Are the poor also poor credit risks? Since 1976, Professor Muhammad Yunus, Head of the Rural Economics Program at the University of Chittagong, has said an emphatic "NO!" through his creation of microcredit Grameen Bank. Now, that same model that has worked so well in Bangladesh, and other third world regions, comes to America.
The other night I joined the head of our Common Ground-NYC
Outreach committee in seeing "To
Catch a Dollar". This film is about the Grameen Bank, founded by
Muhammad Yunus to provide microfinance. Now, in its earliest days that
would have meant helping poor women entrepreneurs in third world countries with
a small loan - generally under a thousand dollars - buy a new cooker, set up a
store etc. But now, with America having one of, if not the,
highest poverty rate in the industrialized world -- with 1 in 7 Americans living
below the poverty line (73
million), Grameen bank has found customers right here in Queens, New
York. This movie is about that story.
As Dr. Yunus reminds us, the question is not whether people are
"creditworthy," it is whether the banks are "peopleworthy."
Proof of Grameen's "peopleworthiness" is its 99% repayment rate - according to
the helpful literature handed out at the movie - encouraged by teams of
5 or more women* borrowers, all providing peer pressure to keep their group's
credit good, so that they can get more loans in the future. As one
borrower in the film said, "I've got a good thing going here. Do you
think I'm going to let anyone ruin it?" The handout at the movie
further points out that from its founding in 2008, Grameen America has:
-
$16.1 million in micro-loans
- 5,500 members in the 5 Buroughs, plus Omaha, NE
- $1,500 loan sizes
- 15% interest rates -- though well above prime, this is for people with no credit history or even savings accounts, both of which are established as part of the process
- $730,000 borrower savings deposited
- >640 average credit score (once history is established)
-
6,300 jobs created
Now, this is a different model than a State, or Public, Bank, but Grameen needs
funding, since they are a non-deposit bank, by law. As the NY Coordinator of
the Public Banking
Institute, I naturally wondered: Could a State Bank partner with Grameen
bank to provide funding? Why not! The Bank of North Dakota partners
with community banks in North Dakota, which is one reason why North Dakota has
the highest per capita bank to person ratio in the country. And Grameen
has already proven it knows how to tap into a good credit-risk pool of poor
borrowers. This sounds like a very good fit and I raised the possibility of
a partnership with the Grameen America VP of Strategic Partnerships, who was in
attendance after the movie. She will be hearing more from us!
* Why only women? Well, it turns out they are better credit risks, and more likely to respond to group pressure to keep up their loan payments. Guys, are you listening?
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