Poor Peoples' Savings: Q&As with Experts

This document presents interviews that cover key savings topics such as savings demand, products, delivery models and policy issues. These include the following:

• Stuart Rutherford, author of the “Poor and their Money,” explains why poor people save;
• Daryl Collins, Director of the Financial Diaries Project explains how the poor manage their money;
• Marguerite Robinson, author of “Mobilizing savings from the Public: Basic Principles and Practices” suggests ways for commercial MFIs to mobilize savings from the poor on a large scale, and still remain profitable;
• Robert Vogel, International Management and Communication Corp (IMCC), answers questions about the challenges that financial intermediaries face when they start mobilizing small-scale savings;
• Madeline Hirschland, author of “Savings Services for the Poor” states that:
  • Managing savings effectively is important and significantly different than managing credit alone;
  • The economically active poor demand savings services that are close by and that do not require large opening balances or regular deposits.
• Jeffery Ashe, Oxfam America and Elisabeth Rhyne, ACCION International examine the potential role of member-owned financial institutions (MOFIs) in mobilizing savings and scaling up rural access to finance;
• Brian Branch, World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) explains how financial cooperatives can overcome governance and regulatory challenges;
• Carlos Cuevas, World Bank, suggests ways to protect the savings of cooperative members;
• Glen Westly, Inter-American Development Bank, explains how MFIs can fund themselves.