Market Research for MicroFinance - Letting Demand Drive Product Development

This report is the result of research largely based on the "Market Research for MicroFinance" tools. It examines the high (25- 60%) drop-outs amongst MFIs throughout East Africa. The paper:

• Assess the impact of microfinance services on poverty and vulnerability;
• Provides recommendations on both systems and product design changes that might improve organisation's efficiency and clients' satisfaction with the financial services it offers;
• Explores the tools for studies in microfinance and the specific cases they can be used to investigate;
• Argues that one of the most powerful aspects of the tools is that they can be changed, combined and adapted to examine specific interest areas.

The author concludes that the eventual impact of microfinance on poverty and the sustainability of MFIs will ultimately depend on organisations' systems and products. Thus in the increasingly competitive environment in which MFIs operate, the challenge for the future, is how to improve the quality of financial services available to clients.The more appropriate and the higher the quality of financial services on offer, the better business will be both for MFIs and for their clients.