4. Increase access to finance for low income families – In the past unofficial money lenders offered very high interest rates of about 3-5% per month to the informal market - especially to low-income families. These families often need fast access to small amounts of cash to maintain the immediate needs of their households, such as paying for children’s school fees, investing in small agriculture farms, and so forth. Phongsavanh Bank saw the needs and opportunities and launched a Quick Cash product to help low-income families without collateral. The interest rate is 1.25% per month. This has led indirectly to a reduction of the interest rate of the unofficial lenders to about 2.5% per month; but more importantly the low-income families are now able to access small amounts of cash quickly at reasonable and affordable rates from a recognized bank.