Fortunately, WSEP is not alone in its recognition that more can be done by building community than by people working apart. These partnerships combine the strengths of banks with the skills of microenterprise organizations. Banks are pros at raising capital in the marketplace, local and national. Many banks provide the micro-lenders with indirect access to technology that drives down costs of processing and monitoring loan repayments. Daily modem or fax transmissions enable the micro-lenders to carry out very good management practice at very low cost.
Banks also allow their employees to serve on micro-lenders' boards, or on their loan committees.
Particularly after these bankers have learned the micro-lending methodologies, they provide valuable support in overseeing the organization's management, or in reviewing their larger loans. The micro-lenders are able to reach well into poor and disadvantaged communities to identify good prospective clients that banks don't yet serve. These partnerships of micro-lenders, banks, and other businesses are also working together to create new breakthroughs and to extend economic opportunity further. In these and other ways, bankers and community lenders have become allies in the process of product innovation. Conclusion Today, we all have increased responsibilities to keep the pace of change and innovation going in a safe, sound, responsible manner.