The Savings for the Poor Innovation and Knowledge Network (SPINNAKER) was created by a group of professionals with a mission to help financial institutions develop, research, compare, and ultimately improve the design, marketing and delivery of savings products for the poor. As part of building the stock of knowledge on savings for the poor, under the SPINNAKER project, Global Assets Project (GAP) of the New America Foundation partnered with MicroSave to conduct the first exploratory deep dive country study.
The goal of the study was to not only capture the range of savings products for the poor and identify opportunities for further innovative development, but also to help develop data gathering instruments and approaches and identify gaps for future research. The Philippines was chosen as the first country of study due to its increasingly active microfinance industry which involves a variety of institutions offering a broad range of products and services operating in a highly supportive regulatory environment.