Grameen Bank became Bangladesh’s pioneering national microfinance bank when it was established by government ordinance in 1983.
The institution grew out of experiments by economist Muhammad Yunus, who began making tiny loans to impoverished borrowers in Jobra village in the 1970s. Its lending model emphasized collateral-free credit, group responsibility, and loans for income-generating activities.
Grameen Bank became especially associated with lending to women who had limited access to conventional banking. Borrowers commonly used loans to support small enterprises such as livestock raising, trading, handicrafts, and food production.
The bank is not the same as BRAC, another major Bangladesh-based development organization, or Kiva, a later online lending platform. Grameen’s model influenced microfinance programs worldwide, although researchers and policymakers continue to debate the sector’s costs, benefits, and limitations.