The Grameen Bank

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Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: A+, Harvard University, course: Business Management , language: English, abstract: The Grameen Bank is a financial organization that provides microcredit loans largely, but not exclusively, to women in rural Bangladesh. These small loans are provided to people who wouldn't normally have access to the conventional banking system. No collateral or legal agreement is required for those wishing to take out these small loans. Instead, lending is based on a system of mutual trust and accountability. The system of borrowing and lending is administered in a very different way from normal banks. Grameen looks to work with its clients and let them determine their repayment plans and help them should they have problems in meeting these. Surprisingly, the loan repayment rate is very high, even without formal agreements in place. The founder of the Grameen Bank, Professor Muhammad Yunus, believes that providing poor people, especially poor women, with credit can actually be an effective weapon in combating poverty and a tool for enabling socio-economic development. Conventional banking has tended to focus on men, but Grameen gives high priority to female borrowers, arguing that it empowers them and enhances their status in society. On the organization's website, Professor Yunus states that, "these millions of small people with their millions of small pursuits can add up to create the biggest development wonder".