INDIAN INSTITUTE OF BANKING & FINANCE

(An ISO 9001 - 2015 CERTIFIED ORGANISATION)

Certificate Examination in Microfinance

OBJECTIVE
To provide a thorough knowledge of the concept of microfinance and how microfinance
institutions work, including the operational aspects of an SHG/ MFI. The course will be a
mixture of theory and case studies. This course would go a long way in building up the
financial literacy of the persons involved in microfinance and SME sector. As the RBI and the
Government have given a new thrust to financial inclusion and financial literacy, the
examination would be helpful to banks also in their quest to reach excluded sections of the
population.
ELIGIBILITY
1. Members and Non-Members of the Institute
2. Candidates must have passed the 12th standard examination in any discipline or its
equivalent.
SUBJECT OF EXAMINATION
Microfinance
PASSING CRITERIA
Minimum marks for pass in the subject is 50 out of 100.
EXAMINATION FEES*:
Particulars For Members For Non-Members
First attempt Rs.1,100/- * Rs.1,600/- *
Subsequent each attempt Rs.1,100/- * Rs.1,600/- *
* Plus Convenience charges and Taxes as applicable.
Please Note: Candidates are required to Register for every attempt separately.
As a measure to streamline the traffic for registration, Institute will charge regular
examination fee to candidates who registers for the examination during the first week of
registration. For second and third week of registration, the fees will be regular examination
fee plus Rs. 100/- and fourth week of registration, the fees will be regular examination fee
plus Rs. 200/-. In case, the registration date is extended beyond 4 weeks the
examination fees will be regular examination fee plus Rs. 200/- for the extended days.
The fee once paid will NOT be refunded or adjusted on any account.
MEDIUM OF EXAMINATION
Examination will be conducted in English only.
PATTERN OF EXAMINATION
(i) Question Paper will contain 120 objective type multiple choice questions for 100 marks.
(ii) The examination will be held in Online Mode only
(iii) There will NOT be negative marking for wrong answers.
DURATION OF EXAMINATION
The duration of the examination will be of 2 hours.
PERIODICITY AND EXAMINATION CENTRES
a) Examination will be conducted on pre-announced dates published on IIBF Web Site.
Institute conducts examination on half yearly basis, however periodicity of the
examination may be changed depending upon the requirement of banking industry.

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b) List of Examination centers will be available on the website. (Institute will conduct
examination in those centers where there are 20 or more candidates.)
PROCEDURE FOR APPLYING FOR EXAMINATION
Application for examination should be registered online from the Institute’s website
www.iibf.org.in. The schedule of examination and dates for registration will be published on
IIBF website.
PROOF OF IDENTITY
Non-members applying for Institute’s examinations/ courses are required to attach/ submit a
copy of any one of the following documents containing Name, Photo and Signature at the
time of registration of Examination Application. Application without the same shall be liable to
be rejected.
1) Photo ID Card issued by Employer or 2) PAN Card or 3) Driving License or 4) Election
Voter’s ID Card or 5) Passport 6) Aadhaar Card
STUDY MATERIAL/ COURSEWARE
The Institute has developed a courseware to cover the syllabus. The courseware (book) for
the subject/s will be available at outlets of publisher/s. Please visit IIBF website
www.iibf.org.in under the menu “Exam Related” for details of book/s and address of
publisher/s outlets. Candidates are advised to make full use of the courseware. However, as
banking and finance fields are dynamic, rules and regulations witness rapid changes.
Therefore, the courseware should not be considered as the only source of information while
preparing for the examinations. Candidates are advised to go through the updates put on the
IIBF website from time to time and go through Master Circulars/ Master Directions issued by
RBI and publications of IIBF like IIBF Vision, Bank Quest, etc. All these sources are important
from the examination point of view. Candidates are also to visit the websites of organizations
like RBI, SEBI, BIS, IRDAI, FEDAI etc. besides going through other books & publications
covering the subject/exam concerned etc. Questions based on current developments relating
to the subject/exam may also be asked.
CUT-OFF DATE OF GUIDELINES/ IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENTS FOR
EXAMINATIONS
The Institute has a practice of asking questions in each exam about the recent developments/
guidelines issued by the regulator(s) in order to test if the candidates keep themselves abreast
of the current developments. However, there could be changes in the developments/ guidelines
from the date the question papers are prepared and the dates of the actual examinations.
In order to address these issues effectively, it has been decided that:
(i) In respect of the examinations to be conducted by the Institute for the period February to
July of a calendar year, instructions/ guidelines issued by the regulator(s) and important
developments in banking and finance up to 31st December will only be considered for the
purpose of inclusion in the question papers".
(ii) In respect of the examinations to be conducted by the Institute for the period August to
January of a calendar year, instructions/ guidelines issued by the regulator(s) and
important developments in banking and finance up to 30th June will only be considered
for the purpose of inclusion in the question papers.
The table given below further clarifies the situation

Particulars Cut-off Date of Guidelines/ Important

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The details of the prescribed syllabus which is indicative are furnished in the booklet.
However, keeping in view the professional nature of examinations, all matters falling within
the realm of the subject concerned will have to be studied by the candidate as questions can
be asked on all relevant matters under the subject. Candidates appearing for the
examination should particularly prepare themselves for answering questions that may be
asked on the latest developments taking place under the various subject/s of the said
examination although those topics may not have been specifically included in the syllabus.
The Institute also reserves to itself the right to vary the syllabus/ rules/ fee structure from
time to time. Any alterations made will be notified from time to time. Further, questions based
on current developments in banking and finance may be asked.
Candidates are advised to refer to financial newspapers/ periodicals more particularly “IIBF
VISION” and “BANK QUEST” published by the Institute.
SYLLABUS
MICROFINANCE
1. Why Microfinance?
2. What is Microfinance?
3. Microfinance as a Development Tool: The Indian Experience
4. Evolution and Character of Microfinance in India
5. Microfinance Delivery Methodologies
6. Legal and Regulatory Framework
7. Some Innovative and Creative Microfinance Models
8. Impact of Microfinance
9. Financial Products and Services
10. Revenue Models of Microfinance: Profitability, Efficiency and Productivity
11. Emerging issues
12. Risk Management
13. Basics of Banking
IMPORTANT RULES/ INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES
1. ADMIT LETTER OF EXAMINATIONS:
a. Admit letter to all eligible candidates will be emailed to the candidates in their email
id registered with the Institute, 10 days before the examination date.
b. Admit letter of all eligible candidates will be hosted on Institute's website
www.iibf.org.in under the menu 'Exam Related', 1 week before the examination
date.
c. For downloading and printing of admit letter from the above mentioned website,
candidates will have to enter the following:
i. Membership or registration number as login id
ii. Edit profile password.
iii. If candidates do not remember their Edit profile password, they have to click on
the 'Forgot password/ Get Password' button after entering the Membership or
Registration number. On clicking fresh edit profile password will be sent to their
registered email id.
d. Candidates are required to produce printed copy of admit letter along with
Membership identity card or any other valid photo ID card in original (Aadhaar card/
e-Aadhaar/ Employer's card/ PAN Card/ Driving License/ Election voter's card/
Passport etc.) at the examination venue.
e. In the absence of printed copy of Admit Letter and Photo Identity Card,
candidates will be denied permission to write Examination.
2. MOBILE PHONES
a. Mobile phones and other electronic/ smart gadgets (except calculator as
permissible) are not allowed in the examination hall. It is clarified that mere
possession of mobile phone and other electronic/ smart gadgets in the examination
hall whether in switch off mode or silent mode shall also be deemed to be resorting
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 to adoption of unfair means in the examination.
3. USE OF CALCULATOR
a. Candidates will be allowed to use battery operated portable calculator in the
examination. The calculator can be of any type up to 8 functions i.e. (Addition,
Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, Percentage, Sq.-root, Tax+ and Tax -), 12 digits.
b. Attempt to use any other type of calculator not complying with the specifications
indicated above or having more features than mentioned above shall tantamount to
use of unfair means. Scientific calculator is not allowed.
4. OTHER RULES/ INFORMATION
a. Candidates should ensure that they sign the Attendance Sheet
b. Candidates are advised to reach the Examination Venue before the reporting time
mentioned in the admit letter. No candidate/s will be permitted to enter the
Examination Venue after the gate closing time mentioned in the admit letter.
c. No candidate will be permitted to leave the examination venue in the first 60
minutes from the scheduled start time of the examination.
d. Candidates should occupy the seat mentioned against each subject in the
Admit letter.
e. Candidates would be able to login to the system only with the password
mentioned in this Admit Letter. This password should not be disclosed to others.
Keep it safe to avoid the possible misuse.
f. If the examination could not commence on scheduled time or there is delay due to
Failure of power, Technical snag of whatsoever nature or for any such reason
having bearing upon the conduct of examination; candidates have to: -
i. Wait till resumption of power supply/ solving of technical snag.
ii. Take-up the examination at other venue arranged by the examination
conducting authority.
iii. Follow instructions given by the examination conducting authority.
g. Candidates are required to strictly follow all the instructions given by the
examination conducting authority during the examination and adhere to Rules of
the examination.
h. Violation of any of the Rules/ Instructions, misuse of the Admit Letter will be
considered to be an act of serious misconduct and the Institute will take action as
per the Rules of the examination, which will also be reported to the employer of
the candidate.
5. RULES, PENALTIES FOR MISCONDUCT/ UNFAIR PRACTICES:
a. Communication of any sort between candidates or with outsiders is not permitted
and complete silence should be maintained during the examination.
b. Copying answers from other candidates/ other printed/ Electronic material or
permitting others to copy or consultation of any kind will attract the rules relating to
unfair practices in the examination.
c. No candidate shall impersonate others or allow others to impersonate himself/
herself at the examination.
d. No candidate shall misbehave/ argue with the Examination Conducting Authorities
at the centre.
e. Candidates have to compulsory return any papers given including that given for
rough work to invigilator.
f. Candidates should not possess and/ or use books, notes, periodicals, etc. in the
examination hall at the time of examination/ or use mathematical tables, slide rules,
stencils etc. during the examination.
If any candidate violates any of the above rules, it will be considered to be an act of
misconduct and he/she will be liable for punishment.
PLEASE REFER INSTITUTE'S WEBSITE UNDER THE MENU “EXAM RELATED”
FOR DETAILS OF DEBARMENT PERIOD FOR UNFAIR PRACTICES ADOPTED BY

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 CANDIDATES DURING CONDUCT OF INSTITUTE'S EXAMINATIONS.
6. RESULT ADVICE/ CONSOLIDATED MARKSHEET/ FINAL CERTIFICATE
a. Result Advice of candidates will be hosted on Institute's website on declaration of
result, which can be downloaded by the candidates.
b. Consolidated mark sheet for candidates completing examination having more than
one subject, will be available on the Institute's website after the declaration of
results. Candidates can download the same after entering login credentials using
their membership number and edit profile password.
c. Final certificate: Digitally Signed Certificate will be issued to the candidates who
have enrolled and passed the examination. The Certificate will be emailed to the
email-id of the candidate registered with the Institute, within 3 weeks from the date
of declaration of result.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS (MCQS) AND ANSWERS
“The Institute conducts its examinations through Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs). These
MCQs are part of the Question Bank of the Institute and its Intellectual Property. As a matter
of policy, these MCQs and their answers will not be shared by the Institute with the
candidates or others and no correspondence in this regard will be entertained."
CONTACT DETAILS:
Register your queries through website www.iibf.org.in > Members/ Candidates Support
Services (Help) or email all your queries to [email protected]
MEMBER SUPPORT SERVICE OFFICE:
Indian Institute of Banking & Finance
191-F, Maker Towers, 19th Floor,
Cuffe Parade, Mumbai - 400 005
Tel.: 022-2218 3302/ 2218 5134
FOR TRAINING/ CONTACT CLASSES RELATED QUERIES CONTACT:
Leadership Centre
Indian Institute of Banking & Finance
Kohinoor City, Commercial-II, Tower-I, 3rd Floor,
Kirol Road, Off L. B. S. Marg, Kurla West, Mumbai 400 070.
Tel.: 022-6850 7000
E-mail: [email protected]
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CENTRES:
South Zone North Zone East Zone
Indian Institute of Banking & Indian Institute of Banking & Indian Institute of Banking &
Finance Finance Finance
No. 94, Jawaharlal Nehru Road, 102-113, Vikrant Towers, Avani Heights, 2nd Floor,
(100 Feet Road), Opp. Hotel 1st Floor, 4 Rajendra Place, 59A, Jawahar Lal Nehru Road,
Ambica Empire, Vadapalani, New Delhi – 110 008. Kolkatta – 700 020.
Chennai – 600 026. Tel. : 011-2575 2191/ 92 Tel. : 033-4603 2850
Tel. : 044-2472 2990/ 2472 8587 E-mail : [email protected] E-mail : [email protected]
E-mail : [email protected]

CORPORATE OFFICE: Indian Institute of Banking & Finance, Kohinoor City,