What Makes Pro-Poor Service Delivery Sustainable for WSBI Partner Banks

Abstract

The issue addressed in this research is whether it is possible to make a pro-poor financial service both affordable and sustainable. It argues sustainability should be possible at the sub-$25 monthly account balances typical of the poor and at a really low monthly fee the poor can afford to pay out of household budgets that may be as low as $50 per month in rural Africa but only if the service is provided at the scale of millions of active clients.