Youth-Inclusive Financial Services (YFS) are a range of financial products and services intentionally designed and adapted to meet the needs of youth.
YFS-Link is an innovative, three-year capabilities building and training initiative which aims to to expand exponentially the range and quality of financial services to youth. YFS-Link will expand the body of knowledge and connect practitioners within the youth-inclusive financial services space.
About YFS-Link
Helping organizations link youth to financial services
Access to financial services is critical to promoting savings habits and creating self-employment opportunities for youth. Financial institutions can gain a competitive advantage, reaching new markets and developing clients for life by offering financial products to youth. Yet, few financial service providers and youth-serving organizations have ventured into the nascent field of youth-inclusive financial services. Making Cents International's Youth-Inclusive Financial Services Linkage Project (YFS-Link) can help organizations reach youth with financial services or improve their offerings to this important market. This innovative, three-year, global capacity building program will help organizations develop and effectively deliver relevant, profitable, demand-driven financial products and services to youth.
Mission of YFS-Link
YFS-Link will strengthen the sector by building the capabilities of and creating opportunities for financial services providers and youth-serving organizations to design and deliver services that will provide youth with increased access to the critical financial services needed to climb the socio-economic ladder.
Components of YFS-Link
- State of the Field: Capture and consolidate the experiences and priorities of major stakeholders in the field of youth-inclusive financial services through a global survey and report.
- Capacity Building Curricula: Translate knowledge of promising practices into demand-driven modules to train financial services providers and youth-serving organizations. Content will focus on topics such as “the business case,” product development and adaptation, and establishing effective partnerships.
- Training: Disseminate these capacity building materials globally through partnerships with leading regional and national training and technical assistance providers.
- Collaborative Learning and Resource Center: Create an online platform to facilitate ongoing learning and exchange, serve as the “go-to” place for resources, and provide the latest information on who is doing what where in youth financial services.
Promising Practices in Youth-Inclusive Financial Services
What are the promising practices to date in providing youth populations with financial services? Is savings the best place to start? Are partnerships essential to increasing access to youth-inclusive financial services? Do products need to be designed specifically for youth or simply be made more accessible to them?
As a result of collaborative input, case studies, and discussions of practitioners from financial services providers and youth-serving organizations during conferences, courses, and technical meetings, these six emerging guidelines have been identified.
These guidelines will continue to evolve as we learn more from the experiences of practitioners in this nascent field of youth-inclusive financial services.
Download Newest Emerging Guidelines Document
Click here to read new case studies highlighting how leading practitioners are currently applying these guidelines to their work.
Ways to Engage
YFSlink.org - Platform Launch
Making Cents International is pleased to announce the launch of YFS-Link—the first space for financial services providers (FSPs) and youth-serving organizations (YSOs) to gather, learn and share about youth-inclusive financial services! With your participation, this collaborative platform will act as the community driven “go-to” place for pioneers in the sector to share knowledge, experiences, and lessons learned.
Features include: Interactive Global Map; Resource Center; Practitioner Discussion Forum; YFS Blog; and more!
Special thanks to The MasterCard Foundation for its continued support and commitment to the YFS-Link Program.
Take Our Survey and Get on the Map
Showcase the work you are doing in youth-inclusive financial services. Making Cents is conducting a global survey of the youth-inclusive financial services sector. The data collected will be used to generate a report on the state of the field and build a foundation of knowledge in this nascent sector. Participating organizations will be able to increase their profile as a provider or facilitator of youth-inclusive financial services, as organizational profiles will be posted on the forthcoming map of youth-inclusive financial services. The results of the survey will inform the development of curriculum to build the capabilities of organizations working in youth-inclusive financial services. These practical training courses will focus on topics such as making the business case, market research, product development, marketing, and delivery, all specifically within the youth market.
(Read More)
This survey is the first of its kind, and will establish a baseline state of the practice for the nascent area of youth-inclusive financial services.
Participating organizations will be able to increase their profiles as providers or facilitators of youth-inclusive financial services, as organizational profiles will be generated and posted on the forthcoming map of youth-inclusive financial services. As an organization working or interested in youth-inclusive financial services, you will be able to access this information and learn more about initiatives in your region, search for resources, access available tools in youth-inclusive financial services, and collaborate with others in a meaningful way.
The results of the survey will inform the development of curricula to build the capabilities of organizations working in youth-inclusive financial services, including financial service providers (e.g., MFIs, commercial banks, credit unions), youth serving organizations (e.g., NGOs), microfinance networks/associations, and training providers. These practical training courses will focus on topics such as making the business case, market research, product development, marketing, and delivery, all specifically within the youth market.
The survey answers the following questions:
- What are the priorities and experiences of financial services providers and youth-serving organizations providing or facilitating access to financial services for youth?
- What are the training and capabilities needed of financial services providers or youth-serving organizations currently providing or facilitating access to financial services to youth, or considering doing so?
- What is the interest and capacity of microfinance networks, associations, and training providers in offering trainings to their members and clients on provision of financial services to youth?
- What tools or training courses are already available related to these topics and what are the gaps?
- What are the perspectives of supporting organizations such as international NGOs and consulting firms, funders, and researchers on the capabilities and needs of those providing financial services to youth?
Don’t miss this is opportunity to highlight your organization as an emerging leader in youth-inclusive financial services!
View preliminary data presented at the 2009 Global Youth Enterprise Conference.
Please contact YFS-Link Project Coordinator, Rathi Mani for more information.
Attend or become a certified trainer of our two-day course “Implementing Sound Practices in Youth-Inclusive Financial Services”
Attend or become a certified trainer of our newest course, Implementing Sound Practices in Youth-Inclusive Financial Services, which provides an overview of key concepts and practices related to the provision of financial services for youth populations.
(Read More)
Implementing Sound Practices in Youth-Inclusive Financial Services is a highly interactive course that offers a practical step-by-step framework for exploring youth-inclusive financial services. Through hands-on activities and case study discussions, this course provides microfinance practitioners and youth enterprise and livelihoods practitioners an overview of today’s relevance of financial services to youth in the developing world and how to design and implement interventions to expand youth-inclusive financial services.
Who should attend this course?
This course is for senior staff, responsible for implementation, from youth-serving organizations and financial service providers that would like to learn more about what it takes to provide youth populations with financial services or support those organizations doing so.
During this course you will learn about the following:
- How financial services can play a role in lives of young people
- Key steps in the design of youth inclusive financial services
- Forming partnerships
- The role of monitoring and evaluation for youth inclusive financial services
As a course participant, you will walk away with guidance on youth-inclusive financial services packages, and action plans you can apply to the specific needs and interests of your organizations and the young people you intend to serve.
This course is appropriate for those who are exploring or already offering financial services to youth.
Please contact us for information on how you can attend or lead a session at this event.
Upcoming YFS Events
2010 |
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Date |
City & Country |
Partner Organization |
Course/Workshop/ Presentaton |
| May 3-5, 2010 | Bali, Indonesia |
Academy for Microfinance Development in Asia (AMiDA) |
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| May 31–June 12, 2010 | Manchester, New Hampshire | Sustainable Microenterprise Development Program – SMDP of the Carsey Institute of University of New Hampshire. To register, visit: |
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June 1-3, 2010 |
Damascus, Syria |
Sanabel Annual Microfinance Conference |
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July 23, 2010 |
Turin, Italy |
Boulder Microfinance Training Institute in Turin |
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October 12- 15, 2010 |
Colombo, Sri Lanka |
Banking With the Poor: Asia Network Summit |
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October 11–23, 2010 |
Zanzibar, Tanzania |
Sustainable Microfinance Development Program – SMDP of the Carsey Institute of University of New Hampshire. |
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New Course Descriptions
- Implementing Sound Practices in Youth-Inclusive Financial Services (2 days)
This highly interactive course offers a practical step-by-step framework for understanding what it takes to offer youth-inclusive financial services.
Through hands-on activities and case study discussions, this course provides microfinance practitioners and youth enterprise and livelihoods practitioners with an introduction to designing and implementing interventions to expand youth-inclusive financial services. During this course, participants will learn about key steps in youth inclusive financial services including market research, adaptation or development of services, partnerships, delivery channels and simple evaluation systems.
- Market Research with Young Clients (3 days)
This course is a practical “how to” for financial service practitioners wishing to deepen their skills and knowledge in conducting market research with young clients intended to lead to the adaptation or development of financial products and services for youth.
The course offers individuals a set of frameworks for understanding the kinds of skills, knowledge and tools needed to undertake effective market research with young people including consideration of cognitive development and life stage factors. Participants will develop skills in developing market research tools, plans, using data collection tools and using market research tools with young people directly in the field.
- Adapting and Developing Financial Services for Young People (3 days)
This course offers financial service practitioners the opportunity to enhance product development knowledge and skills with a focus on serving young clients.
Participants will be able to assess the extent to which the product development process is different when considering younger clients and how services and products may be similar to or different from what their institutions currently offer. Through case studies, use of the 8 Ps of product design, and application of profitability analysis, practitioners will acquire skills and tools to offer adapted or new services to younger clients.
- Partnering for Improved Service Delivery with Young People (2 days)
Financial institutions often find that young clients are looking to access a range of services not exclusively financial and youth-serving organizations often find that the youth they work with need financial services that they are not equipped to offer.
This course offers both financial service practitioners and youth-serving organizations an opportunity to explore ways to partner to improve the availability of services young people look for as well as leverage delivery mechanisms that exist in communities. The course uses case studies and interactive exercises and participants are enabled to use partner mapping tools.
Contact us to sign-up now or to find out more information about these courses.
Collaborators
Making Cents International has launched its innovative three-year Youth-Inclusive Financial Services Linkage Program “YFS- Link” with the support of the MasterCard Foundation.
"It was a very good program and I enjoyed the course...[we will be starting] a program with the youth in the project affected communities we are working in. We plan to train them in Youth Inclusive Financial Services, organize a market research to identify their financial needs and link them to a partner bank. All this has been possible through your support. Thank you."
- Joseph Nyamekeh Armah, Project Coordinator, Organization for Livelihood Enhancement Services (Olives)
These practical, hands-on courses are newly developed for 2010. View the course descriptions.
Check out YFS-Link’s newest case studies highlighting the experiences of practitioners working in youth-inclusive financial services around the world.