Fairer finance
Good Return works within the financial system to build a better and more inclusive sector.
Financial services should be a pathway out of poverty — yet too often they exclude the very people who need them most. Women, people with disabilities, ethnic minorities, Indigenous peoples, and those living in rural or climate-vulnerable communities still face systemic barriers when it comes to accessing fair, safe and affordable financial products. This can lead them vulnerable to loan sharks
Good Return’s Inclusive Finance program works to change that. We partner with financial service providers (FSPs) to extend responsible loans to underserved micro, small and medium enterprises — particularly those owned or led by women. At the same time, we train and support FSPs to build strong social inclusion policies and practices, shifting mindsets within the sector and strengthening their commitment to serve more clients.
Through catalytic capital, technical assistance, and peer learning, we help our partners deliver financial services that are inclusive, climate-smart and socially responsible. By transforming the way the financial sector operates, Inclusive Finance creates lasting economic opportunities for excluded households, strengthens resilience, and helps build fairer financial systems that work for everyone.
Through our partnership with Wing Bank in Cambodia, Good Return combined staff training on inclusive practices with a loan guarantee that enabled farmer Lor Yin and her husband to access finance. With the loan, they expanded from two to five greenhouses, making their crops more resilient to storms and climate change while boosting harvests and income. This support has helped Lor Yin build a stronger business, achieve her dream of owning a home, and set her family on a path toward greater security and opportunity.
Embedding inclusion into the financial sector
To build financial inclusion for women, it is vital to start with gender practices within the financial system. At Good Return, we partner with local financial service providers across the region - from microfinance providers to large national banks - to improve their gender practices and policies. We believe that if staff understand their rights and responsibilities towards gender inclusion, the organisation not only improves conditions for their employees but is also in a stronger position to provide better services to women clients.
Good Return’s skilled team uses our assessment tools to analyse gender practices in the organisation. We then use a collaborative approach, including workshops and discussion, to devise a bespoke gender action plan which includes recommendations on policies and training.
Through our work we have seen our partners become flagship organisations championing gender equality in their sector. Along the way, they have found building gender equality internally improves staff retention and profitability, and creates happier work environments.
The Responsible Inclusive Finance Academy
Good Return’s Responsible Inclusive Finance Academy (RIF Academy) is an innovative e-learning platform. The courses delivered on the platform aim to strengthen the capacity of the finance sector to meet the needs of the most vulnerable communities. The Good Return RIF Academy team are specialists in designing e-learning courses, and also offer customised LMSs for partners.
Focusing on the core principles of social inclusion, the e-learning courses cover client protection, monitoring and evaluation, social performance, staff capacity and inclusive finance. The LMS platform has a user-friendly interface, requires low bandwidth and can be adaptive to multiple devices, making it accessible for those who might otherwise face barriers. The RIF academy can also provide the capacity for microfinance institutions to customise their own e-learning courses for their own in-house or public training.
