Establishing community credit union

Structuring community loan system

Description

Establishing a community credit union involves creating a member-owned financial cooperative that provides accessible, affordable financial services tailored to local needs. This strategy empowers communities by pooling resources, offering fair loans, encouraging savings, and reinvesting profits locally. It remedies financial exclusion, predatory lending, and lack of capital for underserved populations, fostering economic resilience and self-sufficiency through democratic governance and community-focused financial management.

Implementation

In Colombia in 1964 the Social Progress Co-operative began with a group of 26 women -- each saving less than one third of a cent at a time. Twenty-five years later the cooperative had a portfolio of US$409,477, with hundreds of projects successfully completed.