A group of eight CEOs of nonprofit microfinance organizations has issued a “Road Map for the Microfinance Industry: Focusing on Responsible and Client-Centered Microfinance” highlighting their support for MFTransparency.

All Africa: Limited knowledge about the products, costs as well as charges by financial institutions is halting access to finance for small and micro businesses, according to experts. Jessica Massie, a consultant with Microfinance Transparency notes that most borrowers lack basic knowledge about financial products offered by lenders, particularly bank charges, interest rates and the cost of a product.

RESULTS: An interesting recent initiative that is opening up the interest rates charged in the sector to greater scrutiny is MicroFinance Transparency. Data is currently being collected for India, with 80 MFIs (including SKS) having provided data so far.

microDINERO: A new round of what is thought the most persistent rivalry in the microfinance industry played out at this month’s Global Microfinance Summit in Valladolid, Spain, with Mexico’s Compartamos Banco in one corner and the U.S. organization MFTransparency in the other.

Microfinance Focus: MFTransparency CEO Chuck Waterfield debates the role of IPOs in microfinance at the Microcredit Summit.

Microfinance Focus: In only three short years, MFTransparency has become ubiquitous in the industry. This is in part, no doubt, because its CEO Chuck Waterfield is an impressive and engaging speaker. But much more, it’s because transparency in pricing is a concept whose time has most definitely come.

Microfinance Focus: Widespread adoption of the declining balance interest rate calculation method is better for microfinance borrowers, and the market as a whole.

BlueOrchard: “Pricing transparency is indispensable to improve MFI performance, attract capital and most importantly, protect the client and allow them to choose the best services for their needs.”

Oikocredit USA: This is a continuation of Oikocredit USA’s Microfinance Investor Education Series. Alexandra Fiorillo at MicroFinance Transparency presents her second installation of MFTransparency’s three-part series on pricing transparency. This installation will take us deeper into the lack of a single price for micro-loans.

FINCA: A new Microfinance CEO Working Group has been formed to promote strong consumer protection, meaningful transparency and development of industry standards of social performance management and measurement. The group supports MFTransparency as a critical component of this work.