WWB'S GLOBAL NETWORK FOR BANKING INNOVATION (GNBI)

WWB's Global Network for Banking Innovation (GNBI) brings together 24 leading commercial banks, state banks and regulated microfinance institutions from 15 countries.

Its purpose is:

• to demonstrate to banks that microfinance is a profitable business opportunity and a way to build local economies, promoting the entry of commercial banks into the microfinance market,
• to share best practices, innovations and knowledge about microfinance among GNBI members and with the wider banking industry, and
• to promote industry policies that encourage banks' entry into microfinance.

GNBI members are a diverse group, ranging from commercial giants like Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and ICICI, India's second-largest bank, to Financiera Interfisa, a finance company in Paraguay. Each GNBI member is a solid, respected, regulated institution committed to increasing the access of low-income clients to financial products and services that meet their needs.

Demonstrating the Profitability of Microfinance

At a time when banks are experiencing a decline in their traditional client base, GNBI members are demonstrating the attractiveness of microfinance, and providing the knowledge and best practice models that banks need to profitably enter this market. As a network of successful financial institutions that offer microfinance products in markets around the world, GNBI is ideally placed to show mainstream banks that microfinance is a profitable business opportunity.

GNBI has produced a set of Performance Indicators that details the performance of 15 successful GNBI members, including portfolio at risk, operating efficiency, return on assets, return on equity and the ratio of debt to equity of large and small microfinance institutions (MFIs) that are turning a substantial profit.

Partnering to Promote Bank Entry into Microfinance
WWB-FELABAN Strategic Alliance

WWB works closely with the Federation of Latin American Banks (FELABAN), bringing together banking associations and their members from the entire Latin American region. This partnership has been very effective in introducing Latin American banks to microfinance business opportunities. The WWB-FELABAN initiative incorporates industry conferences, learning exchanges and publications, providing a platform for Latin American microfinance bankers to share their best practices and lessons learned. GNBI members actively support the WWB-FELABAN initiative with their expertise and resources. Through the initiative, a number of banks have already entered the microfinance sector and are developing a full-range of microfinance products and services, while deepening their market penetration to serve higher numbers of even poorer clients. WWB plans to adapt the WWB-FELABAN model to other regions of the world.

Increasing Partnerships to Strengthen Microfinance

Commercial banks are starting to offer direct financial and technical support to WWB Network members. A good example of this is the ING and WWB collaboration to promote innovation through the transfer of global banking expertise in product integration and distribution channels to Banco ADOPEM, Dominican Republic and PADME of Bénin. This partnership will improve MFIs' ability to reach more low-income people with a full range of products, and provide first-hand knowledge to global banks looking to enter microfinance.

Virtual Working Groups

To increase information exchange among members, WWB will be rolling out a series of GNBI Virtual Working Groups. Two working groups have been formed to date, one on marketing and one on distribution channels.