Remittances as translocal collateral: How microfinance profitably sustains precarity in Cambodia

In this paper, we explore how commercialised microfinance institutions and banks leverage remittance-related information to assess and provide microfinance loans to households in Cambodia. We argue that (microfinance) debt regimes profitably sustain precarity in the Cambodian translocal context. Building from five studies undertaken between 2014 and 2022, we illustrate our argument through a two-pronged approach. First, we critically unpack the empirical realities of the relationship between migration, remittances, and debt repayment. We show that the lending strategies of microfinance institutions and banks take into account the remittances received by rural households from adult children who have moved to cities or overseas. It is the social obligations within the family to remit money home – or ‘filial debts’ – that are being collateralised. As the monetary expression of these social obligations, remittances serve as a form of what we call ‘translocal collateral’ which (re)constitutes connections among family members across space to mitigate repayment risks for the microfinance industry, often at the expense of the well-being of its borrowers. Second, we contend that these financial institutions’ lending practices – and the development programmes and policies that promote them – rely on translocal strategies of social reproduction that are unstable and fragile. Sudden interruptions in remittance flows can have significant ramifications for rural households, forcing them to deal not only with decreases in income but also looming debts to repay. This should serve as a call for caution among development practitioners and policymakers promoting the leveraging of remittances for financial inclusion.