However the prudential regulations were specifically designed to take account of the fact that MDIs are generally much smaller than commercial banks and have a very different business model. For example the minimum start up capital requirement for a deposit taking microfinance institution is much lower than that of a bank.
For an MDI the minimum capital is Shs 500 million, whereas for a commercial bank it is Shs 25 billion. In 2010, the coverage of the Deposit Protection Fund was extended to include the deposits of MDIs. It is fair to say that the growth of the MDIs has not been as rapid as originally hoped.