IIBF Microfinance study plan

Define microfinance and distinguish it from microcredit, formal banking, and informal moneylending, writing your own one-paragraph definition without copying source text.

List and explain at least six microfinance products (group loan, individual loan, emergency loan, micro-insurance, micro-savings, remittance, housing microfinance) and state the typical ticket size and repayment rhythm for each.

Trace the historical evolution from Grameen-style group lending to individual and digital lending, and identify which design feature changed and why.

Map the main delivery models (SHG-bank linkage, joint liability group, individual lending, agent and BC model, MFI-bank partnership) and note the cost, scale, and risk trade-off of each.

Explain the economics of a microfinance loan: interest rate build-up (cost of funds, operating cost, loan loss provision, margin), effective yield, and why flat versus reducing-balance quoting changes the client's true cost.

Compute the effective annual rate for a loan quoted at a flat monthly rate and show the arithmetic step by step.

Describe client-level demand-side factors: income seasonality, cash-flow smoothing, consumption versus enterprise credit, and over-indebtedness signals.

Explain the role of credit bureaus, group meetings, and repayment discipline in product design.

Identify the primary legal forms an Indian microfinance entity can take (NBFC-MFI, NBFC, Section 8 company, society, trust, cooperative) and state the capital, licensing, and governance implication of each.

Summarise the RBI microfinance regulatory framework: qualifying asset thresholds, income and loan-size caps, qualifying asset share, pricing, and the multiple-lending and indebtedness norms, and note which rules changed when the framework was revised in 2022.

Explain the difference between the RBI regulatory framework and the industry self-regulatory code of conduct, and state which body enforces each.

Outline client-protection requirements: transparent pricing disclosure, no collateral for small loans, grievance redressal, and fair recovery practices.

Explain how priority-sector lending targets and the PSL certificate mechanism make microfinance attractive to banks, and quantify the incentive for a bank to buy an MFI portfolio.

Describe the SHG-bank linkage model's legal and institutional plumbing: who opens the savings account, who lends, who bears default, and the role of the promoting agency.

Compare financial inclusion policy instruments (Jan Dhan accounts, DBT, Mudra, stand-up India, BC model) and state the specific gap each was designed to close.

Draft a short argument on whether interest-rate caps help or hurt clients, using at least two empirical or logical supports.

Define financial inclusion and distinguish it from access, usage, and quality of financial services, giving one example of each.

Analyse the role of MFIs in inclusion: who they reach that banks do not, and the evidence on women's empowerment and enterprise creation.

Explain social performance management: the client-protection principles, the Smart Campaign's core principles, and how an MFI measures whether it is meeting its social mission.

Describe the funding landscape for MFIs: equity, debt from banks, securitisation, social investors, and the implications of each for growth and governance.

Build a credit appraisal checklist for a microenterprise loan covering cash-flow assessment, household versus enterprise separation, repayment capacity, and character and willingness-to-pay indicators.

Explain the five Cs of credit and show how each is tested in a group-lending setting where there is no collateral.

Distinguish delinquency, default, and write-off, and compute PAR-30, PAR-90, and the write-off ratio from a small loan-tape example.

Identify portfolio-level risk drivers: concentration by sector and geography, over-indebtedness from multiple borrowing, and contagion from a single large borrower.

Design a recovery process that stays within legal and ethical limits: reminder sequence, restructuring, settlement, and legal escalation, with the point at which each step is triggered.

Explain the operational risk exposures specific to microfinance: cash handling in field offices, fraud by field staff, ghost borrowers, and MIS/data integrity failure, and name one control for each.

Describe how an MFI manages liquidity and interest-rate risk given that it borrows short and lends short with frequent repayment.

Outline the role of internal audit, board risk committee, and regulatory reporting in the risk governance structure.

Synthesise the four domains into a single mental model that links product design, legal form, inclusion mission, and risk control.

Answer a full-length timed mock test under exam conditions and score it by domain to find weak areas.

Revisit every wrong answer and write the corrected rule or concept in your own words.

Drill the numeric items (effective rate, PAR, qualifying asset share) until you can do them without reference.