Italy: microcredit for families

Due to the success of microcredit, many in the traditional banking industry realized that this kind of loan is increasingly gaining credibility in the mainstream finance industry. In Italy, for instance, Monte dei Paschi bank launched a special microcredit program dedicated to poor families. The program, named Microcredito di solidarietà (Solidarity Microcredit) is a result of the cooperation between bank and local organizations such as Catholic church and  municipality of Siena (Tuscany), and charities such as Misericordie and Pubbliche Assistenze. Microcredito di solidarietà will target unemployed, strangers, poor entrepreneurs and others living in poverty who are not bankable. These individuals lack collateral, steady employment and a verifiable credit history and therefore cannot meet the traditional qualifications to gain access to credit. Non profit organizations supporting the program will collect demands of loans and pass them to the bank. The project can count on a 1 million euro budget, while the amount of an average loan is calculated to be around 4000. www.mps.it