UNCDF MicroLead and Mastercard Foundation are proud to announce the newest partner case study: Linking Informal Savings Groups to a Formal Financial Institution – The Case of Mwanga Community Bank in Tanzania.

In 2012, Mwanga Community Bank (MCB) identified the need for a unique mechanism to reach Kilimanjaro’s lower-income, rural populations. Between 2013 – 2017, UNCDF’s MicroLead programme supported a project with MCB and CARE Tanzania to link informal savings groups (SGs) created and trained by CARE to MCB. With the overall objective of increasing financial inclusion, the project expected to link 2,000 SGs (representing 48,000 individual members, approximately 70% of whom would be women) to MCB over a five-year period using a franchisee model.

This case describes MCB’s linkage process, and the challenges and opportunities of their linkage model, including the surprising discovery that nonperforming loans are rare among linked groups.
You can download the case study here.

These case studies are part of UNCDF MicroLead’s knowledge sharing mandate. You can find more cases from MicroLead partners at: https://www.uncdf.org/microlead/cases

About MicroLead

MicroLead is a joint initiative of UNCDF and Mastercard Foundation challenging regulated FSPs to develop and roll-out deposit services which respond to the rural vacuum of services. With additional support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the LIFT Fund in Myanmar, MicroLead works with a variety of FSPs and technical service providers to reach rural markets, particularly women, with demand-driven, responsibly priced products offered via alternative delivery channels such as rural agents, mobile phones, roving agents, point of sales devices and group linkages. This is combined with financial education, so customers not only have access but can effectively use quality services.

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