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Since Mercy Corps co-founded XacBank in 2001, the microfinance bank has set the standard for providing full-scale banking and financial services in one of the world's least densely populated countries. As one of Mercy Corps' largest financial affiliates, XacBank reaches 190,000 depositors and over 63,000 borrowers in a region extending from Mongolia's capital, Ulaanbaatar, to the sparsely populated Gobi desert.
The bank provides a range of financial services to micro-entrepreneurs and consumers, including business loans and leasing, residential mortgages and a range of consumer credit products. It is noteworthy that women comprise 52% of the bank’s borrowers. XacBank also provides savings products which include childrens' savings accounts, retirement savings for the self-employed and a range of CDs for short and intermediate term savings. The bank pursues a “triple bottom line” approach in its business, with consideration for People, Profit and Planet. In July 2009, the bank announced the launch of AMAR, an innovative mobile banking service which allows XacBank clients to conduct cash transactions using their mobile phones through a network of agents and merchants. This will allow the bank to further extend its outreach to the sparsely populated areas of Mongolia. Microcapital.org, a news and research initiative on international microfinance investment, recently listed XacBank as one of nine "industry leaders."
Partner Microcredit Organization (Partner) is a multi-ethnic organization founded by Mercy Corps in 2000. It is the first microfinance institution to work in both Bosnia and Herzegovina following the war. The largest MFI in Bosnia, Partner provides a range of business, agriculture and housing loans through a network of 20 offices. As of July 2009 Partner had a loan portfolio of $117 million and served 62,000 clients. At the end of 2008, the MIX Market, manager of a global database of microfinance institutions ranked Partner the #1 MFI in Bosnia-Herzegovina and 33rd worldwide, among 652 organizations. The ranking took into account outreach, transparency, efficiency and profitability. In December 2007, Partner ranked No. 18 on the Forbes magazine list of the world's best microfinance institutions.
IMON International was co-founded by Mercy Corps and the National Association of Business Women of Tajikistan in 2005 and completed a transformation to a commercial organization in June 2008. IMON is the largest and one of the best-performing microfinance institutions in Tajikistan, providing business and consumer loans to groups and individuals through its network of 34 field offices and 360 staff. As of July 2009, IMON served over 31,000 clients with $28.6 million in loans. To expand its outreach and range of services, IMON plans to become a deposit taking institution in 2010 with further plans to become a full service bank thereafter.
Kompanion Financial Group LLC was founded by Mercy Corps in 2005 to consolidate the lending operations of five independent NGOs in Kyrgyzstan. With more than 80 offices throughout the mountainous, landlocked republic, Kompanion currently serves over 91,000 clients with more than $28 million in loans. Kompanion and Mercy Corps are pioneering the concept of strategic philanthropy by blending development activities with commercial financial services. Mercy Corps believes that community development banking will provide Kyrgyzstan with the financial services, social cohesion and development resources it needs to become an economically self-sufficient nation. Kompanion has applied for a license to become a deposit taking MFI and expects to begin accepting deposits in 2010.
Founded by Mercy Corps in 1997, Asian Credit Fund provides business loans to groups and individuals in urban and peri-urban areas of Kazakhstan, promoting sustainable growth in the small business sector and family-wage jobs for individual financial security. As of July 2009, ACF had a loan portfolio of $2.3 million among 1700 clients. In addition to its lending activity ACF provides business consulting and supports local communities with scholarships and internships.
In 2003, Mercy Corps' Ariana Financial Services Group initiated solidarity group lending to women in the most war-damaged section of Kabul. Now a joint stock company, Ariana operates throughout all of Kabul and has a branch in Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan providing loans for agriculture and animal husbandry Additional branches are planned for 2010. As of July 2009, AFS had a loan portfolio of over $3 million among 9500 clients.
Mercy Corps formed Agency for Finance in Kosovo in 1999 to serve micro and small business clients in western Kosovo, where destruction from the Balkan conflict was most severe. AfK continues to focus on providing loans that go beyond merely subsistence businesses and create strong long-term employment prospects. As of July 2009, AfK had loans of $9.3 milion among nearly 3500 clients.
Founded in 2006, the Microfinance Innovation Center for Resources and Alternatives (MICRA) provides a range of high-quality technical services and support to industry stakeholders throughout Indonesia. MICRA also offers MFIs institutional ratings and appraisals, technical assistance, research and networking.
MAXIS
In June 2008, with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Mercy Corps launched MAXIS (Maximizing Financial Access and Innovation at Scale) which included expansion of the MICRA model to the Philippines and establishment of a wholesale bank which subsequently became Bank Andara. Due to its visionary approach and massive outreach, MAXIS received Fast Company Magazine’s 2009 “Social Enterprise of the Year” award. (For information about MICRA Philippines, click here.)
Launched in April 2009 and linked to the MAXIS program, Bank Andara was created by an investor group led by Mercy Corps to form a wholesale bank that would provide a range of banking products and services for microfinance institutions in Indonesia, providing them with capital, financial tools and technology platforms to better serve their retail clients.
Poverty Alleviation in the Tumen River Area (PATRA) provides small loans to enterprising low-income women throughout the rural areas of Yanbian Province in northeast China. Most women use their loans to invest in farming or animal husbandry. Since its inception in March 2003, PATRA has disbursed over $4.9 million in loans in this region.
(For information about PATRA Hunchun, click here.)
Borshud
Borshud was co-founded by Mercy Corps and a local NGO in 2005. It is one of the few sources of credit in the remote Tavildara Valley region of Tajikistan. Largely an agricultural lender, Borshud provides group loans and business-planning services to its rural clients. As of July 2009 Borshud had outstanding loans of $1.2 million among 1900 clients.
CHAM
Community Health and Microcredit was established with funding from the Eiting Foundation and provides business loans to low-income indigenous women’s groups in rural Guatemala. Working in tandem with Mercy Corps health programming the microcredit program serves over 330 women with $60,000 in loans.
Mercy Corps Northwest helps low-income individuals in Oregon and Washington improve their lives through small business and self-employment. The loan program provides financing to entrepreneurs with viable business ideas and “entrepreneurial spirit” who may have credit blemishes or lack surplus collateral. MCNW can lend to start-ups or existing businesses, especially those that create jobs for low-income people. As of July 2009, MCNW had loans of $688,000 to 74 clients.
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- Topics: Microfinance
