When India was undergoing a microfinance revolution in the 1990s, micro-lending was widely perceived as a "miracle cure" for poverty. Microfinance refers to offering collateral-free small loans to low-income individuals who lack access to traditional banking services. The microfinance industry has had a long and tumultuous history in India ranging from forming the backbone of development policies in the mid-1980s to unethical practices pushing the industry to near collapse in 2010. Read the policy brief below, written by Ankshita Hore, to learn more about microfinance, its rise and fall in India, and a review and outlook of some of the latest Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines.