Gramee Bank

This document was prepared by Vishwas Satgar, Executive Director of the Co-operative and Policy Alternative Center(COPAC). 2003

Comparative Study- Cooperative Banks and the Grameen Bank Model

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This document was prepared by Vishwas Satgar, Executive Director of the Co-operative and Policy Alternative Center(COPAC). 2003

Executive Summary This study focuses on the Co-operative Banking model and the Grameen Bank model. It attempts to highlight their histories, institutional arrangements, the design of their saving and loan delivery systems and most importantly their strengths and weaknesses. Emerging out of this are a set of five general policy recommendations. In summary these recommendations are:

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The establishment of a Savings and Credit Co-operative for Midrand with specific institutional arrangements; The conceptual design of a savings and loan delivery system that is membership driven and underpinned by the achievement of financial sufficiency; Assessing the feasibility of using “smart card” technology; A public and community partnership to solidify commitment to this initiative; and A capacitation team that oversees a well defined capacitation process.

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This document was prepared by Vishwas Satgar, Executive Director of the Co-operative and Policy Alternative Center(COPAC). 2003

Contents Section - I 1. Introduction 2. Methodology Section – II 3. The Co-operative Model 3.1 A Brief History of Co-operative Banks 3.2 Overview of the South African Co-operative Model 4. Essential Features of the Savings and Loan Delivery System 4.1 Membership 4.2 Management and Administrative Structures 4.3 Savings and Investment Policy 4.4 Loans Policy 5. Training 6. Financing and Economic Viability 6.1 Start-up Costs 6.2 Operational Costs 7. Main Weaknesses and Strengths Section - III 8. The Grameen Bank 8.1 The Vision 8.2 Overview of the Grameen Bank Model 9. Essential Features of the Savings and Loan Delivery System 9.1 Exclusive focus on the...