How The BRI-Unit System Can Transform Your Entire Outlook on the Possibilities and Benefits of Microbanking

The old microfinance paradigm  encouraged us to use subsidized credit approach to help the poor. Under this paradigm, the poor” were thought of, at the policy level, as one homogenous group with certain, set characteristics.

• They don’t repay their loans.
• They have to be trained how to handle a loan or run a business.
• Their so-called businesses are too marginal.
• Poor people don’t save.
• It’s too costly to provide banking services to the poor.

Experienced a massive losses after delivering microfinance  under the old paradigm, BRI transformed its BRI units into new paradigm.  BRI embarked on a journey that radically altered the operating concept of the time—that the poor needed government or donor-subsidized credit programs. By stepping outside that paradigm—that set way of thinking—the paradigm shift opened whole new possibilities for delivering microfinance services.

To begin with, the economically active poor were recognized as partners, which meant we had to change our perceptions. The working poor are a vital, integral part of the economic system, operating at the edges of the ‘poverty line’ up to the lower ends of the middle class.

The paradigm shift came about when we asked the working poor, the micro-entrepreneurs, what they wanted in terms of financial products and services. Extensive research, development and testing through field studies and pilot programs began. Then in 1984, BRI launched a commercial micro banking system to meet their needs … not what we thought they needed.

The new paradigm has helped millions of people save their money safely, earning interest on their deposits. Their savings provide the operating capital to offer loans and other services like money transfers, to help build micro-small-to-medium businesses in that local area. This new paradigm  has been proven to help alleviate  poverty through a sustainable, profitable, commercial microbanking system.

There is one thing—our bold experiment—which has been proven successful without any doubt. When we respect those living on the financial fringes of society as partners and give them the tools to utilize the economic system, they welcome the chance to find those solutions for themselves. BRI Unit microbanking has benefitted not only for the bank but also other parties.

• Benefits for the working poorThe obvious benefits like increasing income, being able to feed more nutritious food to their families or sending the children to school are, in some ways, the by-product of the deeper benefits, raising their self-confidence, their self-esteem. By treating customers as partners and trusting their character, it bypasses their lack of education and increases their sense of self-worth. Respecting and encouraging their dreams of a better life, BRI-Unit staff helps them attain those dreams.

• Benefits for communitiesLocated in the centers of small towns, rural areas, or neighbourhoods of larger cities, BRI Units gather savings of small to medium depositors in that area. Groups such as schools, women’s or youth clubs, government offices, informal savings and loan associations, or local religious institutions contribute a higher savings volume. This then supports the banking credit needs of the poor borrowers. It also provides security and better financial management to the communities.

• Benefits for governments and donorsGovernments and donors are freed from paying out credit subsidies to the economically active poor. Focus can shift to expanding health care, school, and food programs for the poor below the poverty line, enabling them to gradually move into the economic mainstream.