Microfinance Catholic Relief Services' microfinance programs work through microfinance associations and their member institutions informal or community-based savings groups Both approaches encourage clients to save and to borrow for investments in income-generating microenterprises. Both reach very poor households and communities, and help to create a sustainable financial base for local community development.      Dashboard: Statistics on CRS' savings groups

Private service providers: A new approach for savings groups

CRS is using a new model that allows market forces to replace subsidies. This is redefining sustainability and helping the poor to take charge of their own development.

Featured publications

• Savings and Internal Lending Communities (SILC) Field Agent Guide
• Savings and Internal Lending Communities (SILC): Voices From Africa
• Boosting Income of Rural Families to Meet Basic Needs in Central America
• Facilitating Financial Linkages for Smallholder Producers in Nicaragua
• How Savings-Led Microfinance Has Improved Chickpea Marketing in the Lake Zone of Tanzania
• Savings and Internal Lending Communities (SILC)
• More

SILC and IHD

A compendium of field experience with savings-led microfinance as an element in a holistic approach to community development.