About 90 per cent of the world’s poor lack access to formal financial tools. The World Savings Bank Institute, which represents 112 savings banks, aims to double the number of savings accounts held by poor people by 2014. In places where banks and microfinance institutions are scarce, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, village savings groups – community clubs that pool savings and sometimes lend – are spreading, often with the help of agencies such as Oxfam, the Aga Khan Foundation and CARE. And researchers are ramping up efforts to study how best to deliver affordable savings products to the poor.
via What poor people really need is a safe place to put their money – The Globe and Mail.
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