Thursday Event: Matched Savings as a Tool for International Development

What goes up, as the saying goes, must come down, and for all the splash that the microcredit movement has made in the past decade, it seems that the belief that small loans will provide a pathway out of poverty is revealing some fissures.

A recent Times of London article (World poverty guru “fails” to spread wealth) brought attention to the questions surrounding the movement to which Muhammad Yunus helped to bring awareness. The article cited a recent study conducted by Dean Karlan and Jonathan Zinman in the Philippines, where they discovered that microcredit recipients did not fare better than those not receiving loans.

That’s not to say that the advent of microlending has not been a vital and necessary innovation. But it isn’t a panacea, and more voices have arisen to ask: what about providing the poor the financial services to which they so often lack access; most notably, a safe place to deposit and save their money?

One innovation that has shown to be particularly promising is that of matched savings. Also known as Individual Development Account programs, the innovation targets individuals providing both an incentive and a place to save, with savings being targeted toward building specific assets (e.g. a small business, a home, or investment in higher education). The World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) recently launched a program in Mexico, called MatchSavings.org, which raises funds to match the savings of rural-dwellers in Veracruz through an online-giving platform.

This Thursday, the Global Assets Project will convene a panel to discuss lessons from MatchSavings.org and from the matched savings/IDA movement in both developed and developing countries, as well as to launch its new issue brief, Promoting Savings as a Tool for International Development: Spotlight on WOCCU’s MatchSavings.org. WOCCU Executive Vice President Brian Branch will provide remarks, followed by a panel discussion featuring Daryl Collins (Bankable Frontier Associates, and co-author of the much talked-about Portfolios of the Poor), Evelyn Stark (Financial Services for the Poor, Gates Foundation), JD Von Pischke (formerly of Frontier Finance International), and Asset Building Program Director Reid Cramer.

For more information or to RSVP, visit the event page. The event will be held at the New America Foundation’s offices in Washington, D.C.

We look forward to seeing you on October 15 at 12:15 pm– lunch will be provided, and for those unable to make it to D.C., it’ll also be webcast (no RSVP necessary).