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A Business Model for Going down Market: Combining Village Banking and Credit Unions


This paper investigates a business model for profitably serving the poorest segments of the microfinance market, along with some encouraging preliminary results. This article explores a creative way to break old paradigms in the quest to fulfill the dual objectives of outreach and sustainability. It present the experience of Freedom From Hunger, an NGO that supports programs that combine microcredit with low-cost, high-impact education sessions in nutrition, health and better business. It states that Freedom From Hunger's approach seeks to reduce delivery costs by partnering with credit unions in a number of countries. It argues that this allows the very poor to be served through an institution that already has a market presence, reduces delivery costs and enhances financial performance. It concludes that the poor are good business: * By redirecting financial services to the rural poor, credit unions can improve utilization and circulation of idle assets * working with the very poor provides opportunities to achieve important efficiencies

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