Imagine you lend $25 to someone you barely know, with no credit check, no collateral, no bank account required. What are the odds you get your money back?
If you said "low," you'd be wrong — really wrong. Microfinance loans get paid back at rates that make traditional banks jealous. Here's why.
Wait... Isn't Lending to Poor People Risky?
That's what big banks thought for decades. They assumed that people without jobs, credit scores, or collateral were too risky to lend to. So they just... didn't.
But in 1983, an economics professor named Muhammad Yunus in Bangladesh had a different idea. He lent $27 to 42 basket weavers who couldn't afford bamboo to make their goods. They all paid him back. Every single one.
