The document discusses microfinance data and its sources. Microfinance serves over 140 million poor clients globally through business investments and basic needs loans. Microfinance data comes from internal financial institution systems and external reporting, though it can be difficult to obtain. Aggregate microfinance data helps understand industry trends and identify supply and demand gaps. Risk indicators and outside data provide context to interpret credit growth and savings trends. The Microfinance Information Exchange is a nonprofit that partners with industry leaders to collect, analyze and disseminate microfinance data.

1. Microfinance Information Exchange
Microfinance Data
What is it, how can I get it and what can it tell me?
The Premier Source for Microfinance
Data and Analysis
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2. Where should I look for data on the marginalized
and excluded?
• Twitter: 140 million users • Microfinance: 140 million users
• All income strata • Focus on the poor
• Range of uses • Used for business investment,
household expenses, basic needs
• Data easy to get • Data not-so-easy to get
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presentation without MIX’s prior written permission is strictly prohibited.

3. Where microfinance data comes from: inside the MFI
Front-office systems Back-office systems External reporting
Pros: Pros: Pros:
Close to clients Frequent Standardized
Likely frequent Granular (client-level) Public
Cons: Cons: Cons:
Not digitized Not standardized Slow
Not standardized Confidential Aggregated (inst.-level) 3
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presentation without MIX’s prior written permission is strictly prohibited.

4. Aggregate data helps to understand sector
dynamics
Number of clients
(normalized for sector peak)
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presentation without MIX’s prior written permission is strictly prohibited.

5. Microfinance risk factors: early warning signals
Source: University
of Zurich, “Over-
indebtedness and
Microfinance
Constructing an
Early Warning
Basic operational data
Index”
Survey / sentiment data
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presentation without MIX’s prior written permission is strictly prohibited.

6. Identifying supply and demand gaps: Kenya
Access points by % financially excluded Access points by district-level poverty and
provider type
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presentation without MIX’s prior written permission is strictly prohibited.

7. Identifying industry hotspots: Bosnia (post crisis)
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presentation without MIX’s prior written permission is strictly prohibited.

8. Tracking industry sentiment: news on Kyrgyzstan
Loan portfolios (10 years) Investment flows (5 years)
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presentation without MIX’s prior written permission is strictly prohibited.

9. Key points for microfinance data
• Data comes from somewhere
– Understanding the supply chain for data is key to finding
scalable solutions
• Interpretation can be ambiguous
– Credit growth: positive investment outlook or debt spiral?
– Savings growth: bad investment outlook or asset-building?
– Risk indicators help identification, but are harder to find
• Augmenting with outside data sources provides
additional context
– Reputation risk and political and regulatory factors
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presentation without MIX’s prior written permission is strictly prohibited.

10. MIX Global and Project Partners
MIX partners with a dedicated group of industry leaders:
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presentation without MIX’s prior written permission is strictly prohibited.

11. Microfinance Information Exchange
Headquarters:
1901 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Suite 307
Washington, D.C. 20006 USA Visit us on the Web:
www.themix.org ♦ www.mixmarket.org
Regional Offices:
Baku, Azerbaijan Contact us: info@themix.org
44 J. Jabbarli st. Caspian Plaza I, 5th Floor,
Baku, Azerbaijan
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This presentation is the proprietary and/or confidential information of MIX, and all rights are reserved by MIX. Any dissemination, distribution or copying of this
presentation without MIX’s prior written permission is strictly prohibited.