摘要：As traditionally credit-led microfinance institutions
take up the challenge of savings mobilization, it has
become increasingly important to be able to measure
and compare the performance of savings programs.
However, this topic is only beginning to engage
the microfinance field, which has made progress
incorporating savings into the overall measurement
of financial condition and performance of
MFIs. We know how to gauge the general health of
a financial institution, even a savings-based one,
using indicators that measure capital adequacy,
returns, asset quality, and liquidity. ACCION’s
CAMEL (Capital, Asset, Management, Efficiency,
Liquidity), the World Council of Credit Unions’
(WOCCU) PEARLS (Protection, Effective Financial
Structure, Asset Quality, Rates of Return and
Costs, Liquidity, Signs of Growth) and the Micro-
Banking Bulletin (MBB) all center around such indicators.
But when it comes to analyzing the mobilization
of savings itself – asking whether an institution
is a successful savings mobilizer – we come up
short. On such questions the microfinance field
barely gets beyond total number and volume of accounts.
