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	<title>MFTransparency.org: Blog</title>
	<link>http://www.mftransparency.org/pages</link>
	<description>Promoting Transparent Pricing  in the Microfinance Industry</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Fri, 23 Jul 2010 19:31:15 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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            <title>Malawi: A Country in Need of Microfinance</title>
            <description><![CDATA[My first job as a summer intern for MFTransparency has been to research the market in Malawi in preparation for the launch on August 31st.  Through my research I have learned many things, but none more poignant than how poor and underdeveloped the majority of Malawi is.]]></description>
            <link>http://www.mftransparency.org/pages/2010/07/23/malawi-a-country-in-need-of-microfinance/</link>
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            <title>Standardization and Communication of Interest Rates</title>
            <description><![CDATA[by Alexandra Fiorillo Over the past two years, supporters in the industry have validated our belief that microfinance interest rates are confusing and complicated and that we, as an industry, must improve how we think about and communicate microfinance product prices. At MicroFinance Transparency, our first approach to help demystify microfinance interest rates has been [...]]]></description>
            <link>http://www.mftransparency.org/pages/2010/07/23/standardization-and-communication-of-interest-rates/</link>
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            <title>Bolivia Transparency Part 4: How MFTransparency’s Pricing Data Complements Current Regulation</title>
            <description><![CDATA[by Jessica Haeussler In my series of Bolivia posts so far, I have shared insights on several positive aspects of pricing transparency in the Bolivian microfinance industry. In today’s post, I’d like to highlight how MFTransparency’s pricing data will complement the Bolivian microfinance regulation and transparency efforts already underway. Under current regulation, the weighted average [...]]]></description>
            <link>http://www.mftransparency.org/pages/2010/06/25/bolivia-transparency-part-4-how-mftransparency%e2%80%99s-pricing-data-complements-current-regulation/</link>
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            <title>Bolivia Transparency Part 3: Transparency in Loan Contracts &amp; Publicity</title>
            <description><![CDATA[by Jessica Haeussler Today, I’d like to continue my previous post on interest rate disclosure to clients and the general public, and share some insights on transparency in loan contracts and publicity. While interest rates are freely negotiated between both parties, the loan contracts have to include several pricing details. As a minimum requirement, the [...]]]></description>
            <link>http://www.mftransparency.org/pages/2010/06/24/bolivia-transparency-part-3-transparency-in-loan-contracts-publicity/</link>
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            <title>Bolivia Transparency Part 2: Interest Rate Disclosure to Clients &amp; the Public</title>
            <description><![CDATA[by Jessica Haeussler There are several positive mechanisms in place to facilitate interest rate disclosure to microfinance clients and the general public. Our recent trip to Bolivia was a wonderful opportunity to see firsthand how a range of legal requirements play out in practice. Local regulation requires all supervised institutions to disclose the nominal annual [...]]]></description>
            <link>http://www.mftransparency.org/pages/2010/06/23/bolivia-transparency-part-2-interest-rate-disclosure-to-clients-the-public/</link>
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            <title>Bolivia Transparency Part 1: Pricing Strategies &amp; Challenges</title>
            <description><![CDATA[by Jessica Haeussler As promised in my last blog post on the Bolivia launch, I’d like to share some insights on the regulatory framework in Bolivia and outstanding transparency efforts we learned about during our initial trip to Bolivia where we recently launched the Transparent Pricing Initiative. Over the next few days I’ll be providing [...]]]></description>
            <link>http://www.mftransparency.org/pages/2010/06/21/bolivia-transparency-part-1-pricing-strategies-challenges/</link>
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            <title>Total Cost of Credit vs. APR</title>
            <description><![CDATA[by Michael Tucci Often when we talk about reporting the “true cost” of loans we are asked why it isn’t enough to simply tell borrowers the “total cost” of their loan—in other words, the total amount of interest they will pay over the life of the loan. At first glance this can seem like an [...]]]></description>
            <link>http://www.mftransparency.org/pages/2010/06/16/total-cost-of-credit-vs.-apr/</link>
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            <title>Azerbaijan Data Launch and Webinar</title>
            <description><![CDATA[by Jessica Haeussler and Michael Tucci How do banks and MFIs in Azerbaijan respond when asked to report their interest and fees publicly in a common APR or EIR format? How does the shape of the price curve for Azerbaijan differ from other countries? What factors seem to be driving prices in Azerbaijan? How much [...]]]></description>
            <link>http://www.mftransparency.org/pages/2010/06/04/azerbaijan-data-launch-and-webinar/</link>
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            <title>Pricing Transparency Launch in Bolivia</title>
            <description><![CDATA[by Jessica Haeussler Last week, we officially launched our Transparent Pricing Initiative in Bolivia, sponsored by the Ford Foundation and MicroNed.  This project launch in our third Latin American country has been a great success and we’re excited about the widespread support from the diverse Bolivian microfinance community! Stakeholders from the entire spectrum of the [...]]]></description>
            <link>http://www.mftransparency.org/pages/2010/05/20/pricing-transparency-launch-in-bolivia/</link>
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            <title>Ecuadorian Innovations in Regulating Pricing Transparency</title>
            <description><![CDATA[by Jessica Haeussler As I mentioned in my last blog post, I would like to share some insights on Ecuador’s regulatory framework for the microfinance sector and advances in the area of transparency. Regulations that Support Transparency in Pricing Ecuador’s regulatory framework already includes several mechanisms for facilitating transparency in pricing. For instance, financial institutions [...]]]></description>
            <link>http://www.mftransparency.org/pages/2010/05/17/ecuadorian-innovations-in-regulating-pricing-transparency/</link>
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            <title>Explaining the Price Curve</title>
            <description><![CDATA[by Michael Tucci If you have perused our data, you may have noticed the market average curve present on all our country graphs. This curve is so fundamental to MFTransparency that its characteristic downward slope is even represented in our logo. This is the curve relating interest rates to loan size, and it is extremely [...]]]></description>
            <link>http://www.mftransparency.org/pages/2010/05/14/2512/</link>
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            <title>Warm Welcome in Ecuador for Pricing Transparency Initiative</title>
            <description><![CDATA[by Jessica Haeussler I have just returned from a two-week trip to launch the Transparent Pricing Initiative in Ecuador and Bolivia. I am happy to report that the launch was successful in both countries. The Initiatives in South America are funded by the Ford Foundation to promote fair and transparent pricing in the microfinance industry in [...]]]></description>
            <link>http://www.mftransparency.org/pages/2010/05/12/project-launch-in-ecuador/</link>
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            <title>MFTransparency at the Microcredit Summit in Nairobi, Kenya</title>
            <description><![CDATA[by Jordan Filko Last month I attended the 2010 Africa-Middle East Regional Microcredit Summit in Nairobi, Kenya to represent MFTransparency along with Chuck Waterfield and Alex Fiorillo. As my first Microcredit Summit, this was an exciting event for me. My role at the Summit was primarily to man the MFTransparency exhibition space, explaining our work [...]]]></description>
            <link>http://www.mftransparency.org/pages/2010/05/10/mftransparency-at-the-microcredit-summit-in-nairobi-kenya/</link>
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            <title>No Place Like Home</title>
            <description><![CDATA[by Chuck Waterfield I find myself at home this weekend – Lancaster, PA.  This is the first time I’ve been home in three weeks, and I&#8217;ll be leaving Monday morning for another two weeks.  My latest trip took me completely around the globe – US to London to Nairobi (for the Microcredit Summit).  From Nairobi [...]]]></description>
            <link>http://www.mftransparency.org/pages/2010/04/25/no-place-like-home/</link>
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            <title>Bringing the Transparent Pricing Initiative to South America</title>
            <description><![CDATA[by Jessica Haeussler Hola from Quito! I have recently moved to Ecuador, where I’m currently organizing the preparations for our South America projects. Peru was the first country where we kicked off our Transparent Pricing Initiative in early 2009. This year, we’ll bring the Initiative to Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia and Argentina. Our 2010 South America [...]]]></description>
            <link>http://www.mftransparency.org/pages/2010/04/11/bringing-the-transparent-pricing-initiative-to-south-america/</link>
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            <title>Interest Rate Transparency in Brazil: Addressing Cultural Questions</title>
            <description><![CDATA[by Martin Hadsell do Nascimento Brazilians, as I’ve learned from having lived in the Northeast of the country over the past several months, love credit. Common are the signs sitting in most São Paulo storefronts that advertise the interest rate of products by the “vez”. The number of “vezes” or “aprestações” is the number of [...]]]></description>
            <link>http://www.mftransparency.org/pages/2010/03/30/interest-rate-transparency-in-brazil-addressing-cultural-questions/</link>
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            <title>New Research from World Bank Highlights Tradeoffs in Microfinance</title>
            <description><![CDATA[by Michael Tucci Asli Demirguc-Kunt, a chief economist at the World Bank, recently posted an article entitled “Microfinance: Dream versus Reality”. Her post provides an overview of the tough tradeoffs faced by microfinance institutions: between serving the poorest clients and achieving financial sustainability (and profitability). I highly suggest reading it, as it provides a synopsis [...]]]></description>
            <link>http://www.mftransparency.org/pages/2010/03/19/2332/</link>
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            <title>Transparency at the Consumer Level</title>
            <description><![CDATA[by Jessica Haeussler I visited AlSol, a Mexican NGO MFI serving women in mainly rural and indigenous communities in the State of Chiapas, several months ago. Together with one of AlSol’s loan officers and two tsotsil-speaking trainers I visited a solidarity group of women entrepreneurs in the community of Zinacantán, near San Cristóbal de las [...]]]></description>
            <link>http://www.mftransparency.org/pages/2010/03/15/inventory-transparency-at-the-consumer-level/</link>
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            <title>Transparency, India, Gandhi, and the Seven Deadly Social Sins</title>
            <description><![CDATA[by Chuck Waterfield A few weeks ago I made an unplanned and very interesting trip to India. MFTransparency had no plans of working in India this year, but a broad group of stakeholders in the India microfinance industry had been discussing the need for pricing transparency and then invited us to come and meet with [...]]]></description>
            <link>http://www.mftransparency.org/pages/2010/03/11/transparency-india-gandhi-and-the-seven-deadly-social-sins/</link>
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