The last 10 years have seen a strong revival of interest in expanding the provision of savings services for the poor. In the 19th century, savings banks were a vital component in the extension of financial services to poor women and men in Western Europe and elsewhere. This paper explores some features of the 19th-century development of savings banks in the United Kingdom, France and Germany that throw interesting light on current preoccupations in this area, including: how institutions learn from and adapt the mechanisms developed by poor people themselves; the implications of the range of motivations that characterize the promoters of savings institutions; the use of technology to reach the poor; and the role of the state and its regulations.

Bibliographical note: some of the sources cited below, and many other fascinating insights into the history of financial services for the poor, can be found through Roodman (2009).

Anbarasan, E. (2010) ‘Grameen founder Muhammad Yunus in Bangladesh aid probe’, BBC News [online], 2 December 2010, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11899506 [accessed 26 January 2011]. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11899506

Bentham, J. (1787) Defence of Usury; Showing the Impolicy of the Present Legal Restraints on the Terms of Pecuniary Bargains, in a Series of letters to a Friend, to which is added a Letter to Adam Smith, Esq; LL.D. on the Discouragements opposed by the above Restraints to the Progress of Inventive Industry, T. Payne and Son, London.

Bouman, F.J.A. (1995) ‘ROSCA: On the Origin of the Species’, Savings and Development XIX: 117-47.

Boyle, D. (2010) ‘Whatever happened to microfinance?’ New Economics Foundation Blog [online], 20 December 2010, http://www.neweconomics.org/blog/2010/12/20/whatever-happened-to-microfinance [accessed 26 January 2011]. http://www.neweconomics.org/blog/2010/12/20/whatever-happened-to-microfinance

Christen, R.P., Rosenberg, R. and Jayadeva, V. (2004) Financial Institutions with a ‘Double Bottom Line’: Implications for the Future of Microfinance, CGAP Occasional Paper No.8 [online], July 2004, http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.2701/OP8.pdf [accessed 5 May 2011]. http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.2701/OP8.pdf

Collins, D., Murdoch, J., Rutherford, S. and Ruthven, O. (2009) Portfolios of the Poor: How the World's Poor Live on $2 a Day, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.

Cordery, S. (2003) British Friendly Societies, 1750-1914, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, UK. Delplanque, P. (2010) ‘Remember When: Saving Nostalgia?’ Evening Gazette [online], http://rememberwhen.gazettelive.co.uk/2010/08/saving-nostalgia.html [accessed 5 January 2011]. http://rememberwhen.gazettelive.co.uk/2010/08/saving-nostalgia.html

EFInA (2010) Financial Services Landscape in Nigeria: Summary Document, Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access, Lagos (the full report is available from EFInA or from Oxford Policy Management) available at: http://www.efina.org.ng/Financial_services_landscape_summary_15_September.pdf [accessed 10 May 2011]. http://www.efina.org.ng/Financial_services_landscape_summary_15_September.pdf

Gosden, P.H.J.H. (1996) ‘Great Britain’, in J. Mura (ed.), History of European Savings Banks Volume I, Wissenschaftsförderung der Spaarkassenorganisation e.V., Stuttgart.

Hegel, G.W.F. (1830) The Philosophy of History, tr. J. Sibree, Dover Publications, New York (1956 edition).

Helms, B. and Reille, X. (2004) Interest Rate Ceilings and Microfinance: The Story So Far, CGAP Occasional Paper No. 9 [online], September 2004, http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.2703/OP9.pdf [accessed 5 May 2011]. http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.2703/OP9.pdf

Jacoud, G. (2010) Political Economy and Industrialism: Banks in Saint-Simonian Economic Thought, Routledge, London.

King, S. and Stewart, J. (eds) (2007) Welfare Peripheries: The Development of Welfare States in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Peter Lang, Oxford, UK.

Melik, J. (2010) ‘Microcredit “death trap” for Bangladesh's poor’, BBC News [online], 3 November 2010, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11664632 [accessed 26 January 2011]. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11664632

MicroSave (2011) Andhra Crisis: The Turn of Events and Current Status,’ Parts 1 and 2 [online], and linked Focus Notes Nos. 56-59, available from: http://www.microsave.org/announcement/andhra-crisis-the-turn-of-events-and-currentstatus-part-2 [accessed 10 January 2011]. http://www.microsave.org/announcement/andhra-crisis-the-turn-of-events-and-currentstatus-part-2

Morton, G., de Vries, B. and Morris, R.J. (eds) (2006) Civil Society, Associations and Urban Places: Class, Nation and Culture in Nineteenth Century Europe, Ashgate, Aldershot, UK.

Moss, M. and Russell, I. (1994) An Invaluable Treasure: A History of the TSB, Weidenfeld and Nicholson, London.

Moster, A. and Vogler, B. (1996) ‘France’, in J. Mura (ed.), History of European Savings Banks Volume I, Wissenschaftsförderung der Spaarkassenorganisation e.V., Stuttgart.

Mura, J. (ed.) (1996a) History of European Savings Banks Volume I, Wissenschaftsförderung der Spaarkassenorganisation e.V., Stuttgart.

Mura, J. (1996b) ‘Germany’, in J. Mura (ed.), History of European Savings Banks Volume I, Wissenschaftsförderung der Spaarkassenorganisation e.V., Stuttgart.

Mura, J. (ed.) (2000) History of European Savings Banks Volume II, Wissenschaftsörderung der Spaarkassenorganization e.V., Stuttgart.

Napier, M. (ed.) (2010) Real Money, New Frontiers: Case Studies of Financial Innovation in Africa, Juta Press, Capetown.

Oger, B. (2006) Histoire de la Caisse nationale d'épargne: Une institution au service du public et de l'État, 1881-1914, L'Harmattan, Paris.

Peachey, S. (2006) ‘Savings Banks and the Double Bottom Line: A Profitable and Accessible Model of Finance’, WSBI Perspectives 52, September 2006.

Peachey, S. and Roe, A. (2006) ‘Access to Finance: What Does it Mean and How Do Savings Banks Foster Access?’ WSBI Perspectives 52, September 2006.

Peachey, S., Carpio, A., Roe, A. and Cabello, M. (2009) ‘Measuring the Social Dividend in WSBI Members' Activities: Revealing the Hidden Elements’, WSBI Perspectives 57, February 2009.

Roodman, D. (2009) ‘Illuminating Microfinance's Past: A Bibliography’, Center for Global Development [online], http://blogs.cgdev.org/open_book/2009/03/illuminating-microfinances-pas.php [accessed 5 May 2011]. http://blogs.cgdev.org/open_book/2009/03/illuminating-microfinances-pas.php

Rosenberg, R. (2002) Microcredit Interest Rates, CGAP Occasional Paper, No. 1 [online], November 2002, http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.2696/OP1.pdf [accessed 5 May 2011]. http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.2696/OP1.pdf

Rozas, D. (2010) ‘Savings banks: Rediscovering a well-trod path to financial inclusion’, Microfinance Focus [online], http://www.microfinancefocus.com/news/tag/savings-banks/ [accessed 5 May 2011]. http://www.microfinancefocus.com/news/tag/savings-banks/

Rutherford, S. (1999) The Poor and Their Money: An Essay about Financial Services for Poor People, Institute for Development Policy and Management, University of Manchester, UK.

Rutherford, S. (2000) The Poor and Their Money, Oxford University Press, New Delhi.

Rutherford, S. with Arora, S. (2009) The Poor and their Money: Microfinance from a Twenty-first Century Consumer's Perspective, Practical Action Publishing, Rugby, 2nd edn.

Seibel, H.D. (2010) ‘Old and New Worlds of Microfinance in Europe and Asia’, in Goenka, A. and Henley, D. (eds), Southeast Asia's Credit Revolution: From Moneylenders to Microfinance, Routledge, London.

UN (2005) Statement of the Advisors Group to the United Nations International Year of Microcredit 2005: United Nations Forum to Build Inclusive Financial Sectors, United Nations Headquarters, New York.

Van de Walle, S. and Scott, Z. (2011) ‘The Political Role of Service Delivery in State-Building: Exploring the Relevance of European History for Developing Countries’, Development Policy Review 29(1): 5-21.

Wakefield, P. (1801) ‘Extract from an Account of a Female Benefit Club, at Tottenham’, Reports of the Society for Bettering the Condition and Increasing the Comforts of the Poor 3: 143-46.

Bibliographical note: some of the sources cited below, and many other fascinating insights into the history of financial services for the poor, can be found through Roodman (2009).

Anbarasan, E. (2010) ‘Grameen founder Muhammad Yunus in Bangladesh aid probe’, BBC News [online], 2 December 2010, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11899506 [accessed 26 January 2011]. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11899506

Bentham, J. (1787) Defence of Usury; Showing the Impolicy of the Present Legal Restraints on the Terms of Pecuniary Bargains, in a Series of letters to a Friend, to which is added a Letter to Adam Smith, Esq; LL.D. on the Discouragements opposed by the above Restraints to the Progress of Inventive Industry, T. Payne and Son, London.

Bouman, F.J.A. (1995) ‘ROSCA: On the Origin of the Species’, Savings and Development XIX: 117-47.

Boyle, D. (2010) ‘Whatever happened to microfinance?’ New Economics Foundation Blog [online], 20 December 2010, http://www.neweconomics.org/blog/2010/12/20/whatever-happened-to-microfinance [accessed 26 January 2011]. http://www.neweconomics.org/blog/2010/12/20/whatever-happened-to-microfinance

Christen, R.P., Rosenberg, R. and Jayadeva, V. (2004) Financial Institutions with a ‘Double Bottom Line’: Implications for the Future of Microfinance, CGAP Occasional Paper No.8 [online], July 2004, http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.2701/OP8.pdf [accessed 5 May 2011]. http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.2701/OP8.pdf

Collins, D., Murdoch, J., Rutherford, S. and Ruthven, O. (2009) Portfolios of the Poor: How the World's Poor Live on $2 a Day, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.

Cordery, S. (2003) British Friendly Societies, 1750-1914, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, UK. Delplanque, P. (2010) ‘Remember When: Saving Nostalgia?’ Evening Gazette [online], http://rememberwhen.gazettelive.co.uk/2010/08/saving-nostalgia.html [accessed 5 January 2011]. http://rememberwhen.gazettelive.co.uk/2010/08/saving-nostalgia.html

EFInA (2010) Financial Services Landscape in Nigeria: Summary Document, Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access, Lagos (the full report is available from EFInA or from Oxford Policy Management) available at: http://www.efina.org.ng/Financial_services_landscape_summary_15_September.pdf [accessed 10 May 2011]. http://www.efina.org.ng/Financial_services_landscape_summary_15_September.pdf

Gosden, P.H.J.H. (1996) ‘Great Britain’, in J. Mura (ed.), History of European Savings Banks Volume I, Wissenschaftsförderung der Spaarkassenorganisation e.V., Stuttgart.

Hegel, G.W.F. (1830) The Philosophy of History, tr. J. Sibree, Dover Publications, New York (1956 edition).

Helms, B. and Reille, X. (2004) Interest Rate Ceilings and Microfinance: The Story So Far, CGAP Occasional Paper No. 9 [online], September 2004, http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.2703/OP9.pdf [accessed 5 May 2011]. http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.2703/OP9.pdf

Jacoud, G. (2010) Political Economy and Industrialism: Banks in Saint-Simonian Economic Thought, Routledge, London.

King, S. and Stewart, J. (eds) (2007) Welfare Peripheries: The Development of Welfare States in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Peter Lang, Oxford, UK.

Melik, J. (2010) ‘Microcredit “death trap” for Bangladesh's poor’, BBC News [online], 3 November 2010, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11664632 [accessed 26 January 2011]. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11664632

MicroSave (2011) Andhra Crisis: The Turn of Events and Current Status,’ Parts 1 and 2 [online], and linked Focus Notes Nos. 56-59, available from: http://www.microsave.org/announcement/andhra-crisis-the-turn-of-events-and-currentstatus-part-2 [accessed 10 January 2011]. http://www.microsave.org/announcement/andhra-crisis-the-turn-of-events-and-currentstatus-part-2

Morton, G., de Vries, B. and Morris, R.J. (eds) (2006) Civil Society, Associations and Urban Places: Class, Nation and Culture in Nineteenth Century Europe, Ashgate, Aldershot, UK.

Moss, M. and Russell, I. (1994) An Invaluable Treasure: A History of the TSB, Weidenfeld and Nicholson, London.

Moster, A. and Vogler, B. (1996) ‘France’, in J. Mura (ed.), History of European Savings Banks Volume I, Wissenschaftsförderung der Spaarkassenorganisation e.V., Stuttgart.

Mura, J. (ed.) (1996a) History of European Savings Banks Volume I, Wissenschaftsförderung der Spaarkassenorganisation e.V., Stuttgart.

Mura, J. (1996b) ‘Germany’, in J. Mura (ed.), History of European Savings Banks Volume I, Wissenschaftsförderung der Spaarkassenorganisation e.V., Stuttgart.

Mura, J. (ed.) (2000) History of European Savings Banks Volume II, Wissenschaftsörderung der Spaarkassenorganization e.V., Stuttgart.

Napier, M. (ed.) (2010) Real Money, New Frontiers: Case Studies of Financial Innovation in Africa, Juta Press, Capetown.

Oger, B. (2006) Histoire de la Caisse nationale d'épargne: Une institution au service du public et de l'État, 1881-1914, L'Harmattan, Paris.

Peachey, S. (2006) ‘Savings Banks and the Double Bottom Line: A Profitable and Accessible Model of Finance’, WSBI Perspectives 52, September 2006.

Peachey, S. and Roe, A. (2006) ‘Access to Finance: What Does it Mean and How Do Savings Banks Foster Access?’ WSBI Perspectives 52, September 2006.

Peachey, S., Carpio, A., Roe, A. and Cabello, M. (2009) ‘Measuring the Social Dividend in WSBI Members' Activities: Revealing the Hidden Elements’, WSBI Perspectives 57, February 2009.

Roodman, D. (2009) ‘Illuminating Microfinance's Past: A Bibliography’, Center for Global Development [online], http://blogs.cgdev.org/open_book/2009/03/illuminating-microfinances-pas.php [accessed 5 May 2011]. http://blogs.cgdev.org/open_book/2009/03/illuminating-microfinances-pas.php

Rosenberg, R. (2002) Microcredit Interest Rates, CGAP Occasional Paper, No. 1 [online], November 2002, http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.2696/OP1.pdf [accessed 5 May 2011]. http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.2696/OP1.pdf

Rozas, D. (2010) ‘Savings banks: Rediscovering a well-trod path to financial inclusion’, Microfinance Focus [online], http://www.microfinancefocus.com/news/tag/savings-banks/ [accessed 5 May 2011]. http://www.microfinancefocus.com/news/tag/savings-banks/

Rutherford, S. (1999) The Poor and Their Money: An Essay about Financial Services for Poor People, Institute for Development Policy and Management, University of Manchester, UK.

Rutherford, S. (2000) The Poor and Their Money, Oxford University Press, New Delhi.

Rutherford, S. with Arora, S. (2009) The Poor and their Money: Microfinance from a Twenty-first Century Consumer's Perspective, Practical Action Publishing, Rugby, 2nd edn.

Seibel, H.D. (2010) ‘Old and New Worlds of Microfinance in Europe and Asia’, in Goenka, A. and Henley, D. (eds), Southeast Asia's Credit Revolution: From Moneylenders to Microfinance, Routledge, London.

UN (2005) Statement of the Advisors Group to the United Nations International Year of Microcredit 2005: United Nations Forum to Build Inclusive Financial Sectors, United Nations Headquarters, New York.

Van de Walle, S. and Scott, Z. (2011) ‘The Political Role of Service Delivery in State-Building: Exploring the Relevance of European History for Developing Countries’, Development Policy Review 29(1): 5-21.

Wakefield, P. (1801) ‘Extract from an Account of a Female Benefit Club, at Tottenham’, Reports of the Society for Bettering the Condition and Increasing the Comforts of the Poor 3: 143-46.

Bibliographical note: some of the sources cited below, and many other fascinating insights into the history of financial services for the poor, can be found through Roodman (2009).

Anbarasan, E. (2010) ‘Grameen founder Muhammad Yunus in Bangladesh aid probe’, BBC News [online], 2 December 2010, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11899506 [accessed 26 January 2011]. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11899506

Bentham, J. (1787) Defence of Usury; Showing the Impolicy of the Present Legal Restraints on the Terms of Pecuniary Bargains, in a Series of letters to a Friend, to which is added a Letter to Adam Smith, Esq; LL.D. on the Discouragements opposed by the above Restraints to the Progress of Inventive Industry, T. Payne and Son, London.

Bouman, F.J.A. (1995) ‘ROSCA: On the Origin of the Species’, Savings and Development XIX: 117-47.

Boyle, D. (2010) ‘Whatever happened to microfinance?’ New Economics Foundation Blog [online], 20 December 2010, http://www.neweconomics.org/blog/2010/12/20/whatever-happened-to-microfinance [accessed 26 January 2011]. http://www.neweconomics.org/blog/2010/12/20/whatever-happened-to-microfinance

Christen, R.P., Rosenberg, R. and Jayadeva, V. (2004) Financial Institutions with a ‘Double Bottom Line’: Implications for the Future of Microfinance, CGAP Occasional Paper No.8 [online], July 2004, http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.2701/OP8.pdf [accessed 5 May 2011]. http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.2701/OP8.pdf

Collins, D., Murdoch, J., Rutherford, S. and Ruthven, O. (2009) Portfolios of the Poor: How the World's Poor Live on $2 a Day, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.

Cordery, S. (2003) British Friendly Societies, 1750-1914, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, UK. Delplanque, P. (2010) ‘Remember When: Saving Nostalgia?’ Evening Gazette [online], http://rememberwhen.gazettelive.co.uk/2010/08/saving-nostalgia.html [accessed 5 January 2011]. http://rememberwhen.gazettelive.co.uk/2010/08/saving-nostalgia.html

EFInA (2010) Financial Services Landscape in Nigeria: Summary Document, Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access, Lagos (the full report is available from EFInA or from Oxford Policy Management) available at: http://www.efina.org.ng/Financial_services_landscape_summary_15_September.pdf [accessed 10 May 2011]. http://www.efina.org.ng/Financial_services_landscape_summary_15_September.pdf

Gosden, P.H.J.H. (1996) ‘Great Britain’, in J. Mura (ed.), History of European Savings Banks Volume I, Wissenschaftsförderung der Spaarkassenorganisation e.V., Stuttgart.

Hegel, G.W.F. (1830) The Philosophy of History, tr. J. Sibree, Dover Publications, New York (1956 edition).

Helms, B. and Reille, X. (2004) Interest Rate Ceilings and Microfinance: The Story So Far, CGAP Occasional Paper No. 9 [online], September 2004, http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.2703/OP9.pdf [accessed 5 May 2011]. http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.2703/OP9.pdf

Jacoud, G. (2010) Political Economy and Industrialism: Banks in Saint-Simonian Economic Thought, Routledge, London.

King, S. and Stewart, J. (eds) (2007) Welfare Peripheries: The Development of Welfare States in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Peter Lang, Oxford, UK.

Melik, J. (2010) ‘Microcredit “death trap” for Bangladesh's poor’, BBC News [online], 3 November 2010, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11664632 [accessed 26 January 2011]. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11664632

MicroSave (2011) Andhra Crisis: The Turn of Events and Current Status,’ Parts 1 and 2 [online], and linked Focus Notes Nos. 56-59, available from: http://www.microsave.org/announcement/andhra-crisis-the-turn-of-events-and-currentstatus-part-2 [accessed 10 January 2011]. http://www.microsave.org/announcement/andhra-crisis-the-turn-of-events-and-currentstatus-part-2

Morton, G., de Vries, B. and Morris, R.J. (eds) (2006) Civil Society, Associations and Urban Places: Class, Nation and Culture in Nineteenth Century Europe, Ashgate, Aldershot, UK.

Moss, M. and Russell, I. (1994) An Invaluable Treasure: A History of the TSB, Weidenfeld and Nicholson, London.

Moster, A. and Vogler, B. (1996) ‘France’, in J. Mura (ed.), History of European Savings Banks Volume I, Wissenschaftsförderung der Spaarkassenorganisation e.V., Stuttgart.

Mura, J. (ed.) (1996a) History of European Savings Banks Volume I, Wissenschaftsförderung der Spaarkassenorganisation e.V., Stuttgart.

Mura, J. (1996b) ‘Germany’, in J. Mura (ed.), History of European Savings Banks Volume I, Wissenschaftsförderung der Spaarkassenorganisation e.V., Stuttgart.

Mura, J. (ed.) (2000) History of European Savings Banks Volume II, Wissenschaftsörderung der Spaarkassenorganization e.V., Stuttgart.

Napier, M. (ed.) (2010) Real Money, New Frontiers: Case Studies of Financial Innovation in Africa, Juta Press, Capetown.

Oger, B. (2006) Histoire de la Caisse nationale d'épargne: Une institution au service du public et de l'État, 1881-1914, L'Harmattan, Paris.

Peachey, S. (2006) ‘Savings Banks and the Double Bottom Line: A Profitable and Accessible Model of Finance’, WSBI Perspectives 52, September 2006.

Peachey, S. and Roe, A. (2006) ‘Access to Finance: What Does it Mean and How Do Savings Banks Foster Access?’ WSBI Perspectives 52, September 2006.

Peachey, S., Carpio, A., Roe, A. and Cabello, M. (2009) ‘Measuring the Social Dividend in WSBI Members' Activities: Revealing the Hidden Elements’, WSBI Perspectives 57, February 2009.

Roodman, D. (2009) ‘Illuminating Microfinance's Past: A Bibliography’, Center for Global Development [online], http://blogs.cgdev.org/open_book/2009/03/illuminating-microfinances-pas.php [accessed 5 May 2011]. http://blogs.cgdev.org/open_book/2009/03/illuminating-microfinances-pas.php

Rosenberg, R. (2002) Microcredit Interest Rates, CGAP Occasional Paper, No. 1 [online], November 2002, http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.2696/OP1.pdf [accessed 5 May 2011]. http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.2696/OP1.pdf

Rozas, D. (2010) ‘Savings banks: Rediscovering a well-trod path to financial inclusion’, Microfinance Focus [online], http://www.microfinancefocus.com/news/tag/savings-banks/ [accessed 5 May 2011]. http://www.microfinancefocus.com/news/tag/savings-banks/

Rutherford, S. (1999) The Poor and Their Money: An Essay about Financial Services for Poor People, Institute for Development Policy and Management, University of Manchester, UK.

Rutherford, S. (2000) The Poor and Their Money, Oxford University Press, New Delhi.

Rutherford, S. with Arora, S. (2009) The Poor and their Money: Microfinance from a Twenty-first Century Consumer's Perspective, Practical Action Publishing, Rugby, 2nd edn.

Seibel, H.D. (2010) ‘Old and New Worlds of Microfinance in Europe and Asia’, in Goenka, A. and Henley, D. (eds), Southeast Asia's Credit Revolution: From Moneylenders to Microfinance, Routledge, London.

UN (2005) Statement of the Advisors Group to the United Nations International Year of Microcredit 2005: United Nations Forum to Build Inclusive Financial Sectors, United Nations Headquarters, New York.

Van de Walle, S. and Scott, Z. (2011) ‘The Political Role of Service Delivery in State-Building: Exploring the Relevance of European History for Developing Countries’, Development Policy Review 29(1): 5-21.

Wakefield, P. (1801) ‘Extract from an Account of a Female Benefit Club, at Tottenham’, Reports of the Society for Bettering the Condition and Increasing the Comforts of the Poor 3: 143-46.

Bibliographical note: some of the sources cited below, and many other fascinating insights into the history of financial services for the poor, can be found through Roodman (2009).

Anbarasan, E. (2010) ‘Grameen founder Muhammad Yunus in Bangladesh aid probe’, BBC News [online], 2 December 2010, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11899506 [accessed 26 January 2011]. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11899506

Bentham, J. (1787) Defence of Usury; Showing the Impolicy of the Present Legal Restraints on the Terms of Pecuniary Bargains, in a Series of letters to a Friend, to which is added a Letter to Adam Smith, Esq; LL.D. on the Discouragements opposed by the above Restraints to the Progress of Inventive Industry, T. Payne and Son, London.

Bouman, F.J.A. (1995) ‘ROSCA: On the Origin of the Species’, Savings and Development XIX: 117-47.

Boyle, D. (2010) ‘Whatever happened to microfinance?’ New Economics Foundation Blog [online], 20 December 2010, http://www.neweconomics.org/blog/2010/12/20/whatever-happened-to-microfinance [accessed 26 January 2011]. http://www.neweconomics.org/blog/2010/12/20/whatever-happened-to-microfinance

Christen, R.P., Rosenberg, R. and Jayadeva, V. (2004) Financial Institutions with a ‘Double Bottom Line’: Implications for the Future of Microfinance, CGAP Occasional Paper No.8 [online], July 2004, http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.2701/OP8.pdf [accessed 5 May 2011]. http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.2701/OP8.pdf

Collins, D., Murdoch, J., Rutherford, S. and Ruthven, O. (2009) Portfolios of the Poor: How the World's Poor Live on $2 a Day, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.

Cordery, S. (2003) British Friendly Societies, 1750-1914, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, UK. Delplanque, P. (2010) ‘Remember When: Saving Nostalgia?’ Evening Gazette [online], http://rememberwhen.gazettelive.co.uk/2010/08/saving-nostalgia.html [accessed 5 January 2011]. http://rememberwhen.gazettelive.co.uk/2010/08/saving-nostalgia.html

EFInA (2010) Financial Services Landscape in Nigeria: Summary Document, Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access, Lagos (the full report is available from EFInA or from Oxford Policy Management) available at: http://www.efina.org.ng/Financial_services_landscape_summary_15_September.pdf [accessed 10 May 2011]. http://www.efina.org.ng/Financial_services_landscape_summary_15_September.pdf

Gosden, P.H.J.H. (1996) ‘Great Britain’, in J. Mura (ed.), History of European Savings Banks Volume I, Wissenschaftsförderung der Spaarkassenorganisation e.V., Stuttgart.

Hegel, G.W.F. (1830) The Philosophy of History, tr. J. Sibree, Dover Publications, New York (1956 edition).

Helms, B. and Reille, X. (2004) Interest Rate Ceilings and Microfinance: The Story So Far, CGAP Occasional Paper No. 9 [online], September 2004, http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.2703/OP9.pdf [accessed 5 May 2011]. http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.2703/OP9.pdf

Jacoud, G. (2010) Political Economy and Industrialism: Banks in Saint-Simonian Economic Thought, Routledge, London.

King, S. and Stewart, J. (eds) (2007) Welfare Peripheries: The Development of Welfare States in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Peter Lang, Oxford, UK.

Melik, J. (2010) ‘Microcredit “death trap” for Bangladesh's poor’, BBC News [online], 3 November 2010, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11664632 [accessed 26 January 2011]. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11664632

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