The Bandhan Group, financed in part by BNP Paribas Microfinance, is an MFI (Microfinance Institution) that fights poverty by providing disadvantaged women with access to credit so that they can start their own businesses.

Bandhan Group is composed of two legal entities: an NGO and a non-banking finance company (a financial institution that offers banking services without having the legal status of a bank).

Active in microfinance since 2001 Bandhan is headquartered in Calcutta, with a total of 4,000 employees in some 160 branches, and is present in 10 Indian states. This MFI has 1.3 million borrowers, exclusively women, and a credit portfolio of EUR 91 million.

It has just launched a unique tool: a productive asset, such as a cow, and not cash, is provided directly to a woman as a loan. This eliminates the risk of the borrower’s mismanaging the money that has been lent to her, and repayments are funded from the income earned by the borrower on the sale of the milk.

An example of a “happy ending” Bandhan story:

This is the story of Anjana Gazi, 39, who did not have enough money to sustain the a healthy life for herself, her husband and their nine children. She therefore decided to apply for a loan from the Bandhan Group. As soon as the loan was approved, she bought the supplies she needed to make embroidery at home. She was successful in her work, and took out a second and then a third loan from the MFI. She used these loans to invest in a sewing machine and began to build up her business: today, she employs 12 people.

Thanks to the Bandhan Group, she has been able to save money and will soon begin renovating her home. Anjana is very grateful, and you can see the happiness in her face.