Microfinance and Savings Outreach: What Are We Measuring?

prepared by Daniel Rozas and Gabriela Erice, 2014.

In this paper, we estimate the number of empty savings accounts at MFIs and banks in Bolivia, Nicaragua, and Pakistan, as well as in cooperatives among a mix of countries worldwide. We find that 50-75% of savings accounts are empty, while balances of non-empty accounts are at least double the average reported size. Rather than reaching a broad base of traditional microfinance clients, many MFIs are reaching a substantially smaller number of families in the lower middle class and above.View or download the paper below and the Excel file here.