In 2005, Grameen Foundation commissioned the development of the Progress out of Poverty Index®(PPI®).To date, 40 PPIs have been developed. More PPIs are being developed by Grameen Foundation, Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) and the Ford Foundation.

CGAP, Grameen Foundation and the Ford Foundation endorse the use of rigorous poverty assessment tools and believe the Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI) is a highly effective tool for those institutions interested in measuring client poverty.

The PPI is based on an approach developed by Mark Schreiner of Microfinance Risk Management, L.L.C. It is a user-friendly tool that estimates the likelihood that clients fall below the national poverty line, the poverty line that defines the poorest half below the national poverty line or the $1/Day/PPP and $2/Day/PPP international poverty lines. Each PPI is specific to its particular country characteristics as each is based on its country level income and expenditure household survey.

The PPI resonated well with Grameen Foundation because of the characteristics it shares with the Grameen Bank's 10-Point System, a set of ten easily observable indicators of poverty. The Prizma Microfinance (Bosnia) scorecard also inspired the development of the PPI "poverty scorecard."

Once created, Grameen Foundation and its partners moved quickly to field-test the PPI. By mid-2005, the foundation had instituted a training program for MFIs interested in testing the PPI, and had begun pilot programs in Mexico and the Philippines. The process of PPI creation, piloting and full implementation continues, with new country PPIs becoming available regularly.

With the endorsement of CGAP and the Ford Foundation as well the support of other country and regional level microfinance networks and individual microfinance practitioners around the world, the PPI is rapidly filling the industry need for a standardized poverty assessment tool.