Community Banking and Microfinance in the Global South

ABSTRACT Microfinance is promoted for empowering women, financial inclusion and eradicating poverty. Started as non‐profit services in South Asia and South America, critics point out that microfinance has become a business. Simultaneously, age‐old traditional community banking has been flourishing today without necessarily reducing the demand for microfinance. These trends have become even more puzzling with new technology, particularly mobile money (m‐money). This article asks: What are the gaps in the current literature on community banking, microfinance and m‐money? How have microfinance and community banking evolved? How has m‐money service risen, and what is its connection to microfinance? What are the strengths and weaknesses of traditional community banking, modern microfinance and m‐money? The article addresses these questions by reviewing the extant literature.