The alternative that is offered here is self-regulation. Since industry leaders have neglected to provide any guidance on ethical standards, practitioners and investors have little option but to design and pledge allegiance to their own. Such a process is what the Alliance aims to set in motion, and it starts with a commitment.

The Alliance brings together actors in microfinance who are committed to the fair treatment of all stakeholders in the industry: service providers who build viable institutions in order to provide sustainable services, investors who seek a decent return on their investments, and customers who are entitled to affordable and appropriate service delivery. The key is to maintain a proper balance between the interests of the three stakeholders.

In order to maintain this balance, standards will be required, the most important of which is the cost of service delivery. All three stakeholders will have to decide at which cost level each will feel reasonably comfortable. In mature markets, this question is answered by matching supply to demand and by the policing role of a market authority. In immature markets, actors need to formulate that answer for themselves. The Alliance provides direction in this area and offers a platform for debate.

Ultimately this could lead to the establishment of a virtual global community of microfinance actors who pledge to the principles of fair microfinance. Most of those principles will not be different from those promoted by industry leaders, but they will articulate more clearly what those principles are. Stakeholders will not only express what they hope to achieve but also how they will achieve it and, consequently, what kinds of practices they will not resort to in doing so; and they will be open to correction and to having their practices verified against their intentions. In fact, this virtual community can work as a market exchange supplementary to the highly appreciated efforts of the MIX: ethically committed investors being linked to equally committed practitioners.