摘要：Ya gotta love Dave Richardson’s in-your-face article
in the last MicroBanking Bulletin (Issue No. 4). Ya
gotta love the way those credit union folks carry on
like they’re the ones who really invented
microfinance. Trouble is, in many ways, they did.
Although I hesitate to endorse anything as religious
sounding as doctrine, Dave’s “Seven Doctrines of
Success” are as good a summary of the credit
union approach as you’ll find. And he’s right that
the microfinance “industry” has been very slow to
recognize most of those points. It still hasn’t fully
digested some of them. The credit unions have
some strong messages for microfinance in several
of Dave’s doctrines, especially savings, efficiency,
financial standards, and diversification of clientele.
Microfinance practitioners should find ways to adopt
some of the credit unions’ approaches in these
areas, otherwise their institutions may lack the
staying power to survive when conditions change or
competition heats up.
