In December, we shared an article by Ignacio Mas that described how microfinance is being ‘reframed’. That is, until now microfinance has implied micro ‘funding’ of poor clients with loans, whereas many now recognize that going forward, microsavings will be a critical instrument to meet the financial needs of base of pyramid customers. Ignacio’s December article outlined the four key elements in the discussion underpinning the viability of bringing microsavings offerings to market.

Today, we’re sharing a new article by Bob Christen and Ignacio Mas. This article elaborates on why savings is so important - and suggests how the microsavings model might work in practice. That is, what role each player, including mobile operators, banks and MFIs, might play in developing a system capable of delivering microsavings to all, profitably.