MFT IN ENGLISH: Focus on the Future

DEEPENING OUR PERSONAL CONNECTION TO CLIENTS IN A DIGITAL ERA

July 13-24, 2026 – ITC-ILO – Turin, Italy

MFT IN ENGLISH GRID

Click on the course for the full description and on the photo to view the faculty bio.

MASTER CLASS:
Managing Growth, Competition and Inclusion

Each morning starts with a masterclass on hot topics such as climate change resilience, gender-specific opportunities, open banking, over-indebtedness in competitive markets, and rural financial services.

Create growth hacking in order to create actionable insights. Drive user engagement in order to create synergy. Generating a holistic approach in order to use best practice. Amplifying below the line to, consequently, come up with a bespoke solution.

       Robert Christen
     Momina Aijazuddin
      Martin Holtmann

Choose two elective courses (one in the morning and one in the afternoon) running from Monday to Thursday for each week. On Friday, you’ll dive into the other topic during an intensive 2.5-hour seminar, ensuring a rich and varied experience during your stay.

Bilingual participants have the option to enroll in courses taught in their second language.

WEEK 1 – JULY 13 – 17

MORNING

Gerhard Coetzee

Designing Solutions for Digital Finance & DPI

Many countries are developing digital public infrastructure. Digital financial services delivered through these systems can meet diverse customer needs. Focused, customer-centric solutions are necessary to include vulnerable groups. This course covers customer-focused methods, explains the DPI framework, and provides practical examples to help participants design digital solutions to specific customer challenges.

Anup Singh

Scaling Next Generation Digital Financial Services

A practical, hands-on course focused on building digital financial services that are trusted, relevant, and intentionally designed to scale. It examines why many digital initiatives stall after launch and provides a clear, experience-based path from market research and readiness assessment to rapid prototyping, thoughtful pilot design, and effective rollout. The result is a learning experience grounded in human insight, for organizations operating in complex contexts.

Dagoberto Cereceda

Using BI to Maximize Personalization and Productivity

This course explores how business intelligence can strengthen productivity, resource optimization, and process quality within financial institutions. It focuses on the essential components MFIs need to build responsive data management systems that adapt to competitive environments. Participants learn how BI supports diversified financial services, enables more personalized and connected relationships between field staff and clients, and aligns data use with clear commercial objectives.

AFTERNOON

Petronella Chigara

Stephen Peachey

Data-Driven Human Centered Design

Data-driven, human-centered design allows you to remain relevant by addressing the diverse needs of a broader customer base. This is critical because low-income clients often underutilize formal financial services. In this session, you will learn how data scopes product and delivery challenges, followed by the application of human-centered research tools. This combined approach enables you to identify and implement practical solutions that truly resonate with your customers’ lives.

Oscar Guzmán

Innovative Approaches to Reach Vulnerable Populations

Reaching vulnerable populations sustainably is a core challenge in financial inclusion. This course addresses rising costs and digital disruption with practical, field-tested methods. Equip yourself to expand services effectively among rural communities, women, youth, migrants, and low-income businesses.  Learn to design adaptable digital products and hybrid delivery channels that reduce barriers, manage risk, and genuinely center client needs. 

Panos Varangis

Reaching smallholder farmers through AgTechs and climate smart finance

Scaling financing for smallholder farmers requires bridging AgTechs with financial institutions. This course explores practical models to leverage digital ecosystems that enhance farmer productivity and climate resilience. We examine the opportunities and challenges for banks and MFIs in using these partnerships to reach new markets effectively, creating a more sustainable and resilient agricultural finance system.

WEEK 2 – JULY 20-24

MORNING

Matthew Saal

Opportunities for Microfinance in the Evolving Financial Ecosystem

This course examines how digital ecosystems and infrastructure are reshaping microfinance. It explores emerging business models and how MFIs can leverage customer relationships and data assets to redesign products and customer journeys. Grounded in real-world experience, the course addresses both opportunities and challenges of competing with fintechs and embedded finance while using technology and data to support inclusive, sustainable growth.

Nathan Were

Digital Finance for Smallholder Farmers

This course equips participants with practical tools to design and scale digital financial services for smallholder farmers. Through a hands-on, evidence-based approach, it addresses the financing and information gaps affecting rural communities. Participants explore commercially viable models to deliver accessible, affordable digital services, supporting productivity, resilience, and sustainable growth in a context of rising food demand and rapid change.

Evrim Kirimkan

Integrated Performance Management in Inclusive Finance

Inclusive finance institutions face growing pressure to deliver strong financial results while protecting clients, staff, and the environment. This course addresses how to evaluate and manage financial, social, and environmental performance in an integrated way. Participants learn to interpret key indicators, understand trade-offs, and apply performance management frameworks to institutional strategy, governance, and operational decisions.

AFTERNOON

Carlos Silis

Empathy + AI: Building Client-Centric Microfinance

This course helps strengthen client understanding and redesign everyday service practices using both human-centered frameworks and simple AI tools to analyze client behavior, map needs across generations, and enhance communication and trust at every touchpoint. The focus is practical, low-cost, and immediately usable, supporting institutions that aim to remain deeply client-centric. It is a hands-on exploration of how human insight and AI together can elevate service quality, trust, and client experience in microfinance.

Max Mattern

Climate Change and Agricultural Finance

Climate change presents both risks and opportunities for farmers and financial institutions. This course provides strategies to navigate operational and credit risks while seizing emerging possibilities. Learn how to strengthen farmer resilience against climate shocks, support adaptation and green transitions, and safeguard your portfolio, using practical examples and data-driven insights for a sustainable future.

 

 

 

Don’t miss this opportunity!

Contact us quickly to start your registration process, especially if you need a visa to attend our programs in Italy.
Spots are limited and will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

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