Can Microbanks Spur Redevelopment?

Urban redevelopment has to be benefited by the exciting news about Indianapolis getting micro-bank locations through Grameen Bank. Grameen Bank, the Nobel Peace Prize winning financial institution from Bangladesh India has become a partner with Central Indiana Community Foundation (CICF)to create a financial institution that will offer micro loans to entrepreneurs in urban Indianapolis. “Grameen means village in Bangalese, and it isn’t what Americans think of as their typical bank, this is an institution with limited regulation, and a focus on lending the old fashion way; that is, holding people accountable for the loans that they sign up for. Grameen already has US locations in Brooklyn and Omaha, and Indianapolis should be proud to be the next location for expansion of this social changing force.

As user for some time of KIVA, and an interested bystander of the Micro-bank movement, I am not sure what their impact will be in these urban neighborhoods, but it can only be positive. One of the biggest things lacking in many of these urban neighborhoods is often not residents, but services and small businesses. This is exactly where micro banks can provide a service, which is very difficult to be implement without a larger organization such as Grameen Bank or KIVA making a specific neighborhood the focus. For these residents and neighborhoods, this is a potential life changing benefit that will hopefully help drive people to open small businesses and encourage others to follow these footsteps.