Fonkoze is “Haiti’s Alternative Bank for the Organized Poor.” It is the largest microfinance institution (MFI) in Haiti, serving more than 45,000 women borrowers, most of whom live and work in the countryside of Haiti, and more than 200,000 savers. With its network of 41 branches covering every region of Haiti, it is also the only MFI that is truly national in scope. Our comprehensive approach to poverty alleviation includes the following services:
1.Micro-credit, using a solidarity group methodology of lending
2.Small and medium sized business development loans to strengthen a business
3.A number of different savings products
4.Currency exchange services
5.Money transfer (remittance) services
6.Literacy, business skills, women's health, children's rights and environmental protection education for borrowers
7.Social impact monitoring
8.Life and credit microinsurance
9.In the U.S., a prepaid Visa® card
10.Housing rebuilding and repair for member-clients following the earthquake of January 2010
Fonkoze, a truly grass-roots MFI, was founded in 1994 by a Haitian Catholic priest who started the institution a vision to provide the means for all Haitians, even the poorest, to participate in the economic development of the country.
Fonkoze provides clients with financial and educational services that include:
- Small loans that are used to start or expand a small business;
- Savings products that meet the needs of the poor;
- Currency exchange that allows one to change US dollars to Haitian gourdes at a preferential rate;
- Direct deposit services that allow Haitians living overseas to deposit funds at Fonkoze branches in Haiti for their families at a low cost;
- Basic literacy, business skills and life skills training.
Fonkoze has an infrastructure of 41 branch offices that give the institution a bricks-and-mortar presence in all ten departments of Haiti. They enable it both to access local savings and to facilitate remittances from abroad, effectively mobilizing each community’s own resources as the instruments of its development. They also provide a structure within which Fonkoze can quickly and effectively introduce new products.
