NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

NextBillion is proud to announce our newest partner: MicroSave Consulting (MSC). Regular readers of the site will be familiar with MSC – as will anyone who cares about financial inclusion. The organization is a boutique consulting firm that has been a leading voice in the sector for 20 years. We’ve worked with them since (at least) 2013 to publish articles from their many insightful analysts on mobile finance, microfinance and other related topics. And their founder and Group Managing Director Graham Wright has shared his consistently thought-provoking views with our readers via regular guest posts, interviews and debates over the years.

As we expand these collaborations into a formal partnership, we’re looking forward to working with MSC analysts to cover their ongoing efforts to support meaningful financial, social and economic inclusion around the world. The organization has 11 global offices, with about 190 staff working in over 50 developing countries – we’re excited to see how this partnership will boost our coverage of financial inclusion across these regions. Look out for regular posts from MSC, discussing what they’ve learned from their initiatives and partners – from governments and donors to private sector corporations and local businesses – about unlocking the benefits of financial access for low-income customers.

As Wright put it, “We see a huge opportunity to use the digital revolution to turbo-charge financial, social and economic inclusion. We also are concerned by the clear risks that the poorest could be left behind. So we are delighted to partner with NextBillion to highlight MSC’s insights, innovations and impact as we work to help service providers serve and include the mass market on a profitable basis.”

We couldn’t agree more.