Our impact

10.7m

microfinance borrowers and savers accessing financial services globally

96%

microfinance clients outside Bangladesh are women

87%

microfinance clients in Bangladesh are women

$4.9b

in microfinance loans disbursed in 2021

Our work in action

What is financial inclusion?

Around 1.7 billion people worldwide do not have access to financial services, and the majority are women. Learn how BRAC’s inclusive financial services enable people to grow their assets, invest in small businesses, manage shocks, and build economic resilience.

How Does Financial Inclusion Work

Financial inclusion provides underserved communities with essential financial services like savings, loans, and insurance, making them affordable and accessible. By leveraging technology and educational initiatives, BRAC USA empowers individuals with the tools for economic stability and growth.

These efforts are complemented by strategic partnerships and innovative solutions that extend financial services to remote areas. The integration of financial literacy further ensures that beneficiaries can make informed decisions, contributing to their long-term wellbeing and financial independence.

How To Achieve Financial Inclusion

BRAC focuses on identifying the unique needs of those without access to traditional banking, utilizing digital innovation and financial technology to widen service reach, and providing education in financial literacy to create a more inclusive financial landscape. Collaboration with local partners and continuous program evaluation ensure that financial inclusion efforts are effective and sustainable. This holistic approach addresses immediate financial needs and fosters long-term economic empowerment and community development.

BRAC’S APPROACH TO FINANCIAL INCLUSION

Microfinance services

BRAC offers inclusive, accessible, and convenient loan and savings products that are tailored to the needs of local clients, including women, smallholder farmers, migrant workers, small business owners, and youth. BRAC complements these services with financial education and client protection, enabling borrowers to make informed financial decisions.

Microfinance services

Women using smart phones to access their money

Empowering women

Many women in low-income economies are disproportionately left out of formal financial systems and often cannot make financial decisions for their households. When women have control of their finances, they are more likely to invest in family needs, such as health care, nutrition, and education. BRAC emphasizes providing financial education and access to financial services for women, enabling them to become financially independent and uplift their families.

Empowering women

Seed facility owner in Tanzania

Multiplying impact

Pairing financial inclusion with other social services can amplify their impact on reducing poverty. BRAC complements many of its other social programs with microfinance services, such as programs for youth, agriculture and food security programs, and programs supporting people living in extreme poverty.

Multiplying impact

Women in Tanzania

Digital innovation

BRAC is at the forefront of financial technology, using innovative digital solutions to expand client offerings, develop new products and services, and improve data collection and program quality. For example, in Rwanda, BRAC is piloting a mobile app that analyzes anonymous household data to help us better understand the financial barriers facing clients. In Bangladesh, BRAC Bank launched bKash, a mobile money service that allows clients to send, save, and spend money. bKash has more than 30 million users across the country, including women, people living in poverty, and other groups that are traditionally left out of financial services.

Digital innovation

Women in Rwanda use a digital app on their phone to access their finances.

BRAC believes sustainable poverty reduction must unite both economic and social development.

Financial inclusion is an integral part of BRAC’s holistic approach to development, equipping people who would otherwise be excluded from formal financial systems with the tools to invest in themselves, their families, and their communities.

Invest in human enterprise
Microfinance, responsibly delivered, is an incredibly powerful tool to help people lift themselves out of poverty. That is why for over four decades, financial services have been central to BRAC’s holistic approach to development.”
Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, Founder of BRAC
For more details on our financial inclusion programs, download our fact sheet.

Our work in action

Victoria invested in her tailoring business and built her dream home.

Victoria is a businesswoman from Lushoto, Tanzania. When Victoria was 23 years old, she left for Dar es Salaam to work as a housemaid and, while there, got tailoring classes. Now she has a tailoring business, a motorcycle for rent, and a farm.

Program highlights

How financial inclusion can build economic resilience amid COVID-19

The worldwide economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic threaten to plunge half a billion people into poverty. As the crisis continues to take a massive economic toll, financial inclusion remains a critical tool for helping people living in poverty to recover.

Our most critical programs for vulnerable families around the world depend on the generosity of people like you.