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Tag: Financial inclusion

How India Inc can craft an effective response to the pandemic

Corporate India plays a critical and urgent role in mitigating the economic, and health impacts of the pandemic. Industry leaders, public health experts, experienced members of social enterprises and thought leaders such as Nobel laureate Esther Duflo came together for Samhita’s ‘Leaders with a Purpose’ webinar series, to address the need for collaborative partnerships across stakeholders. Read on to find out more about the invaluable role corporate India can play in the arena of promoting behaviour change, providing innovative and technological solutions to secure their own supply chains, microentrepreneurs, hospitals, and rural and distant communities.

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Empowering the Underbanked through the Innovative Pre-Credit Score Initiative

In a world striving for new innovations in pursuing holistic financial inclusion, Samhita-CGF takes a bold step forward with its innovative network alliance to bridge the credit gap faced by underbanked communities and micro-entrepreneurs. In partnership with SIDBI, CGTMSE, and NSDC, Samhita-CGF is introducing the Pre-Credit Score (PCS), an innovative credit scoring framework that empowers first-time borrowers. Unlike traditional scoring models, which rely on past credit history, the PCS delves into income and expense patterns, as well as lifestyle indicators, providing a comprehensive view of creditworthiness. This revolutionary approach opens doors for New To Credit (NTC) and New To Business (NTB) segments, offering them access to formal credit.

The challenge: Access to commercial capital

As per SIDBI, only 2.5 Cr. or less than 40% of the MSME have ever been provided formal credit, which means over 60% of this sector has no access to formal credit. This glaring credit gap persists, particularly in the informal sector, where businesses are often funded by non-transparent, high-interest informal sources. Further, there is a glaring gender disparity in credit usage. Women in India receive credit equivalent to only 27% of the deposits they contribute, while men receive credit equal to 52% of their deposits.

Financial Inclusion

Priya Naik, Founder and Managing Director of Samhita Social Ventures emphasizes on financial inclusion as the key to economic and social development in an article in CSR Mandate.

In India RBI describes financial inclusion as the process of ensuring access to appropriate financial products and services needed by vulnerable groups such as weaker sections and low-income groups at an affordable in a fair and transparent manner by mainstream institutional players. 

Financial inclusion is a fundamental cornerstone of economic and social development. The mandatory CSR spending, as stipulated by the Companies Bill 2012, can help foster partnerships and help achieve a joint approach to promoting financial inclusion in a way that is mutually beneficial to all stakeholders.  In order to realize the goal of universal financial inclusion, each stakeholder has to play its part and more importantly, collaborate with each other to harness the benefits and synergies of shared efforts.

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Can the Microcredit Model Be Improved?

The problem here is not a lack of microcredit programs or their execution but rather something in the model itself. This leads us to ask: Can we modify or extend certain aspects of the microfinance model to achieve better outcomes for recipients?

Vikas Dimble, Director of Knowledge and Research at Samhita and Ahmed Moshfiq Mobarak, Professor of Economics at Yale University write on how microcredit can be used to help poor communities pull through unexpected shocks if the microcredit model is modified to incorporate inclusivity and flexible lending practices.

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Innovative lending practices can improve traditional microfinance

Research on the traditional microfinance model reveals the alterations that can be made to further small businesses and welfare gains. Vikas Dimble, Associate Director of Knowledge and Research at Samhita, and Ahmed Moshfiq Mobarak, Professor of Economics at Yale University emphasize the importance of flexible lending models, using local information to select eligible beneficiaries and allowing beneficiaries to make use of microcredit beyond entrepreneurial purposes.

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Empathy and economic sense call for direct cash transfers

During a Leaders with Purpose webinar hosted by Samhita and IDFC Institute on 11 May 2020, Nobel Laureate and Director of J-PAL, Esther Duflo emphasized that direct cash transfers to the poor is both the morally correct and economically wise action required to be taken by larger society.

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