EMN 2008-2009 Overview - Réseau Européen de la Microfinance

40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
has approved 2000 loans and made over
£1.5m in loans. Eighty-five percent of
the borrowers are on state benefits, 70%
are women, 65% minorities, 75% live
in socially rented properties, and over
50% are single mothers. Up to 60% are
regularly using high cost credit providers
for basic purchases and live in the cash
economy. With its activity Fair Finance
has saved clients an estimated £800,000
in saved interest payments through
the substitution of products from the
moneylenders. www.fairfinance.org.uk
Last but not least, in Spain, Microbank,
the social branch of the La Caixa savings
bank, has developed a personal microloan
product with three target groups: lowincome
families (unplanned financial
needs), new immigrant residents (family
reunion or housing expenses in the
country of origin) and persons with
a temporary or permanent handicap
(purchasing or adapting material,
Author: Stefanie Lämmermann, EMN.
Age
The microlending sector in Western Europe
is still young, and new entrants are still being
incorporated into the sector. Forty percent of
organisations surveyed were active before
2000. Nine institutions began lending in 2008
Graph 13: year lending began
4%
1%
eliminating architectural hurdles or
contracting services). The “microcrédito
familiar” has a maximum amount of
€25,000 over six years (including 12
months grace). In 2009 out of a total of
more than 4000 microloans representing
€43,439,000, 56% were for personal use.
www.microbanklacaixa.es
Despite slight differences, these
approaches have one thing in common:
they are geared to the real needs of
vulnerable borrowers and perfectly in line
with their repayment capacities. And they
are not only delivered in a transparent
way, but also closely linked to information
and budget advice for the borrower. All of
them have shown their extreme usefulness.
The elevated levels of over-indebtedness
of European citizens highlight the need
for more personal microcredit. This could
help much more people to maintain or
improve their everyday well-being and
prevent over-indebtedness.
PeRCeNT oF ReSPoNDeNTS
15%
and another nine in 2009. In 2008, these new
entrants were mainly located in Italy and
Sweden. In 2009, new entrants were located
in Hungary, Italy and the Netherlands. The
next largest group of lenders (36%) began in
the period 2005-2009. They can be found in
Italy, Germany and Spain.
1980 - 1984 1985 - 1989 1990 - 1994 1995 - 1999 2000 - 2004 2005 - 2009
20%
25%
36%
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