the 'new' microfinance

found this blog on the 'new' microfinance via my microfinance pubsub (btw, i like the new UI). it doesn't look like it is updated that regularly, but i found the description interesting:

New microfinance represents a fresh point of view and questions the wisdom of credit or small loans as the best first step in reaching the very poorest people. Poor rural women prefer to create a financial cushion before they take on the risk of a loan. They can create this cushion by saving.
[...]
...At the end of the month, women take their savings and deposit them into a group fund. After a few months enough savings accumulates for the group to begin issuing small loans to members. As groups prove they can manage their fund well, they can borrow more from a bank, a cooperative or a microcredit institution.

Is credit bad? No, fission is not bad either. It's how you manage credit that makes it bad or good. To give loans to an extremely poor or vulnerable person puts that person at risk...