The microfinance revolution, begun with independent initiatives in Latin America and South Asia starting in the 1970s, has so far allowed 65 million poor people around the world to receive small loans without collateral, build up assets, and buy insurance. This comprehensive survey of...

Microlending is growing in Eastern Europe, Russia and China as a flexible means of widening access to financial services, both to help alleviate poverty and to encourage private-sector activity. We describe mechanisms that allow these programmes to successfully penetrate new segments of credit...

Microlending is growing in Eastern Europe, Russia and China as a flexible means of widening access to financial services, both to help alleviate poverty and to encourage private-sector activity. We describe mechanisms that allow these programmes to successfully penetrate new segments of credit...

Intro -- Contents -- Preface to the Second Edition -- Preface to the First Edition -- Acknowledgments -- 1 - Rethinking Banking -- 2 - Why Intervene in Credit Markets? -- 3 - Roots of Microfinance: ROSCAs and Credit Cooperatives -- 4 - Group Lending -- 5 - Beyond Group Lending -- 6 - Savings and...