Microfinance Opportunities

MFO’s Executive Director Guy Stuart was recently interviewed by Sharon D’Onofrio, Executive Director of SEEP, for a series called Meet the Practitioner. The discussion focused on the newly released Savings as a Cornerstone report and the current state of savings in developing countries. Check … Continue →

Microfinance Opportunities, commissioned by and in partnership with Triple Jump Advisory Services, conducted a global study on MFIs’ experience and interest in mobile phone banking services.  The study included an online survey followed by select individual interviews with MFI executives.  … Continue →

MFO has been contracted by Access to Finance Rwanda (AFR) to lead the development of a National Financial Education Strategy (NFES) for Rwanda. In a 1.5 day financial education workshop on Oct. 25 and 26, key stakeholders joined AFR and the Ministry … Continue →

In a fitting tribute to MFO’s Founder, Monique Cohen, Beth Rhyne, Managing Director of Accion International’s Center for Financial Inclusion, noted “Monique staked her position from the start as a champion for the client.” She went on to describe the … Continue →

This November, MFO’s Monique Cohen and Maria Jaramillo will offer a training session in conjunction with the SEEP Annual Conference. The title of the course is Introduction to Financial Education for Branchless Banking. The one-day training will introduce participants to … Continue →

MFO’s Guy Stuart and Maria Jaramillo headlined a Microlinks AfterHours seminar on September 27, titled Putting Clients at the Center: Designing and Delivering Effective Financial Services.  Maria shared how results of a consumer education pilot helped MFO to better understand … Continue →

For the last 12 years, MFO FE Associate Cassia D’Aquino has served as a consultant for the credit bureau Serasa Experian in Sao Paolo, Brazil. In 2008, she was asked to develop a project relevant to Brazil’s low-income population. Cassia … Continue →

As in years past, MFO President and Founder Monique Cohen taught a week-long course at this summer’s Boulder Microfinance Training Programme (MFT) in Turin, Italy from July 16-20. Along with MFO Senior Advisor Guy Stuart, Monique led a course titled Client … Continue →

MFO recently signed a contract with Access to Finance Rwanda (AFR) to develop a national financial education strategy for Rwanda. To design this strategy, MFO will draw on not only our experience in Kenya, where we laid the foundation for … Continue →

  Regular patrons of One Economy’s Community Knowledge Centers in South Africa now have a new tool to help them manage their money – an online financial capability quiz. Users in the computer-equipped centers can click on a link to … Continue →

MFO recently received a grant from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to collaborate with the Bank of Mongolia (BoM) and the Financial Regulatory Commission (FRC) to deliver financial education through a national television program. MFO will provide technical assistance on … Continue →

MFO Senior Advisor Guy Stuart recently contributed a blog to the Center for Financial Inclusion’s (CFI) website on cash flow in the low-income community, titled “A New Business Model for Savings Mobilization?” Stuart argues that it is critical to determine how and when low-income people … Continue →

MFO Training Officer Julie Lee recently guest blogged for GSMA’s website, Mobile Money for the Unbanked. The post, titled “Beyond marketing:  building trust and the value proposition for mobile money through consumer education,” offers providers strategies to address clients’ apprehension toward … Continue →

President & Founder Monique Cohen contributed her insights on financial education and client capability to the Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI) Blog. Titled “Financial Education: A Means to a Means,” the blog discusses the powerful impact that financial education can have on both the success … Continue →

Research Officer Craig Tower recently traveled to South Africa to oversee financial capabilities research by One Global Economy (OGE). Under a project sponsored by CISCO, MFO is creating a web-based version of its Financial Capabilities Index (FCI). The FCI portal will … Continue →

MFO Senior Advisor Guy Stuart traveled to Uttar Pradesh, India in late February as part of MFO’s work on consumer education associated with FINO’s use of smart cards. Dr. Stuart is directing an evaluation using transactions data to analyze clients’ financial behavior to determine whether … Continue →

MFO recently collaborated with MAMTA, Health Institute for Mother & Child, a NGO based in New Delhi, India. Their Meri Life Meri Choice project, funded by the Elton John AIDS Foundation, targets adolescent boys and girls ages 10-19 in Uttar … Continue →

BBC’s The Forum aired “Ignorance: Good or Bad for Us?” on March 4, 2012. The program featured Monique Cohen, Ph.D., Founder/President of Microfinance Opportunities and two other panelists discussing the implications and challenges of ignorance in their fields. Dr. Cohen … Continue →

  Today MFO is engaging in the Center for Financial Inclusion’s “Expert Exchange: Building A Movement Toward Financial Inclusion by 2020″, which aims to cultivate conversation around the goal of reaching full financial inclusion by 2020. In a guest blog … Continue →

A new post from MFO Senior Advisor Guy Stuart on the Center for Financial Inclusion blog details the difficulties of product-design for low-income consumers. Based on “Channeling Cash: Towards a New Business Model for Low-Income Savings Mobilization”, this recent post … Continue →

Luke Upchurch, Head of Communications at Consumers International (CI), recently praised the success of the CI Handbook, titled “Financial Education Counselling: Counsellor’s Handbook,” created in collaboration with MFO. The handbook aims to provide a free, simple and accessible way to train … Continue →

The Elton John Foundation recently awarded MFO a grant to create a 10-hour financial literacy curriculum for adolescent girls in New Delhi, India. The work in New Delhi is underway, and Deputy Executive Director Leslie Barcus and Program Officer Bailey Butzberger … Continue →

MFO partnered with the International Labour Organization (ILO) to develop a two-part training package to serve organizations that teach financial skills to migrant workers. MFO contributed to the financial education curriculum design, development and delivery for the recent publications, titled Budget Smart – … Continue →

During the last quarter of 2011, MFO partnered with the YouthSave Consortium to design an SMS campaign that delivers financial education to low-income youth in Colombia. The messages are aimed at increasing savings behavior among youth who open a bank account … Continue →

  President & Founder Monique Cohen held an interactive workshop to start the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) annual training and planning week on January 23. The audience included MIX staff, primarily analysts and those involved in technology, marketing and fundraising, who participated … Continue →

As part of the Nike Foundation’s global initiative to empower adolescent girls, MFO together with three grantee organizations designed and tested an innovative programming model that combines financial education, savings, and social support. The grantees (CARE Burundi, The Population Council/ MicroSave, and Women’s … Continue →

In 2010, MFO partnered with the Association of Kenya Insurers (AKI) to produce an educational radio campaign on insurance that was broadcast nationally on two of the country’s leading stations. The pioneering campaign, funded by the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) … Continue →

You can read about MFO’s work in industry blogs across the web. As part of Kiva’s Nonfinancial Services blog series, President Monique Cohen wrote about financial education and its intersection with microfinance. She also guest posted on the CGAP technology … Continue →

While presenting at conferences in Peru, Singapore, the Bahamas, Brazil, Paraguay, and India this fall, MFO staff noticed an interesting trend: consumer education has gone mainstream. Whether hearing from MFIs, central banks, insurers, or telecommunications companies, the message is clear. … Continue →

President Monique Cohen presented at the Global Microcredit Summit, held November 14-17 in Valladolid, Spain. The sold-out conference included six plenary sessions, over 50 workshops, and day-long courses in order to track progress in the field and inspire attendees to … Continue →

  On November 29, MFO hosted a webinar to discuss the challenges to uptake and usage of branchless banking, identified through market research studies carried out in the Philippines, India, Malawi and Zambia. Participants in the webinar learned how MFO … Continue →

  President Monique Cohen and Senior Advisor Guy Stuart will present the findings in MFO’s recent financial diaries report on mobile money use in Kenya at the Microfinance Club of London on November 10. The report, titled Cash In, Cash … Continue →

  On Tuesday, November 1, four individuals represented MFO at the SEEP Network Conference in Washington, DC:   President and Founder Monique Cohen presented at a breakfast session titled Financial Education for Financial Inclusion. She introduced participants to the recently-published … Continue →

  The lack of insurance culture in low income communities is a key challenge for those seeking to develop microinsurance services. Insurers must find ways to increase awareness and understanding of insurance, and to build trust within communities, if they … Continue →

  CORRECTION:This article ran in the October edition of “Microfinance Opportunities In Focus” but the text has been updated to note that the update comes from the South Eastern Private Sector Promotion Enterprise Ltd (SEPSPEL) and not the Association of … Continue →

  In the upcoming months, Monique Cohen will be guest blogging on behalf of MFO on various industry blogs, beginning with a post on the SEEP Network blog about what we can learn from current financial education programs in terms … Continue →

  MFO Program Manager Maria Jaramillo recently presented at FOROMIC 2011: Inter-American Forum on Microenterprise in Costa Rica from October 10-12. Jaramillo presented on how financial education can provide low-income households with tools that can help them save and hold … Continue →

  On September 8th, Guy Stuart, Senior Advisor to MFO, presented at a research colloquium hosted by Financial Sector Deepening Kenya (FSDK). He presented on the results of the MFO’s latest Financial Diaries study, the first major study in Kenya … Continue →

  Correction: This article ran in the October edition of “Microfinance Opportunities In Focus” but the text has been updated since to note the partnership of The MasterCard Foundation and support from IFC.   From September 21-30, MFO Training Officer … Continue →

Join MFO for a Webinar on November 29 where MFO will present the challenges to usage of Branchless Banking identified through market research studies. Learn how MFO is addressing branchless banking challenges through a package of tools for consumers and … Continue →

Microfinance Opportunities publishes Cash In, Cash Out Kenya, the first in-depth look at M-PESA using the Financial Diaries research methodology—and the first major report to provide contextual and critical analysis of where mobile money might expand  beyond “send money home.” … Continue →

Drawing on MFO’s expertise, the MasterCard Foundation recently published “Taking Stock: Financial Education Initiatives for the Poor,” a series of case studies commissioned to understand the landscape of financial education programs, what works and why. The research design, framing and … Continue →

MFO’s Deputy Executive Director, Leslie Barcus, recently gave two keynote addresses at a Financial Literacy Conference in Nairobi, Kenya co-sponsored by Opportunity International and the Financial Education Fund (FEF). In her keynotes, she addressed the methods and challenges of assessing … Continue →

MFO was invited by Solidarios, the Council of Foundations for Development in the Americas to present at a conference titled ¨Microfinance, Development and Inclusion: Solutions in Times of Change¨ held in Bogotá, Colombia from July 7-8. MFO’s Maria Jaramillo, Program Manager … Continue →

Microfinance Opportunities has just been named the recipient of a $475,000 grant from the Citi Foundation, our sixth consecutive grant from Citi to date. The new grant supports the creation of a global network of certified master trainers in financial … Continue →

Due to the success of our recent Financial Diaries study, FSD Kenya invited MFO to conduct an all-day Financial Diaries workshop in Nairobi on May 18. The objectives were to explore how the M-Pesa product relates to financial behavior, and … Continue →

On June 22, MFO’s Monique Cohen and Leslie Barcus presented at an exciting roundtable event organized by the BSR (Business for Social Responsibility) and sponsored by the Citi Foundation, titled “Financial Inclusion in the Supply Chain”. During the 2-hour webinar, … Continue →

Monique Cohen attended the Financial Inclusion Policymakers Forum sponsored by OECD, CGAP, AFI, and Bank Negara Malaysia, on April 5-6 in Kuala Lumpur. The forum hosted regulators and policymakers from across the globe to discuss the consumer protection and financial … Continue →

At the request of The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and Intercooperation, Monique Cohen prepared the opening presentation, on the topic of “Financial Education: Opportunities and Challenges”, at the Savings and Credit Forum held in Switzerland on May 13. Read more.

On May 12-13, Monique attended Child and Youth Finance International’s board-in-formation meeting in Amsterdam. Read more.

Read her insights on financial literacy, the need for financial education, media as an effective delivery channel, microinsurance, and consumer research.

Microfinance Opportunities announced the selection of a new partner in Africa to help implement its Consumer Education for Branchless Banking (CEBB) program: Opportunity International Bank of Malawi (OIBM). Read more.

A new resource manual from Microfinance Opportunities, Consumer Protection: Balancing Rights and Responsibilities, aims to build consumer confidence in their interactions with formal financial service providers. “Microfinance Opportunities felt strongly about writing this resource manual in order to bring the … Continue →

Microfinance Opportunities recently released its research publication, Cash In, Cash Out: Financial Transactions and Access to Finance in Malawi. Conducted among more than 250 low-income respondents, the study uses the “financial diaries” methodology, meticulously documenting the actual financial behaviors of … Continue →