60 Decibels has published the fifth edition of its Microfinance Index, the sector’s largest client-voice benchmark — this year built on interviews with 18,709 clients of 65 financial service providers across 35 countries, including ECLOF Ecuador. ECLOF International is proud of being a partner to the Index since 2021.
ECLOF Ecuador has been a standout performer in the Index. Read the full results here: ECLOF Ecuador Among Top Global Performers in the 60 Decibels MFI Index.
The new report’s value lies in what it reveals about how microfinance creates impact. 60 Decibels is careful to stress that its scores are not a causal verdict on any single institution, and that differences between providers partly reflect who they serve. We read that as encouraging — because the levers the data affirms are precisely the design choices ECLOF has built its model around:
- Bundling non-financial services with credit. This is the Index’s most durable finding — “the one advantage that survived nearly every composition check.” Clients reporting “very much improved” quality of life rise from 33% with credit alone to 45% when financial and non-financial services are combined. Non-financial support lifts confidence and clients’ understanding of their loan terms most of all.
- Group lending for the underserved. Within institutions that run both models, group borrowers report unexpected fees half as often (5% vs. 10%) and fewer challenges than individual borrowers — and group lending’s impact advantage is largest exactly where loans are smallest, the first-access segment the model was built to serve.
- Serving women. Women report consistently higher satisfaction and loyalty — a gap that survives every control the analysts apply — and the report notes that income-only metrics tend to undercount the household gains women’s loans generate.
- Reaching the underserved. The Index rewards providers that reach first-time borrowers and lower-income clients — the very clients for whom the group-plus-services approach pays off most.
The honest nuance matters, and it works in our favor: the Index concludes that impact depends less on who a client is than on what they borrow, who lends to them, and how the loan is delivered. Those are controllable choices — and wide rural outreach, complementary non-financial services, a focus on women, and group-based lending are the choices ECLOF makes every day.
For partners and investors, that is the signal worth taking away. The ECLOF model is not a marketing claim; it aligns with what the sector’s largest body of client evidence suggests actually moves client impact.
