Posted by dporteous at June 28, 2005 Protecting Microfinance ConsumersI recently co-authored a Focus Note for CGAP on Protecting Microfinance Borrowers. Consumer protection is a fast rising issue in microfinance today. The Focus Note provides a primer on the issue especially for the uninitiated. The Note is also complemented... Continue reading "Protecting Microfinance Consumers" Posted by dporteous at June 24, 2005 Microfinance: From Margin to…Text BoxThe Economist Intelligence Unit recently released a report on the challenges facing financial service businesses in the next five years to 2010. The report was based on the results of interviews with 577 financial services executives completed earlier this year;... Continue reading "Microfinance: From Margin to…Text Box" Posted by dporteous at June 23, 2005 Financial Diaries of South African householdsFrom SA Diaries website. This blog has on several occasions highlighted relevant findings from large household surveys of financial service usage in countries such as South Africa, Mexico and Brazil. These surveys give a useful overall picture, but... Continue reading "Financial Diaries of South African households" Posted by dporteous at June 02, 2005 Brazil & SA race to open basic bank accountsThe Banking Association of South Africa recently announced that 1 million new Mzansi basic bank accounts have been opened since its launch last October: this was an average of over 6000 new accounts per working day. Most of these were... Continue reading "Brazil & SA race to open basic bank accounts" Posted by dporteous at May 30, 2005 Housing microfinance: Fashion or Footwear?Comments made at the UN Association of Greater Boston Conference on MicroFinance, 23 May 2005 Discussing a different topic, a DFID colleague recently used the metaphor of shoes as either ‘Fashion or Footwear’. Today, I wish to apply that... Continue reading "Housing microfinance: Fashion or Footwear?" Posted by dporteous at May 24, 2005 The Debutante's BallRemarks Made at the UN Conference on Building Inclusive Financial Sectors 4 May 2005 It seems to me that this event has some of the characteristics of a ‘coming of age’ ball for microfinance. If the MicroCredit Summit... Continue reading "The Debutante's Ball" Posted by dporteous at May 14, 2005 Whose banker? Which bank?In the late 1980’s, philosopher Alastair McIntyre published a well known book called Whose Justice? Which Rationality? which critiqued the assumptions of post modernism. So, too, as we discuss The Bankable Frontier today, the questions emerge: Whose banker? Which... Continue reading "Whose banker? Which bank?" Posted by dporteous at May 09, 2005 Blue Book or blueprint?I have just been in beautiful Geneva, where exclusive private banks dedicated to serving the world’s wealthy, cluster on the banks of Lac Leman. I was there for the UN Conference on Building Inclusive Financial Sectors—in order words, to... Continue reading "Blue Book or blueprint?" Posted by dporteous at May 09, 2005 Comparative Access: along comes BrazilIn a previous blog post, I highlighted the comparative patterns in access to financial services which emerge as data becomes available from surveys in countries like Mexico and South Africa. Now Brazil can join the list of comparators. ... Continue reading "Comparative Access: along comes Brazil" Posted by dporteous at April 29, 2005 Markets and BazaarsJohn McMillan and his bazaar book I have been reading Reinventing the Bazaar: A Natural History of Markets. Written quite recently (2002) by Stanford Business School professor John McMillan, the book ranges widely over the topic of markets--of... Continue reading "Markets and Bazaars" Posted by dporteous at April 25, 2005 Too Much Capital Chasing too Few Goods in MicrofinanceA recent New York Times article calls attention to a very significant factor which is likely to have a dominant effect on capital markets for the next 5-10 years. It is also starting to have a significant effect on microfinance.... Continue reading "Too Much Capital Chasing too Few Goods in Microfinance" Posted by dporteous at April 19, 2005 Access or Ownership in the Market Eco-system?Last weekend, I heard CK Prahalad speak again—this time at a conference on Turning the Tide against Poverty at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. At the conference, he was billed to be engaged in a debate with Nobel... Continue reading "Access or Ownership in the Market Eco-system?" Posted by dporteous at April 15, 2005 The unbanked in US, Mexico and South AfricaJohn Caskey is the doyen of researchers on being unbanked in the US. His 1994 book on Fringe Banking launched a veritable cottage industry of research into what was then an emerging phenomenon in the US: people who lived their... Continue reading "The unbanked in US, Mexico and South Africa" Posted by dporteous at April 06, 2005 Mzansi account competitorsI have described elsewhere in this blog the rapid progress being made in the roll out of the Mzansi basic bank account, developed and launched in late 2004 by the big South Arican Banks as part of their Financial Sector... Continue reading "Mzansi account competitors" Posted by dporteous at April 04, 2005 Global Fair Banking InitiativeThis past weekend, I attended the annual conference of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC). This trade association of community development financial institutions and local activists across the US has a long history of engagement with US financial institutions over... Continue reading "Global Fair Banking Initiative" Posted by dporteous at March 18, 2005 Access or exclusion?Alan Roe of Oxford Policy Management and Stephen Peachy of TOTAL CONCEPT published a comprehensive paper on the topical issue of Access to Finance for the World Savings Bank Institute, which was presented at the October Brussels conference. The... Continue reading "Access or exclusion?" Posted by dporteous at March 16, 2005 Basic bank accounts take off in SAIn October 2004, with great fanfare, the major SA banks launched a new type of basic bank account under the umbrella brand Mzansi. This brand, carried on all the new debit cards issued, allows consumers to operate their... Continue reading "Basic bank accounts take off in SA" Posted by dporteous at March 10, 2005 Financial sector development, growth and povertyAcademic work assessing the link between financial sector development and the rate and nature of economic growth has quite a long empirical pedigree. It goes back to Yale’s Raymond Goldsmith, who assembled large quantities of data to test the correlation.... Continue reading "Financial sector development, growth and poverty" Posted by dporteous at March 01, 2005 CK Prahalad and the pyramidsCK Prahalad’s book “The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid” (Order from Amazon ) has been attracting widespread attention. For one thing, it is a business book bestseller for 2004. Favourable reviews have come from leading financial journals, as... Continue reading "CK Prahalad and the pyramids" Posted by dporteous at February 20, 2005 UN Blue bookAs part of the UN Year of Micro Credit (YOM), the UN’s Capital Development Fund and the Financing for Development Office of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs will be bringing out a “Blue Book on Building Inclusive... Continue reading "UN Blue book" Posted by dporteous at February 18, 2005 Unbanked newsDocuments and information in any medium from around the world (even in languages other than English) which mentions the word 'unbanked' is picked up and sent electronically to a group of individuals with a serious research interest by an official at the... Continue reading "Unbanked news" Posted by dporteous at February 18, 2005 Housing MicroFinance Arrives in the mainstreamFranck Daphnis and Bruce Ferguson edited the book Housing MicroFinance, recently released by Kumarian Press. The publishers’ blurb states that this is the “First book to link housing and microfinance”. This may well be so; books tend to lag... Continue reading "Housing MicroFinance Arrives in the mainstream" Posted by dporteous at February 18, 2005 Making Markets Work for the Poor (M4P)The Asian Development Bank and the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) joined to host a small conference in February in Manila on this topic, nicknamed M4P. Both agencies have M4P programs (in name anyway!) active in various parts of... Continue reading "Making Markets Work for the Poor (M4P)" Posted by dporteous at February 18, 2005 Microfinance joins the mainstreamImpeccably mainstream banking journal, The Banker, featured in its February 2005 edition an article with this title by Mark Malloch Brown, the head of the UNDP. This was of course linked to the UN Year of Micro Credit (YOM). In... Continue reading "Microfinance joins the mainstream" Posted by dporteous at February 17, 2005 Proximity Banking and access to financial servicesThe World Savings Bank Institute, based in Brussels, is a worthy body which recently convened a symposium on the issue of financial access. A broad range of speakers addressed conceptual issues of access and its outworking into a variety of... Continue reading "Proximity Banking and access to financial services" Posted by dporteous at February 17, 2005 Proximity Banking and access to financial servicesThe World Savings Bank Institute, based in Brussels, is a worthy body which recently convened a symposium on the issue of financial access. A broad range of speakers addressed conceptual issues of access and its outworking into a variety of... Continue reading "Proximity Banking and access to financial services" Posted by dporteous at February 17, 2005 Poverty and ProfitI recently attended the World Resources Institute Conference of this name in San Francisco, subtitled “Making Business Work for the Poor”. Some 800 others were there. What distinguished this event from run of the mill conferences was the sheer diversity... Continue reading "Poverty and Profit" Posted by dporteous at February 10, 2005 New waves in access to financial servicesThere has been a surge of interest in the past few years in the provision of formal financial services to a much broader section of the population—both in developed countries (see for example, the papers from 2003 Harvard Joint Centre... Continue reading "New waves in access to financial services" Posted by dporteous at February 03, 2005
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