Microfinance and Microenterprise

Access to financial services can help the poor to increase income, build viable businesses, and reduce financial vulnerability through the availability of micro-credit along with a broader set of tailored financial products including savings, insurance and remittances. Microfinance and microenterprise development are recognized for their effective roles as instruments of change, empowering individuals, especially women, to become economically self-sufficient, while helping them achieve such goals as sending their children to school or supporting the preservation of their environment. The Citi Foundation is particularly interested in efforts that help microfinance institutions achieve scale and long-term sustainability.

For more than 25 years, the Citi Foundation has been committed to providing the poor and the unbanked with access to the financial services they need to achieve economic self-sufficiency. The Citi Foundation has been one of the leading funders of the microfinance movement since its inception, supporting industry efforts to achieve greater scale. We are committed to supporting microfinance and microenterprise through our funding, on-the-ground partnerships, and employee engagement. Citi employees use their expertise to offer technical assistance to both NGOs as well as microentrepreneurs around the world.

Over the last decade, the Citi Foundation has granted more than $60 million in support of 250 microfinance programs and organizations across 55 countries. Foundation grants have been used to strengthen the capacity of these organizations to provide access to capital to low-income individuals, thus raising the quality of life for families and communities around the world.

Click here for a glance at our successful collaboration with the Brooklyn Public Library on the "PowerUP! Business Plan Program"

What is Microfinance?

Microfinance offers poor people access to basic financial services such as loans, savings, money transfer services and microinsurance. Microfinance institutions (MFIs) provide microentrepreneurs with access to credit and other financial services that they could not otherwise obtain, raising the quality of life for families and communities around the world.

What is a Microenterprise?

A microenterprise is generally defined as a business with 5 or fewer employees and total assets of up to $10,000 or annual sales of up to $100,000. Typically, microenterprises have no access to the commercial banking sector due to a lack of collateral or credit history.