Internet Lending Key to Rapid Expansion

Microfinance pioneer ACCION USA today announced that it has now lent over $25 million in domestic microloans, or small business loans ranging from $500 to $25,000. ACCION USA is the domestic arm of global microfinance provider ACCION International, which issued the first microloan in 1973.

"We believed strongly in the potential for microfinance in the United States when ACCION USA was founded in 2000," said ACCION USA president and CEO Bill Burrus. "This rapid and sustained growth validates that the need for microloans is as real in Boston and Boise as it is in Brazil and Bangladesh."

ACCION USA's Internet lending platform has been a key contributor to the non-profit organization's rapid expansion. Since launching the service in 2006, ACCION USA has disbursed over 400 Internet loans in 35 states, totaling nearly $3 million. Overall loan volume has increased by approximately 30 percent over 2006, with 25 percent of all new loans now originating via the Internet.

"For years, we were confined to making loans through our offices in Atlanta, Boston and Miami," said Livingston Parsons, ACCION USA senior vice president. "The Internet has economically and dramatically expanded our reach, bringing much-needed microcredit to both rural and urban areas. We believe that we are now the only microlender serving individuals nationwide."

By providing microloans, financial education and other financial services, ACCION USA improves the lives of lower income, home and storefront-based business owners who are unable to access other sources of commercial credit. Despite limited resources, ACCION USA's borrowers have repaid their loans at an historical rate of 93 percent. ACCION USA is part of the U.S. ACCION Network, which since 1991 has collectively made $205 million in loans to 20,073 microentrepreneurs.