The paper “Are Microfinance Borrowers in Lebanon Over-Indebted?” presents the results of the research study  that aimed to provide empirical evidence that would confirm or refute indications of cross- and over-indebtedness in Lebanon, to analyze the causes of potential cross- or over-indebtedness, and to formulate recommendations on how  to  address  these. The study was commissioned by  the SANAD Fund for ...

The paper “Microfinance and Business Start-ups: Review of the Current Practice in Europe” explores the theoretical background and the emergent evidence related to the role of access to finance for business start-ups and self-employment in Europe, with a specific focus on the role of microfinance institutions. The paper summarizes opportunities and challenges faced by the microfinance sector to more deeply ...

The European Quality of Life Survey (2016) shows the improving trend in the incidence of arrears on various types of dues among European households. Still, the utility bills are the largest burden, with 11% of adults in the EU-28 making late payments. Low-income people are most severely affected. Twice as many low-income people are overdue on each type of payment, ...

Financial capability has been a buzz word for almost a decade as more and more financial institutions and other stakeholders recognize that in order to improve financial inclusion, customers need to have the financial capability to use financial services for their benefit. Many institutions are engaged in designing financial capability programs, however, many pilot programs, often donor-driven, have failed to ...

According to Eurostat data, the level of over-indebtedness (measured by the incidence of arrears on mortgage, rent, utility bills or hire purchase) decreased in 2016 in most EU countries. Please read our latest release with more information about this trend.   Download “Over-indebtedness trends in Europe”

The key aim of these MFC research paper “Financing Gap and SME Employment Growth: Beyond Access to Finance” was to investigate the relation between the perceived changes in financing gap and employment growth by SMEs in the EU. The paper builds on and extends the analysis of SAFE survey data, in order to focus on the question of employment creation which ...

Microfinance and Financial Inclusion 12-14 June 2017 University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom The University of Portsmouth will host the 5th European Microfinance Research Conference between 12th and 14th June 2017. The Conference has a generic theme of Microfinance and Financial Inclusion and is organised in cooperation with the European Microfinance Platform and CERMi. The European Microfinance Research Conference is one of ...

The Working Paper “Indicators to monitor over-indebtedness” is a result of the work of the EFIN Working Group on Over-indebtedness coordinated by MFC. It proposes the indicators to monitor the current indebtedness levels, maps potential data sources and stresses the importance of good quality data. It also offers the ways forward to improve monitoring in the short-, medium- and long-term perspective. ...

This seventh edition of the Report on microfinance in Europe provides an overview of the development of the sector in terms of the main institutional characteristics, the microloan portfolio, and the social and financial performance for the period 2014-2015. The Report is based on data collected through a survey which was carried out as a collaboration between the European Microfinance ...

Date: 6 December 2016, ended The aim of the session is to present the key results of the Report “Microfinance in Europe: A Survey of EMN-MFC members” that was released in December 2016. Watch the webinar recording: This seventh edition of the Report on microfinance in Europe provides an overview of the sector developments on the main institutional characteristics, microloan ...