Opportunity International

Through a network of 47 program and support partners, Opportunity International provides small business loans, savings, insurance and training to more than 14 million people in the developing world.

Realizing that no one group can tackle the issues of poverty alone, Opportunity began developing partners - independent, self-governing organizations with similar motivations - in countries and regions around the world.

In 2000, Opportunity began building a series of permanent and mobile banks to reach more remote areas of countries and attempt to serve those that had previously lacked access to financial services.

The groups meet regularly to share personal and business advice, receive financial training and vote on loan-related topics.

Trust Groups are designed to build a safety net by guaranteeing each other's loans - if one member defaults on a weekly payment, everyone else must cover the costs.

Each week, as Trust Groups gather to repay their loans, Opportunity provides educational sessions to develop business skills and enhance personal growth.

As MFIs have become more advanced and increased their scale, it has become less costly for them to monitor borrowers, allowing them to be less reliant on group lending and peer enforcement.

[12] Over the last 10 years, Opportunity has invested more than $20 million in electronic and mobile technology to reduce transaction costs and bring services to the most marginalized and remote people.

Satellite branches and mobile banks reach clients in previously unserved areas, like rural farming villages and sprawling urban markets.

In October 2016, Opportunity announced that it received a $1 million grant to expand EduFinance from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

[25] In 2008, Opportunity International Australia's founder David Bussau was recognized for his long-standing contribution to poverty alleviation by being named Senior Australian of the Year 2008.

[29] Opportunity International Deutschland raises funds and awareness for microfinance services in Ghana, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda, Mozambique, Dominican Republic, India, Nicaragua and the Philippines.

Opportunity UK is currently serving more than 1.2 million African's by raising funds to help develop microfinance in Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Ghana.

[31] Opportunity's Social Performance Management (SPM) program is used in India, the Philippines and an expanding number of countries in Africa, Eastern Europe and Latin America.

SROI is a framework for measuring and accounting for the value added to the lives of families served, looking at social, environmental and economic benefits of microfinance and then quantifying the amount of change that has taken place.

Two studies looked at standard microcredit clients over a short period (12–18 months) using randomized controlled trials found no evidence of improvements in household income or consumption.

To put food on the table every day and meet other basic consumption needs, poor households have to save and borrow constantly.

[34] One research team presented results of year-long financial diaries collected about twice a month from hundreds of rural and urban households in India, Bangladesh, and South Africa.

They consistently found the poor use credit and savings to smooth consumption, to deal with emergencies like health problems and to accumulate the larger sums they need to seize opportunities—occasionally business opportunities—and pay for big-ticket expenses like education, weddings and funerals.

[33] Opportunity earned the acclaimed Civil Society Achievement Honor at the Children and Youth Finance International (CYFI) Global Inclusion Awards of 2016, held November 28, 2016, in Stockholm, Sweden.

[36] Opportunity International received a $1 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to expand its Education Finance initiatives in Uganda and Beyond.

[40] In December 2014, Opportunity announced a partnership with Credit Suisse to help educate more than 530,000 children in Colombia, Tanzania, the Dominican Republic, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda, India and the Philippines.

[41] In March 2014, Opportunity announced a partnership with MasterCard Foundation to launch a $22.7 million growth and innovations initiative in Africa.