The Commercialization of Microfinance: Balancing Business and Development

* Addresses key issues related to bringing microfinance into the commercial realm
* Written by prominent practitioners and scholars from a variety of organizations

While many microfinance organizations started as NGOs, there is now a growing movement for them to transform into regulated, for-profit entities. Concurrently, commercial banks, credit unions, and specialized investors are also entering the market. The Commercialization of Microfinance synthesizes case studies from Latin America and beyond, delving into the trends and challenges of converting microfinance institutions into commercial entities.

Prepared by ACCION, this book will be essential reading for anyone interested in understanding how the world of microfinance is changing, and how that world affects the broader processes of development.

Deborah Drake is Vice President of Investment Policy and Analysis at ACCION International. She currently manages the Council of Microfinance Equity Funds (CMEF), a membership organization of private entities that make equity investments in microfinance institutions (MFIs) of the developing world and for which ACCION International serves as Council Coordinator. Ms. Drake leads ACCION's efforts in investment policy including the development and provision of investment readiness training and strategy to MFIs. She has worked with ACCION International since 1990 and is the co-editor of The Commercialization of Microfinance: Balancing Business and Development and the co-author of Alchemists for the Poor: NGOs as Financial Institutions.

Elisabeth Rhyne is the Managing Director of the Center for Financial Inclusion. As senior vice president of ACCION International since 2000, Ms. Rhyne was responsible for ACCION’s initial entry into Africa and India. She directed the organization’s research efforts to develop new financial products and managed ACCION’s publications and educational activities. Recognized as a leading thinker and writer in the field of microfinance, Ms. Rhyne has published numerous articles and four books on the topic, including Mainstreaming Microfinance: How Lending to the Poor Began, Grew and Came of Age in Bolivia (Kumarian Press, 2001). She was also co-editor of The New World of Microenterprise Finance (Kumarian, 1994), which provided the introduction to microfinance for many of the field’s current professionals.