Publications

Dec 3, 2019

Implementing Corporate Governance Practices - A Resource Guide for Microfinance Institutions in Myanmar

This Resource Guide for Microfinance Institutions in Myanmar supports the health of Micro- and Digital Finance firms in that nation. The Guide details the results of a pilot project, the Myanmar Microfinance Program, established in 2013. Prompted by IFC's efforts to promote financial inclusion, the report was produced by our Myanmar Microfinance, East Asia and Pacific Corporate Governance, Global Microfinance and Responsible Finance programs.

Nov 14, 2019

Lower NPLs for Women-Owned SMEs: Business Case Update #2

IFC client data shows that for the past 4 years, women-owned SME borrowers are more likely to pay their loans than the overall SME pool of borrowers. Financial Institutions who worked with IFC on strategies to reach out to women and ensure their success had significantly lower non-performing loans in their portfolios.

Oct 4, 2019

Banking on SMEs - Trends and Challenges

What is the future of SME banking? In IFC’s inaugural SME business banking survey, we asked the heads of SME operations serving small businesses around the world. The online survey launched in 2018 posed questions to identify the biggest issues SME banking leaders are grappling with and to better understand the opportunities to run innovative, competitive and sustainable SME banking units.

Sep 19, 2019

The Dirty Footprint of the Broken Grid

To better understand the impacts of generators on health, economies, and the climate, IFC has partnered with the Schatz Energy Research Center at Humboldt State University to embark on the most comprehensive inquiry to date into the footprint and repercussions of using backup generators. This study explores fundamental questions about the scale and impacts of backup generators that have been largely unanswered beyond anecdote and local or regionally focused studies.

English | 64 pages | 2019 IFC

Aug 22, 2019

Exploring the Opportunities for Women-owned SMEs in Cambodia

Cambodia Market Study

English | 2019 IFC

Aug 15, 2019

Trailblazers - Portraits of Female Business Leadership in Emerging and Frontier Markets

Aug 13, 2019

South Africa Market Study

South Africa Market Study

English | 2019 IFC

Aug 2, 2019

Financiar a las emprendedoras es buen negocio

English | 2019 IFC

Jul 3, 2019

Trade Finance and the Compliance Challenge

This publication provides an explanation of the current global trade finance gaps amid market failures as well as perceived regulatory risk and presents an analysis of the recent trends of de-risking and the reasons for falling correspondent banking relationships. It shows how the WTO, IFC and the FSB have worked together to respond to this issue since the end of 2017.

English | 50 pages | 2019 IFC

Jul 2, 2019

Banking on Women-Global Trade Finance Program

English | 2019 IFC

Jul 1, 2019

Anti-Money-Laundering (AML) & Countering Financing of Terrorism (CFT) Risk Management in Emerging Market Banks

Anti-Money-Laundering (AML) & Countering Financing of Terrorism (CFT) Risk Management in Emerging Market Banks - Good Practice Note (06/05/2019)

English | 87 pages | 2019 IFC

May 13, 2019

bKash’s Success Establishes Mobile Financial Services in Bangladesh

In five years, growth of mobile financial services in Bangladesh has skyrocketed, with IFC client bKash leading the way.

English | 2 pages | 2019 IFC

May 1, 2019

Developing alternative delivery channels in the Democratic Republic of Congo (FINCA DRC Case Study)

FINCA DRC has been bringing financial services to the unbanked in a difficult environment.

English | 2 pages | 2019 IFC

Apr 26, 2019

Introducing Mobile Banking to Papua New Guinea (Bank South Pacific Case Study)

Papua New Guinea’s biggest bank, Bank South Pacific, reached new customers and SMEs in rural areas through digital financial services.

English | 2 pages | 2019 IFC

Apr 25, 2019

Women & Insurance: The Next Frontier

In emerging economies, the women’s market for insurance could grow to between $570 and $890 billion by 2030.

English | 2019 IFC

Apr 22, 2019

Developing mobile banking technologies in Indonesia (Bank Sinar Case Study)

Building an effective mobile wallet product requires constant innovation.

English | 2 pages | 2019 IFC

Apr 18, 2019

Longitudinal Study: Results from Four Years of a New Banking Model for Africa

From 2014 to 2018, IFC and the Mastercard Foundation conducted a longitudinal study with nine partner financial institutions (FIs) in seven Sub-Saharan African countries to understand best practices to scale Digital Financial Services (DFS) and expand financial inclusion. The study extracts lessons on DFS strategy and implementation, business models and how institutional culture and change management influence organizations undertaking a DFS journey. By analyzing the experiences of these FIs over time, the study yields valuable lessons and benchmarks for the industry and helps to differentiate salient DFS issues faced by FIs versus MNOs.

English | 47 pages | 2019 IFC

Apr 16, 2019

Poverty Estimation with Satellite Imagery at Neighborhood Levels

Applying machine vision models to satellite images provide a tantalizing opportunity to “see” from space features and geographical areas that correspond to higher and lower levels of welfare and poverty. To date, encouraging results have been identified using night-time light emissions, as increased levels of urbanization, electrification and infrastructure correlate with wealthier geographic segments. But these approaches cover city-wide areas or bigger and do not yield the granular information that policy makers and service providers need to understand localized markets, customer demographics and how interventions impact individual beneficiaries.

English | 29 pages | 2019 IFC

Apr 15, 2019

Small Businesses and Digital Financial Services – Predictive Modelling and Segmentation for Market Sizing and Product Design

Micro, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprises are the backbone of vibrant and dynamic economies. But they are sometimes hard for financial institutions to identify because of the methods they use to conduct their transactions. This report discusses predictive data models to help a mobile network operator, identify MSMEs in its market and better understand how to serve them. Identification and segmentation of businesses that use mobile money services provides valuable information for product design and targeted marketing.

English | 27 pages | 2019 IFC

Apr 11, 2019

Bancamía Expands Micro Credit in Colombia

With support from IFC investment and advisory services, Bancamía S.A., Colombia’s biggest microfinance institution, reaches rural customers with digital financial services.

English | 2 pages | 2019 IFC

Apr 10, 2019

Transactional accounts aimed at low-income customers (Bank AV Villas Case Study)

IFC supports the development of meaningful product offerings for low-income individuals to be distributed through the mobile channel.

English | 2 pages | 2019 IFC

Apr 8, 2019

Creating Impact - The Promise of Impact Investing

The report is the most comprehensive assessment so far of the potential global market for impact investing. It estimates that as much as $269 trillion—the financial assets held by institutions and households across the world—is potentially available for investment. Channeling just 10 percent of this amount into projects focused on improving social and environmental outcomes would go a long way toward providing the necessary funding for the world to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and to shift to a lower-carbon future.

English | 104 pages | 2019 IFC

Apr 4, 2019

Leveraging Big Data for Lending in China (Ant Financial Case Study)

Ant Financial, an affiliate of Alibaba Group, provides microfinancing to women entrepreneurs using online credit assessments.

English | 2 pages | 2019 IFC

Apr 3, 2019

The Case for Responsible Investing in Digital Financial Services (EM Compass Note 67)

Together with private sector investors, IFC has been leading a global effort to develop new guidelines for responsible investing in digital finance. These guidelines leverage IFC’s significant experience with the Equator Principles and responsible investing in micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) by focusing on strengthening governance, risk management, consumer protection, and financial well-being for the unbanked and underserved—as well as IFC’s experience as advisor and investor in the digital finance space.

English | 8 pages | 2019 IFC

Mar 29, 2019

Blended Concessional Finance: Governance Matters for Impact (EM Compass Note 66)

Blended concessional finance, the combination of concessional funds with other types of finance on commercial terms, has great potential to mobilize capital and accelerate high-impact private sector investments in new and challenging markets. Yet full development of these efforts requires strong governance. IFC has been working to develop a robust governance system for blended concessional finance, guided by the Development Finance Institutions Enhanced Principles, a set of principles that employ special operating procedures and checks and balances when using blended concessional finance for private sector projects. These institutions need to learn from each other to ensure good governance, as the sharing of experiences is crucial to building global trust in the use of concessional funds. And to work well, governance structures need to be transparent and focus on solving potential conflicts of interest.

English | 8 pages | 2019 IFC