Malawi‘s financial landscape: Where does opportunity international bank of Malawi fit?

Type Report
Title Malawi‘s financial landscape: Where does opportunity international bank of Malawi fit?
Author(s)
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2008
Publisher Iris Center at the University of Maryland
City College Park, MD
Country/State United States of America
URL http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.170.9442&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Abstract
The purpose of the Financial Landscape research is to understand access to financial services in areas of Malawi that will be served by the Opportunity International Bank of Malawi’s (OIBM) rural service delivery innovation. In the first phase, this expansion will consist of a mobile bank branch that will serve six locations along two major routes. As in all of its operations, OIBM will provide a wide range of financial services including savings, loans, insurance, and payment services, and will target all client segments ranging from the economically-active poor to corporations. Research revealed that the rural locations that OIBM will expand into are not ?unbanked?. Formal savings are available, though the services are mostly accessed by the well-to-do. The market for loans is fragmented, with demand outstripping supply. Credit is less widely available than savings, but is provided by a wider range of institutions: MFIs, coops, NGOs, and parastatals. While uptake of financial services is relatively low, rural residents are aware of many of their financial choices. The value proposition of OIBM in this context includes the following elements: it will increase physical access to financial services in four locations that are currently unserved or underserved; it will provide a full range of products, most importantly savings and loans, bringing the potential for ?one-stop shopping? to rural customers; and it will target all client segments particularly emphasizing serving the poor, based on the bank’s considerable experience with impoverished clients.

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