Nicholas Santos

Microfinance: Extending financial services to the poor

When the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and its founder, Muhammad Yunus, were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, “microfinance” was suddenly thrust into the global limelight. Though microfinance is mostly associated with microcredit or lending, it also includes other financial services such as savings, money transfers, and even insurance provided to those at the base of the economic pyramid.