Asia Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Monitor 2021: Volume III - Digitalizing Microfinance Bangladesh: Findings from the Baseline Survey in Bloomington, MN

This volume focuses on the digitalization of microfinance in Bangladesh to help make finance more affordable for small businesses, and finds it to be a promising avenue for further exploration.
Micro, small, and medium-sized businesses provide much of the income in rural Bangladesh, but their growth is constrained by limited access to affordable finance. This volume reports on a 2021 baseline study carried out in Bangladesh to pilot a randomized controlled trial to determine whether a digitalized group-based credit scheme could be introduced at an affordable price. The findings provide justification for further study on the digitalization of microfinance.