Grameen Bank: A People’s Bank for the Poor
Grameen Bank (GB) has transformed the landscape of traditional banking by eliminating the requirement for collateral and establishing a financial model rooted in mutual trust, accountability, participation, and innovation. By offering small loans—often referred to as microcredit—to the poorest communities in rural Bangladesh, GB empowers individuals who have long been excluded from conventional financial systems.
At the heart of GB’s mission is the belief that credit is a powerful and cost-effective tool to combat poverty. Rather than viewing the poor as unbankable, the bank sees them as capable entrepreneurs who, when given access to fair and reasonable financial resources, can transform their lives and contribute meaningfully to economic development. As Professor Muhammad Yunus, the visionary founder and Managing Director of Grameen Bank, famously said:
“These millions of small people with their millions of small pursuits can add up to create the biggest development wonder.”
As of November 2009, Grameen Bank had 7.95 million borrowers—97 percent of them women—served through 2,562 branches operating across over 83,000 villages in Bangladesh, effectively covering every community in the country.
The Bank’s impact has been extensively documented by independent studies, including those conducted by the World Bank, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), and the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS). These evaluations consistently highlight Grameen Bank’s role in improving income levels, education, health outcomes, and overall empowerment—especially for women.
To learn more, visit: www.grameen.com