It is exam day for five women in a village near Sangareddi, about two hours drive from the southern Indian city of Hyderabad. On a warm autumn day, they sit in a circle on the ground as a local manager from SKS, a Hyderabad-based micro-finance company, drills them on loan fees, interest rates and repayment schedules.

The manager uses pebble-like seeds as counting tools and sits next to the SKS loan officer who has trained the women for weeks. The officer must keep silent as her pupils try to pass this final test that will allow them to begin receiving small loans starting at less than $100.