Evolution of Pricing Transparency in Microfinance

For the fifth anniversary of its founding, MFTransparency traces the evolution of the pricing transparency movement in microfinance with the help of four industry leaders: Chuck Waterfield – CEO of MFTransparency, Mårten Leijon – CEO of  Microfinance Information eXchange (MIX), Paul DiLeo – Founder and Managing Partner of Grassroots Capital Management PBC, and Rupert Scofield – CEO of FINCA.

A turning point for pricing transparency in the industry, according to Chuck Waterfield, was the Compartamos IPO in April 2007, which called attention to the high profits possible from small loans to the poor. In early 2008, MFTransparency was established as a facilitator for the industry to collect and process data on pricing in a standardized way and report them transparently to help the industry mature and evolve.

For Paul DiLeo, more than just a natural evolution of a maturing industry, the focus on pricing transparency goes beyond information and consumer education to what differentiates microfinance from other industries: microfinance not only realizes a latent market opportunity, it looks to generate some improvement in the conditions, products and prospects of clients. MFTransparency, and the whole pricing transparency effort, has become part of a larger effort to examine microfinance and whether it is indeed providing benefit to clients.

Please click the following link for more on the points of view of these four industry experts: http://vimeo.com/74194251.