This bank hired its first female employee, and now women line up to open accounts

A coalition of community organizations in the Bronx created a mobile bank with the New York City credit union to combat the lack of access to financial institutions. The bank on wheels travels around the borough to provide services and do outreach.

PNC Bank is bringing a mobile branch to communities that don’t have sufficient access to banking. The RV-like unit is outfitted to be a functional banking service and was custom-built for this initiative. Services can be provided in English and Spanish and the goal of the mobile unit is to empower and educate users about what banking resources are available to them.

Existing services and resources for entrepreneurs disproportionately do not help minorities and women, making it difficult for them to become successful. Programs such as MORTAR aim to help these under served entrepreneurs by providing capital to help their businesses take off.

Years of misrule and a subsequent dearth of hard currency, along with crippling bank-fostered debt cycles and exorbitant home mortgage interest rates, have created immense suffering for Myanmar's poor. But with the guidance of a local NGO, Women for the World, a pilot project helped women in some of Yangon's poorest neighborhoods capitalize on their cultural "head-of-household" status. It helped them form and manage community savings cooperatives, secure land, build homes, buy food, and even generate profit through loans to families' business enterprises.

Although the Hispanic population accounts for about 20% of the U.S. population, many of those communities are still under- or un-banked. To overcome this issue, local credit unions are adapting the way they are reaching this population by using more word of mouth and leveraging local organizations which have gained Hispanic trust, as well as using identification information this population can provide.

Foreclosure affects millions of homeowners and millions more owe more on their mortgages than what their homes are worth, but Empowering and Strengthening Ohio’s People (ESOP), offers assistance. As a free service to borrowers, ESOP holds lenders accountable with fair lending agreements, creates constructive communication, and ultimately saves homes.

In Dandabazar, a community-wide shift to commercial cauliflower farming was supported by local government seed distribution and subsidies for modern tools. This transformed a food-insecure hill village into a recognized vegetable-producing hub, enabling individual farmers to grow their businesses.

In 2022, the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York created its 0% Development Advance Program, a targeted lending program, and has since then provided $460 million in eligible loans in one of five categories: small business, climate resilience or energy efficiency, infrastructure, housing, or tribal development.

The IDP Foundation created the Rising Schools Program to provide affordable credit to low-fee private schools in Ghana and Kenya. The program combines accessible loans with cash flow training tailored to local economic patterns, such as agricultural harvest cycles that affect parents' ability to pay school fees. Over 15 years, the Rising Schools Program has supported more than 2,600 schools, reached over 619,000 students, and disbursed 5,100+ loans with a 94% repayment rate.

Point-of-sale-based agency banking helps make digital finance more accessible and inclusive, allowing small businesses to act as banking agents, offering services like cash withdrawals and bill payments through fintech platforms. This integration has been particularly impactful in regions without bank branches. The integration of fintech throughout Nigeria has not only led to more autonomy in personal finance but has also created significant employment opportunities.