Abstract
This chapter will introduce the reader to the historical roots of the different forms of financial services directed toward the poor. These include various member-managed cooperative models, many of which have been created or inspired by faith-based organizations and other religiously affiliated advocates. The chapter also includes a section describing the ways that the poor themselves have developed simple but effective group models to access credit and to save money on their own. After an introduction to microcredit, the chapter will end with a discussion of microfinance, which seeks to integrate all of the various historical methods to create products and services that address the fundamental needs of the poor.
“Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he’ll eat forever.”1
Lao Tzu
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Notes
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© 2014 Michael Looft
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Looft, M. (2014). Financial Services for Poverty Alleviation. In: Inspired Finance. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137450784_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137450784_3
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