PREFACE This manual is the result of years of design, field piloting, operational research and development. I developed the initial idea of the Private Service Provider (PSP) delivery channel based on my understanding of fee-for-services and certification; and worked out a business model driven by detailed questioning by Amolo Ng’weno from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF). The PSP delivery channel became operational as a pilot at scale under the BMGF Savings and Internal Lending Communities (SILC) Innovations project (2008–2012), which allowed us to test, refine and research the concept in detail, and produce this manual. My thanks go out to the many people who field tested and provided feedback during the roll-out in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Alfred Hamadziripi, first SILC Innovations director, provided the basis for the initial market development, outreach and agent supervision modules, and the next project director, marc bavois, developed the certification and fee-for-service structure in great detail through continuous field testing and refining. The delivery channel would not have become what it is today without the invaluable support of the country program teams, their dedicated partners and external reviewers. Finally, many thanks to marc bavois, main author of this manual, for his persistence and thoroughness to make the PSP delivery channel into a standard for the savings groups industry. Guy Vanmeenen, Senior Technical Advisor, CRS
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