Building Access to Savings and Financial Services

Despite a desire to save and plan for the future, impoverished people are often excluded from commercial banks. In fact, fewer than 10% of people living on less than $2 a day have access to savings accounts.

In the last 40 years, Opportunity International has become a global leader in building regulated banks that provide interest-bearing savings accounts to impoverished people. With money in the bank, our clients can now purchase medicine for a sick child, replace a leaking roof, or prepare for a crisis or business opportunity.

Mobile banks enable Opportunity to provide remote clients with safe banking services just minutes from their home or business. Client Beatrice Duku Frimpomg Boaten obtained her very first savings account, loan and insurance policy with Opportunity Ghana. Since then, she has improved her farming, gained authority and respect in the community, and can now afford necessities like soap and shoes. “With Opportunity’s help, I know that I can achieve my goals, and that gives me hope for the future. Opportunity came along with the love and grace of God and I’m so glad.”

Want to learn more? Opportunity International’s breakout session “Portfolios of the Poor: Why Savings Matter,” next weekend at our annual conference in San Francisco, will examine how people in poverty use complex, multilayered portfolios of equity and debt to manage their cash flow. This session, led by Daryl Collins, co-author of Portfolios of the Poor: How the World’s Poor Live on $2 a Day, will explore the importance of formal financial services, particularly savings, to people in the developing world. For more info, visit opportunity.org/conference.