Key Turning Points

Working with farmers in Bolivia in 1984, John Hatch — a Fulbright-trained economist and international development expert—conceives a small loan program that puts the poor in charge. The program allows them to obtain loans without collateral and gives groups of neighbors the power to collectively disburse, invest and collect loan capital as they see fit.

John calls these groups “Village Banks.” His first pilot program is enormously successful.

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• In 1985, John Hatch creates FINCA, the Foundation for International Community Assistance.
  
• Opening a Village Banking program in El Salvador, FINCA focuses for the first time on providing credit to low-income women involved in commerce and petty trade. The benefits to the children of these women—better nutrition, health, and education—are immediately apparent.
  
• Encouraged by that success, FINCA establishes new Village Banking programs in Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, and Haiti. 

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• FINCA enters Africa, the continent most affected by severe poverty, opening a Village Banking program in Uganda. Demand for FINCA loans is great.
  
• FINCA enters the former Soviet Union, opening a Village Banking program in Kyrgyzstan. Despite widespread unemployment, lack of familiarity with entrepreneurship, and an economy in which credit is virtually unknown, FINCA succeeds at stimulating the economy at the grass roots.
  
• By the end of its first decade, FINCA serves nearly 58,000 families on three continents. 

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• In 1997, FINCA co-sponsors the first global Microcredit Summit. Over 2,000 policymakers, practitioners, and donors discuss ways to rapidly expand the reach of microcredit programs.
  
• FINCA establishes a mechanism through which it can provide letters of credit to its programs, enabling them to borrow commercial capital. This allows programs to greatly increase their outreach while channeling commercial capital to the poor.
  
• FINCA Nicaragua and FINCA Honduras become the first programs to cover all operating costs with interest income from loans, proving that microfinance can be sustainable.
  
• FINCA establishes new programs in Guatemala, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and the Samara region of Russia, and is among the first economic development organizations to enter Kosovo after the June 1999 cease-fire.
  
• To better serve these diverse economies, FINCA begins offering a variety of loan products, savings plans, and insurance.
  
• FINCA attracts a broad and diverse base of support, including businesses, community groups, and churches, many of whom have used the Village Banking model to launch their own programs.
  

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• FINCA Kyrgyzstan transforms into the FINCA Microcredit Company, becoming the region’s first formal financial services institution for low-income entrepreneurs.
  
• FINCA Ecuador and FINCA Uganda follow FINCA Kyrgyzstan’s lead, becoming formal financial institutions that serve the working poor
  
• FINCA’s unique business model means that its affiliates are wholly-owned subsidiaries who use both donations and investments to build equity. This equity allows them to access commercial capital, which they in turn lend to poor clients.
  
• The United Nations proclaims 2005 the Year of Microcredit.
  
• The Nobel Committee acknowledges that microcredit contributes to the cause of world peace by awarding the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize to Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank.
  
• FINCA receives the highest rating from several independent evaluators, including Worth Magazine, the American Institute of Philanthropy, and Charity Navigator, whose rating means that we “exceed industry standards” and outperform others who do the same work. In 2006, Charity Navigator granted FINCA our fifth consecutive "4-Star" rating, "indicating that FINCA International outperforms most charities in America in its efforts to operate in the most fiscally responsible way possible."
  
• FINCA launches the Village Banking Campaign, committing to reach one million of the world’s working poor with financial services.
  
• December 2008 - FINCA International Broadens Outreach to Donors and Investors by Launching UK Affiliate.
  
• November 2009 - FINCA opens its Canadian Affiliate
  
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