85

The remarkable growth of the microfinance industry over the past three decades has been facilitated by considerable institutional innovation in the sustainable provision of microfinance services. Entry of new institutions such as special designation banks and telecommunication companies, transformation of non-bank MFIs into microfinance banks, the downscaling of mainstream banks into microbanking, and creative partnerships between banks and non-banks are all examples of these institutional innovations. The proclivity of social entrepreneurs in the financial sector to think outside of the organizational box has been a boon to the microfinance industry, and the accelerating proliferation of institutional models is an extremely hopeful sign of the rapidly increasing potential of microfinance to reach an ever larger segment of the world’s unbanked and underbanked markets. JEL – G21, I39, L31, M13, M14