Financial services for women -- tools for microenterprise programs : financial assistance section

This report provides guidance for practitioners and bankers worldwide interested in increasing the number of female clients. Section I identifies misconceptions about financing women and describes women"s income and assets, characteristics of women"s businesses, and constraints affecting their access to financial services. Section II reviews available financing for female entrepreneurs. Four examples of programs specifically targeting women are highlighted: the Self-employed Women"s Association in India; village banking programs worldwide; the Women"s Entrepreneurship Development Program in Bangladesh; and Women"s World Banking. Several programs not specifically targeted toward women are then discussed, including the Jehudi Credit Scheme of the Kenya Rural Enterprise Program, the Unit Desa Network of the Bank Rakyat Indonesia, and the USAID Small and Microenterprise Development project in Egypt. Three programs that evolved toward targeting women are briefly reviewed, including the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, PRODEM in Bolivia, and the Get Ahead Foundation in South Africa. The final section focuses on operational issues in designing financial services for women, such as collateral issues, communicating with women clients, the gender of loan officers, deposit services, and collection of program data.