About Us

Building a Business

During its first year of operation in 2005, Citi Microfinance and our Markets & Banking, Consumer and Wealth Management businesses worked globally with leading microfinance institutions, microfinance networks, and investors as commercial partners and clients to expand access to financial products and services to individuals that are not currently reached or are underserved by financial institutions.

Through a small, London-based business unit with colleagues in New York, India and Colombia but most importantly, through Citi branches and business groups in a number of countries, Citi worked with the microfinance sector and investors to develop appropriate products, distribution mechanisms and financing to broaden and increase the scale of outreach of financial services. These activities included Citi providing direct and structured financing, access to local capital markets, leasing, individual lending through MFI partners, foreign exchange and interest rate hedging, remittances and insurance. Our diverse business experiences have demonstrated that Citi, working with the microfinance sector, can achieve increased scale and product choice, and expand access to financial services and opportunities for the clients that MFIs serve.