Choice of strategy, finally, depends on whether the organization sees its role as promotional organizing groups and linking them to formal sources of credit or as providing credit and savings services directly. The terms linking and parallel are associated with these two options. Because experience with linking strategies is not well documented, these strategies do not provide as many examples of successes as do parallel models. Although there are certain advantages to a linking strategy where the financial structure appears well developed, it also carries with it several disadvantages. Case examples from Asia show that this has been a problem for some implementers.
Parallel systems create alternative financial systems to the formal ones.
These group-based models differ in the complexity of roles they expect their clients to play, the level of autonomy in decision making they engage in, and the amount and type of resources that clients manage. Effective social intermediation strategies have many features in common. They seek to design products and services that target the poor, and they expect their clients to recruit and select each other into the program. They view their relationship with their clients in contractual terms, where each side has responsibilities and roles to play and accountability is mutual. They take a businesslike approach to their operations and are committed to financial sustainability.