News

Debit cards spell relief for Pakistan flood victims

More than 1.6 million flood victims in Pakistan will soon flash plastic debit cards as a way to get back on their feet following last summer’s monsoon deluge which took many lives and left millions homeless.

They’ll also get their first contact with the formal banking system, thanks to a unique collaboration of the government of Pakistan, United Bank Limited (UBL) of Pakistan, and Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) that is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The jump-start project aims to meet immediate needs while at the same time revolutionizing Pakistan’s banking landscape by making it more inclusive of the poor.

Using funds provided by the government of Pakistan, UBL will issue VISA debit cards, pre-loaded with $235, to 1.6 million “non-banked” families displaced by flooding. Additional instalments, up to a total of $950 per household, will assure users multiple opportunities to use (and become accustomed to using) the cards over the coming months.

“The hope is this will be a ground-breaking experience in bank services, as well as bring-

IRA Rollover passes for 2010 and 2011

On December 17, 2010, the United States President signed into law The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010. This bill restores the IRA Charitable Rollover for 2010 and permits its use in all of 2011. The act is retroactive to January 1, 2010, so donors who previously made 2010 IRA rollovers will qualify.

The principal rules for direct transfers from an IRA to a qualified public charity are that the IRA owner must be 70½ or older and that the transfer is for no more than $100,000 each year. A 2010 transfer qualifies for the required minimum distribution. It must be to a public charity either outright or for a specific purpose, but may not be to a donor advised fund or supporting organization. The transfer is made directly from a custodian or trustee to the charitable organization.

A very important potential 2010 benefit exists. Because Congress recognized that it is very late in the year, individuals who choose to make a qualified charitable distribution (QCD) rollover from their IRA trustee to a charity may make their 2010 charitable gift during 2010 or in January of 2011.

You may contact MEDA’s Resource Development Team for questions or instructions when making a request to your IRA account custodian.

Call 1-800-665-7026

ing Pakistan’s branchless banking services to a whole new level, particularly in the rural economy,” says Kim Pityn, MEDA’s chief operations officer. The government of Pakistan is covering the actual cash on the debit cards. The project management and logistics is being executed by MEDA because of its previous experience in Pakistan and its history of working with private-sector partners, with $1.6 million in funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has a strong commitment to promoting financial services and savings for the poor. “We are known as a trusted NGO, and our business approach is valued,” says Pityn.

MEDA will manage and report regularly on the use of project funds; provide progress reports on the status of electronic cash disbursements; publicly disseminate findings through case studies; and provide long-term monitoring and prepare a final report on the number of recipients who remain as active account holders.

“These are 1.6 million people who haven’t had deposit accounts before,” says Pityn. “Our goal is to ensure that at least half of them continue to use some kind of deposit process after the project ends.”

For MEDA, the project provides an opportunity to use current technology to expand financial services to a needy segment of the population.

“Flood relief is only part of the motivation,” Pityn says. “The larger issue is getting these people into the financial sector. This is a significant opportunity for MEDA to be part of a very large project in mobile technology, and to leverage this opportunity to explore and document branchless banking activities on a massive scale.”

The project began in November and runs until spring of 2012. ◆

Boost your bottom line by ... paying higher wages

One way to make the bottom line look rosier is to slash costs, right? Business owner Joan Blades has a different idea: Pay employees more.

“That’s not as crazy as it sounds,” she says. “A growing body of evidence is revealing that companies that pay fair wages, and offer flexibility and training to even entry-level and lower-skilled employees, do better than those that don’t.”

She cites examples of companies that, even in tough economic times, manage to flourish as a result of investing in a higher payroll.

An Alabama brick manufacturer found that productivity and quality rose, and turnover and accidents dropped when it paid higher wages and introduced profit-sharing. A Boston baked goods firm saw

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Chinese officials wonder: Is faith good for business?

As China tightens its grip on economic prominence, a curious conversation is going on that may surprise western Christian and business leaders.

At the heart of it lies the question — what is the relationship of Christian faith to workplace productivity? The discussion rekindles memories of old debates about the Protestant work ethic and economic dominance.

“Christian faith may sound like an unlikely component in China’s future economic success,” says Mats Tunehag, a respected leader in the Business as Mission movement. “But the notion that newfound faith can inspire a workforce to increased levels of productivity is being taken seriously not only by Christian businessmen, but by China’s Communist — and officially atheist — leaders.”

Tunehag notes that a British media article on Christian faith and Chinese productivity claimed that workers who become Christians assume more responsibility than other workers and develop a better work ethic. They also tend to be eager to tell co-workers about their newfound faith, thus creating a ripple effect of workplace performance.

“Those of us who have studied and observed Christian business ethics and transformation of societies — in history and around the world — are not surprised to find a correlation,” says Tunehag.

The general manager of a plant manufacturing industrial valves reportedly told BBC interviewers that when staff convert to Christianity their attitude toward their work is transformed. “If you’re a Christian you’re more honest, with a better heart,” he said. Christian workers took a greater sense of responsibility and “when they do things wrong, they feel guilty,” he added.

Tunehag says one recent convert told him he had known nothing about religion before he started work at the factory, but said his newfound faith was now a source of daily inspiration. “If everybody became a Christian, it would have a very big impact, and would really help the development of our factory,” he reportedly said.

Tunehag adds that the wider role of Christian entrepreneurs in the economic success of the Wenzhou private enterprise zone has not gone unnoticed by the Chinese government. “Far from being regarded as a religious oddity, the impact of Christian-run businesses is now being studied by Chinese government officials,” he says.

The director of the Chinese Institute of World Religions in Beijing had noted a correlation of the work of 19th century missionaries and the present growth of Christians and Christian entrepreneurs in the city of Wenzhou, which according to some estimates is 20 percent Christian. The director said, “It’s very important to find the secret of social development, the so-called potential forces for a nation. When it comes to Western countries, the majority Chinese understanding is that this potential force is Protestant Christianity.” (Business as Mission Network)

Higher wages continued from page 22

its fortunes rise when it offered more training and stock options. “Specifically, management credits these practices with improving sales, boosting productivity and helping them attract talent,” Blades writes.

She also cites Costco for paying thousands of dollars more per employee than its major competitor. “Costco is so convinced that its policy is sound that it has kept paying better wages than rivals, even as Wall Street has pressured the company to conform to industry standards,” says Blades.

Many companies, however, cannot resist “the apparent bargain” of saving money at the bottom end of the pay scale. “They tell themselves that standing at a cash register, working in an assembly line, or answering phones is so simple that anyone can do it — that workers doing these jobs can easily be replaced. And this short-sighted approach costs them. Simple math does not capture the human dynamics.”(USA Today)

Another business solution to poverty

Making hats in Central Asia, watercolor by Ray Dirks