News and Commentary

Grameen Takes Microfinance to Omaha

Eighteen months after Grameen America launched a pilot program of microcredit lending in Queens, New York, it has announced plans to expand its model into Omaha, Nebraska.

Although microfinance has been available in the United States for some time, most providers use a model that more closely resembles the traditional banking model. Grameen America uses the peer group as a substitute for collateral in order to make financial services available to those who might not otherwise qualify for credit. Grameen America describes itself as a “non-profit microfinance institution whose mission is to alleviate poverty through entrepreneurship by offering loans, savings programs, credit establishment, and financial education to the working poor in the United States.”

The announcement of Grameen America’s expansion into Omaha indicates a belief in the universal applicability of the peer group lending model, since Queens and Omaha represent two distinct faces of urban poverty in the United States.

For more information on the expansion, please visit the Grameen America website or the press release.

© 2009 SeaMo: Connecting the Microfinance Community.