Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) aim to reduce poverty and contribute to economic growth by providing affordable loans to poor individuals via innovative instruments (e.g., group-loans). Despite this promise, MFI interest rates have increased recently due to high operational costs of existing loan products, adding to the stress of poor borrowers. The objective of my research is to provide MFIs with novel and effective group-loan instruments to reduce their operational costs. Re-harnessing social capital’s role in group-loans, the concept that was at the heart of the microfinance revolution in the 1970s, will be the key novelty of my research in revamping microfinance.