Regulation in Microfinance: Advantages and

Drawbacks
Blue Financial Services is a Microfinance Institute (MFI) that began in 2001 and
gained extensive coverage in Africa operating in 13 countries. The MFI
champions itself as providing ethical microfinance to underbanked people of
Africa. In 2007, Blue Financial Services Rwanda, a subsidiary of South Africas
Blue Financial Services, was licensed as an MFI and started providing financial
services, including salary advances, personal loans, home improvement loans,
education loans, and debt consolidation. In June 2010, only three years after its
launch, Blue Financial Services Rwanda lost its operating license due to
unethical practices. After reporting a loss for each year of operations, this MFI
was discovered to be misreporting income and repatriating a sizeable amount of
money abroad.
This is not the first case of fraud in Rwanda. In June 2006, Rwandan Prosecutor
General, Martin Ngoga, announced that fifteen former microfinance institution
managers had been arrested for defrauding depositor money. The government
shut down eight microfinance institutions and distributed USD $5.5 million to
compensate clients up to half of their deposits.
As in other developing countries, Rwanda has developed regulations for the
microfinance industry to prevent fraud and ensure ethical practices. Regulation
of the microfinance industry is commonly believed to be both crucial and
necessary to protect consumers and stabilize financial markets. The detection of
recent fraud in Rwanda may not have been possible without it. Microfinance
regulation, however, is not simple process. The microfinance industry
encompasses a wide array of institutes that provide a variety of services to many
different customers. Though regulation is beneficial to customers and markets, it
does come with its own costs. There is a balancing act between protecting
customers and securing markets, and increasing the cost of borrowing and
impeding microfinance services to the poor.

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Types of Regulation
Financial institutions are generally subject to prudential and non-prudential
regulation. Prudential regulation ensures the financial soundness of the
industry. This regulation provides the appropriate legal framework for financial
operations to help prevent and reduce financial sector instability. A
financial authority directly sanctions microfinance institutes and assumes the
responsibility for the soundness of regulated institutions. Non-prudential
regulation, on the other hand, encompasses regulations about the institutions
business operations. A financial authority does not sanction the business, but

offers guidelines and invokes standards that do not involve the implicit guarantee
of the financial authority. Examples of non-prudential regulation could include
truth in lending laws, fraud and financial crimes prevention, interest rate policies,
among others. These rules serve to protect the consumer. The type and level
of regulation depends on how the microfinance institute is formed and what
services it provides.
Benefits of Regulation

The advantages of regulation in the microfinance industry for the customer and
financial markets are numerous. Regulation serves to ensure the financial
soundness of an MFI, reducing the chance of failure and reinforcing the publics
trust in these financial institutions. Regulations in the form of capital adequacy
requirements, reserve requirements, loan loss provisions, and loan
documentation are all examples of measures to ensure an MFI will be able to
maintain its operations. Regulations also serve to protect borrowers by
preventing profit maximization at the clients expense. MFIs can often have
considerable local market power which can result in monopolistic lending
practices. These practices can result in usurious interest rates and expensive
fees. For MFIs that take deposits, regulation helps to prevent a loss of client
savings from failure of the MFI. For the poor, these savings can be vital to deal
with economic uncertainties and their loss can have grave effects. In addition,
regulation and supervision may promote the development of the microfinance
industry, attracting greater borrowing and more deposits from the public.
Microfinance, in All Shapes and Sizes
Regulation of the microfinance industry has its many benefits, though it can be
an involved process due to the variety of MFIs. Very generally, microfinance
institutes can be divided into non-bank and bank MFIs. Within these two
divisions, however, are numerous types, including cooperative societies,
commercial banks (both state-owned and private) and development banks, Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs) and International NGOs (INGOs). The
many types of MFIs also differ in the nature of their business and the services
they provide. Given the breadth of this industry, there is often no single body to
regulate and supervise the operations of all MFIs. The regulatory requirements

and standards for each of these regulatory bodies are different, complicating the
regulatory framework.
Costs of Regulation
Regulation has many obvious advantages, however it can come at a price. The
breadth and diversity of the microfinance industry can lead to difficulties and
great expenses in order to administer and monitor all of the MFIs. Also,
establishing regulatory rules intended to service microfinance customers and
markets, can potentially harm MFIs and their customers as well.
Cost of supervision. Regulatory authorities will need to supervise a growing
number of MFIs in a country. Given the variety of MFI types and the different
regulatory requirements and standards for each, supervision can often be costly.
These costs are partly passed on to MFIs in the form of licensing fees, making it
more expensive for the MFI to operate. The microfinance industry already
endures high operating expenses in relationship to its loan portfolio size, and
these additional costs add greater difficulty to maintaining operations.
MFIs are often small, numerous, located in remote regions, and have poor
record keeping. The administration and reporting requirements for the MFI can
involve high levels of supervision and can be burdensome and expensive. This
added work and expense will partly be borne by the clients in the form of higher
interest rates and fees. In addition, higher costs may slow the growth of
financial services offered to disadvantaged groups. Ultimately borrowing will
become more expensive and more limited for the already poor clients.
Control of interest rates. Regulatory institutions can impose interest rate caps.
MFIs naturally bear high costs as they provide small loans in remote areas.
Often higher interest rates are charged to compensate the MFI for the added
expenses in servicing its clientele. Limiting interest rates can prevent usurious
lending, however it can also limit the customer base and the geographical scope
for the MFI. Higher interest rates may be the only way MFI can operate in a
sustainable manner. Limiting interest rates may adversely affect the very poor
and those who live in remote places by discouraging microfinance services in
these areas and for those people.
Capital requirements. A minimum capital requirement can limit entrance into the
industry. Capital requirements might also restrict future operations in terms of

cost and outreach. These requirements can limit the start-up of a new MFI to
service clients and can limit existing MFIs in terms of how widely they can
operate. These limitations can reduce the reach of MFIs and may reduce the
competition in the industry, preventing potential borrowers from receiving
financial services or making financial services more expensive.
A Balancing Act
If an MFI is authorized to operate, its operations should be subject to some
pragmatic limits. Many MFIs are entering the industry and rules and supervision
are necessary to ensure their clients are protected and financial markets are
stabilized. The recent cases of fraud in Rwanda highlight the need for
regulation. However, regulation has its drawbacks for the industry and clientele.
Regulation increases costs, limits operations, and reduces the feasible scope for
MFIs. The added costs and limitations can result in increased interest rates,
higher fees, reduced competition, and limited services. These results serve to
make financial services more expensive or unavailable to the poor. Though
regulation is often advantageous for customers and markets, it is necessary to
question its negative side effects.
Austin Harris is a Kiva Fellow working with Urwego Opportunity Bank in Rwanda
and a member of Friends of Urwego Opportunity Bank lending team.