microfinance

noun

mi·​cro·​fi·​nance ˌmī-krō-ˈfī-ˌnan(t)s 

-fə-ˈnan(t)s, 

-fī-ˈnan(t)s

: financial services especially in the form of microloans provided to impoverished individuals and groups in poor and developing regions

Muhammad Yunus starts lending money to the rural poor in Bangladesh. His Grameen Bank kicks off a worldwide movement in microfinance as lenders start to see poor people, especially women, not as bad credit risks but as profitable customers.

—Barbara Kiviat

Examples of microfinance in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The organization draws income from grants, bank interest, community contributions, investments, and surplus generated from microfinance and social enterprise programs—such as a fair trade crafts store. —Nandita Raghuram, Time, 14 May 2026

The launch of Zap and the microfinance lender acquisition both point to a process that has unfurled over several months. —Alexis Akwagyiram, semafor.com, 20 Jan. 2026

During the 1990s and the first decade of this century, microfinance enterprises such as Grameen Bank offered small loans of less than $100 primarily to poor women with the hope of unleashing their entrepreneurial energy. —Foreign Affairs, 16 Dec. 2025

Javice was there to network for her new startup, PoverUp, a platform to help students launch microfinance clubs. —Sydney Lake, Fortune, 29 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1994, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for microfinance

• advance
• askance
• enhance
• expanse
• finance
• freelance
• mischance
• perchance
• romance
• chance
• dance
• glance