Asia Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Monitor 2021

This volume focuses on the digitalization of microfinance in Bangladesh to help make finance more affordable for small businesses, and finds it to be a promising avenue for further exploration. Micro, small, and medium-sized businesses provide much of the income in rural Bangladesh, but their growth is constrained by limited access to affordable finance. This volume reports on a 2021 baseline study carried out in Bangladesh to pilot a randomized controlled trial to determine whether a digitalized group-based credit scheme could be introduced at an affordable price. The findings provide justification for further study on the digitalization of microfinance.