Access for All: Building Inclusive Financial Systems

Abstract

Access for All: Building Inclusive Financial Systems outlines the "new" vision of microfinance, laying out in plain language what CGAP and others in the development field have learned over the past 10 years about building inclusive financial systems. Access for All is neither a technical handbook nor a chronicle of the history of microfinance. Instead, it pulls together disparate sources of information to describe where the microfinance field finds itself in 2006, as well as the opportunities and challenges ahead.Beginning with key questions about clients of microfinance--Who are they? What financial services do they want? What is the impact of financial services on their lives?--the book examines all levels of the financial system. It shows what works, what does not work, and where more learning is needed. By focusing on promising models and practices, it offers a vision of how to achieve financial systems that will ultimately offer access for all."Building financial systems that work for the poor is the next great frontier of development and finance. This book gives some thoughtful and provocative ideas on how this can be achieved."