Hirsch, Gary with Guy Stuart, Jay Rosengard and Don Johnston, "SymBanc™: A Simulator for Microfinance Institutions", 2005 July 17-2005 July 21
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Microfinance institutions (MFIs) provide credit, savings, and other financial services to the poor and must successfully manage large volumes of small transactions. SymBanc is a system dynamics simulator designed to introduce students to the complexities of managing a Microfinance Institution (MFI) or to engage experienced practitioners in a discussion of the key determinants of success in such a dynamic environment. The simulator allows students and practitioners to grow an MFI from a single branch to a large network by making a variety of decisions about target market, staffing and facilities, loan and savings product design, and sources of external funding. Detailed feedback enables them to fine-tune their strategies during a simulation. This paper begins with some background on Microfinance Institutions and then presents the structure of the model underlying SymBanc and results of typical simulations. Initial experience using SymBanc and future enhancements contemplated for it are also described.