• Thu   • Dec 12, 2013   • Updated: 8:41pm  Lending a helping
hand  PUBLISHED : Monday, 31 March, 2008, 12:00am UPDATED :
Tuesday, 14 August, 2012, 12:08am  You have just earned your
first salary!  You can feel the banknotes in your pocket as you
happily head back home.  You are determined to save part of it
to buy a motorbike. That will make it easier to go to town
rather than walk.  So is there a safe place to keep your money?
In the bank, of course.  But for millions of people around the
world, this possibility does not exist. There are no banks
around, or at least within a reasonable distance. Imagine! No
bank to safeguard or lend money, and no easy and safe way to
transfer money to others.  For a long time, banks have believed
that offering services to very poor people was not profitable.
Why?  Opening and managing an account costs money and banks
don't usually directly charge their customers for it.  Banks
have to hire people to deal with customer transactions, whether
it is depositing, withdrawing or t