Countering Misconceptions – WSJ Article

Suyash Rai and Sona Verma of IFMR Trust have penned an article in today’s edition of Wall Street Journal titled “Debunking Myths about the Poor and Financial Services”.

In the article they talk about the power of finance and the role it plays in the lives of poor. They counter some of the popular misconceptions about finance in context of the poor, which being:

• The poor are not creditworthy
• Finance falls lower in the ‘hierarchy’ of needs for the poor, below health, education etc
• Credit is the only financial service required by the poor
• The poor are not sophisticated in using financial services, so access to finance may end up damaging their livelihoods

Please click here to read the full article