Grameen II 9 - A Critique of GB II’s Means Test for Membership
In early 2004, Grameen field staff began using revised guidelines to determine whether applicant households qualified as poor enough to become members (that is, eligible to borrow from the bank). The new guidelines maintain the focus on land and asset ownership that has always characterised Grameen’s means test (and been copied by most MFIs in Bangladesh).
Grameen II 8 - Lessons From The Grameen II Revolution
Grameen took 27 years to reach 2.5 million members – and then doubled that in the full establishment of Grameen II. Even in Bangladesh’s fiercely competitive environment Grameen continues to grow at a remarkable rate attracting around 140,000 new members each month – a staggering 1.7 million new members every year.
Grameen II 7 - Uses and users of MFI loans in Bangladesh
The author's study of the ‘financial diaries’ methodology provided unusual and valuable insights into how MFI loans are actually used and why. This is because they tracked the day-to-day activities of 53 village households over two or three years in great detail, helping them to construct ‘diaries’ of their financial lives.
Grameen II 6 - Membership in Bangladeshi MFIs: growing, volatile, and multiple
Estimating the number of Bangladesh’s microfinance clients (known almost always as ‘members’) has never been easy in an industry that lacks a credit bureau or other reliable way of tracking users of financial services.
Grameen II 5 - Grameen II’s Membership
Grameen's ‘members’ are its clients, who own a share of the bank and gather in small groups to receive its services. The most startling fact about membership since the launch of Grameen II has been its rapid and accelerating growth.
Grameen II 4 - Financial Performance
Grameen Bank’s audited accounts for 2003 show a six-fold increase in net profits over 2002 – from 60 to 358 million taka (US$6 million). 2003 was the first full year of ‘Grameen II’, so this surge in profit looks like a good return on the decision to launch Grameen II. So where did these profits come from?
Grameen II 3 - The New Loan Arrangements
Changes to loan arrangements attracted attention when Grameen II was announced in 2002. The ‘flexi’ loan – a system for quickly rescheduling loans in repayment arrears – aroused concern: Grameen’s loan portfolio was known to have been weakened by floods and other problems in the 1990s, so some worried that wholesale rescheduling of loans would make things worse rather than better.
Grameen II 2 - Member Savings
The first note in this series, ‘What is Grameen II?’ introduced the Grameen Bank and the changes it has made recently, known as the ‘Grameen Generalised System’ or ‘Grameen II’. This second note in the Grameen II series now addresses specifically the significant growth in new member savings. Some of the most important changes are in the bank’s new approach to savings deposits.
Grameen II 1 - What Is Grameen II? Is It Up And Running In The Field Yet?
Grameen Bank began as a project to deliver credit to poor rural Bangladeshis in 1976. Led by its founding Managing Director, Muhammad Yunus, it steadily developed what it now calls its ‘classic’ microcredit system. Poor villagers joined weekly-meeting groups, took loans from the bank as individuals, and undertook to help each other should they fall into difficulty.
Also Visit
 |
 |
 |
