Garbage In, Garbage Out: Data Quality in the Microfinance Sector

Quality data—accurate and useful—is critical for the microfinance sector. Financial institutions that serve low-income clients need good data to better understand women, and ensure they are achieving the financial and social returns they seek. Industry experts agree that over the past decade, the amount of data collected in the microfinance sector has grown tremendously for two reasons: microfinance institutions (MFIs) need more client data to develop and market new products and services and secondly, external stakeholders increasingly require both financial performance reporting and evidence that the MFIs have a measurable social impact on clients. This, however, has not been supported by a commensurate improvement in data quality.Download the English version