The mission of FINCA International is to provide financial services to the world's lowest-income entrepreneurs so they can create jobs, build assets and improve their standard of living. We focus our services toward clients who earn less than $2 per day - of whom 70% are women - because we know that the most direct way to impact the well-being of entire families is by providing opportunities to mothers.

FINCA provides microloans - small infusions of capital - with which families can start, or improve, small businesses. To the poorest micro-entrepreneurs in the developing world, $50 is a fortune. They can invest that money to make their labor far more productive. They might buy a used sewing machine, so that they can make dresses faster than by hand-stitching. They might invest in a used refrigerator to keep the produce they sell from going bad overnight. They might buy thread for weaving in bulk, at wholesale prices, so they make more profit on every item. By investing and repaying the loan and expanding his or her business, the borrower reaps an additional reward—increased self-esteem through self-help.

As these small businesses grow, they provide employment, steady income, and security to family members and neighbors. These microenterprises, in turn, can foster economic vitality in some of the most deprived areas, giving developing economies the boost they need for further growth.

FINCA began operations in 1984 and, today, operates programs in 21 countries of Africa, Eurasia, the Greater Middle East and Latin America. With nearly 25 years experience, FINCA offers a proven solution for poverty alleviation.