Case Studies

Grameen took 27 years to reach 2.5 million members – and then doubled that in the full establishment of Grameen II. Even in Bangladesh’s fiercely competitive environment Grameen continues to grow at a remarkable rate attracting around 140,000 new members each month – a staggering 1.7 million new members every year.

Estimating the number of Bangladesh’s microfinance clients (known almost always as ‘members’) has never been easy in an industry that lacks a credit bureau or other reliable way of tracking users of financial services.

Grameen Bank’s audited accounts for 2003 show a six-fold increase in net profits over 2002 – from 60 to 358 million taka (US$6 million). 2003 was the first full year of ‘Grameen II’, so this surge in profit looks like a good return on the decision to launch Grameen II. So where did these profits come from?

The first note in this series, ‘What is Grameen II?’ introduced the Grameen Bank and the changes it has made recently, known as the ‘Grameen Generalised System’ or ‘Grameen II’. This second note in the Grameen II series now addresses specifically the significant growth in new member savings. Some of the most important changes are in the bank’s new approach to savings deposits.