Cocoa farmer Beatrice Boaten (left) and her loan officer Abena Sarpong at an Opportunity Ghana mobile bank in the Ashanti region.

With the addition of a new van in Ghana, Opportunity’s mobile fleet is 23 vehicles. Each mobile “bank-on-wheels” has the capacity to serve between 1,800 and 5,000 clients in rural villages. Uganda and Mozambique plan to add additional vans to their fleet soon. Mobile routes and schedules are planned around local market days to allow more families to take advantage of loans, training, savings and insurance products through these vans. Strategic stops allow clients to save time and travel costs by bringing the bank to their doorsteps, neighborhoods and marketplaces.

The vans empower rural families and farmers like Beatrice Boaten by providing them the peace of mind of having a safe place to deposit the day’s earnings. Beatrice has accrued $30 in savings, that is now safe from being lost or stolen–plus, it’s easily accessible during regular stops near her farm in the Ashanti region of Ghana. Though the vans face spiking fuel and maintenance costs, we know how critical they are to bring these services to our clients, so we’re determined to support them.

The annual FT/IFC Sustainable Finance Awards, now in their seventh year, are the major global awards for environmentally- and socially-responsible banking and investment. The 2012 awards were presented on June 14 at a gala dinner in London attended by 200 senior decision-makers in the areas of finance and sustainability.

“The winners of this year’s awards should be congratulated as they stand out from a very strong group of financial institutions that are leading the way on making environmental and social considerations a major part of their business,” said Martin Dickson, Deputy Editor of the Financial Times and co-chair of the awards judging panel.

The award for Credit Suisse came in recognition of 10 years of comprehensive and complementary work in microfinance across all divisions of their bank. This includes investment solutions for their clients, thematic research, custody and depositary services, structuring, capital market transactions and corporate citizenship activities.

We are proud to call Credit Suisse a partner as we continue to work together to provide the best financial services possible to our clients through technology and global capacity-building initiatives. Our collaboration with them helps improve and expand clients’ access to financial tools through innovations like the electronic wallet strategy, which sustainably and profitably delivers a full range of low-cost financial services to the most impoverished and underbanked households in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America. The e-wallet strategy includes a mix of cell phone banking, agent networks with point of sale (POS) devices, biometric recognition, mobile banking vans, and ATMs, all of which enable us to cost-effectively provide savings, loans and insurance to rural, hard-to-reach communities. Credit Suisse’s support of our capacity-building initiatives is helping us prepare our MFI staff around the globe with the skills needed to utilize the newest banking technologies and to build in-house capacities to manage growth. We’re so proud of the work we’re doing together and we’re looking forward to making an even greater impact on the lives of people in poverty through this partnership.

Congratulations to Credit Suisse on this significant achievement!

Photos, from top: Client Godfrey Lutwama in the Kalerwe Market in Kampala, Uganda; Mobile bank in Uganda (Credit: Oliver Krato); Client Deepa (right) with tiffin boxes, India; An unexpected observer in Cartagena, Colombia; Son of groundnut farming client Edward Yohane, Malawi; Fishermen in Maputo, Mozambique.

David Santoso is our Online Community Specialist, in charge of our pages on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and more. Stay tuned to the Opportunity Blog for more photos, posts and updates from David.

AZ Rhythm Connection performs (All photos: SJA Studios – Steven Aquilino)

Despite the unseasonably cold weather, the evening drew over 100 attendees from the local business and philanthropic communities. The evening opened with traditional African rhythm grooves with Baliphone, Djembe, Shakere and other traditional hand percussion provided by Frank Thompson and Keith Johnson of the AZ Rhythm Connection. Pastor Woody Garvin of Valley Presbyterian Church in nearby Paradise Valley, Ariz. offered a Thanksgiving devotional before dinner.

Pastor Woody Garvin

Special guests included Kadita “A.T.” Tshibaka, a member of Opportunity’s Board of Directors and a native of the DR Congo who has extensive experience in international finance. Another distinguished speaker at the event was David Simms, board chair of Opportunity International’s Global Microfinance Operations, an experienced financial professional and a White House Fellow.

Kadita "A.T." Tshibaka

During the event, Opportunity International recognized local philanthropists who have been key champions for Opportunity’s work in the developing world. As Jon Yasuda noted in his introduction, “The people you’re about to meet have distinguished themselves for their foundational support of Opportunity, the longevity of their involvement, and their tireless commitment to educate others about our work and bring in new Governors.” Honorees included Don Ebinger; Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold; Terry and Anne Guerrant/The Guerrant Foundation; The John and Jacque Weberg Foundation; Eugene and Mary-Lynn Kaulius; and, Timothy and Rhonda Snider.

Kelly Flanagan (center) with Board of Governors members Diane Ruebling & Jeanne Lewis

During the evening’s festivities, Kelly Flanagan, a multimedia production artist and recent graduate of Arizona State University, debuted a short film from her travels to Tanzania last August with Young Ambassadors for Opportunity (YAO) as the winner of Opportunity’s 2011 Tanzania Correspondent Contest (part of Opportunity’s spring 2011 Banking on Women campaign). She shared with the audience a bit about the clients and staff she met in Tanzania, encouraging the audience to experience their own cultural immersion on an Opportunity Insight Trip. Click here to watch Kelly’s film below entitled, “Working Women-My Journey to Tanzania with Opportunity International.”

David Simms (left) with attendee Marco Silver

David Simms closed the night calling on attendees to come alongside Opportunity to help us end poverty. “Our vision is a world in which all people have the opportunity to provide for their families and build a fulfilling life. Opportunity is uniquely equipped to realize that vision. We have solutions of scale, a global presence, the support of leading foundations and organizations, and the generous support of people like you. We have a sustainable model that multiplies all of our efforts.”

A sincere thank you to the evening’s sponsors: Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, Harris Bank, Mekosh Financial, and the Morrison School of Agribusiness and Resource Development at Arizona State University.

All photos courtesy of SJA Studios – Steven Aquilino (www.arizonaweddingphotographer.biz)

Beatrice Boaten accesses her savings account at a mobile bank.

In the last 40 years, Opportunity International has become a global leader in building regulated banks that provide interest-bearing savings accounts to impoverished people. With money in the bank, our clients can now purchase medicine for a sick child, replace a leaking roof, or prepare for a crisis or business opportunity.

Mobile banks enable Opportunity to provide remote clients with safe banking services just minutes from their home or business. Client Beatrice Duku Frimpomg Boaten (pictured right) obtained her very first savings account, loan and insurance policy with Opportunity Ghana. Since then, she has improved her farming, gained authority and respect in the community, and can now afford necessities like soap and shoes. “With Opportunity’s help, I know that I can achieve my goals, and that gives me hope for the future. Opportunity came along with the love and grace of God and I’m so glad.”

Want to learn more? Opportunity International’s breakout session “Portfolios of the Poor: Why Savings Matter,” next weekend at our annual conference in San Francisco, will examine how people in poverty use complex, multilayered portfolios of equity and debt to manage their cash flow. This session, led by Daryl Collins, co-author of Portfolios of the Poor: How the World’s Poor Live on $2 a Day, will explore the importance of formal financial services, particularly savings, to people in the developing world. For more info, visit opportunity.org/conference.

Annie Nyangomba smiles for the camera at Opportunity’s new branch in the DR Congo. Bank Teller Alma Romina takes the photo for Annie’s ID card as part of the process of opening a biometric-based account.

Targeted to reach the most marginalized, Opportunity’s financial products help hardworking people overcome the inherent obstacles of poverty and build a more stable, secure and fulfilling life.

Throughout the developing world, people are excluded from access to financial services by barriers like meager, unsteady income; illiteracy; gender bias; expensive transportation and geographic isolation. To address these challenges, Opportunity carefully crafts savings, loan, training and insurance products in partnership with those in need.

With the help of efficient delivery channels, we can bring these customized products virtually anywhere—whether our clients live in a remote farming village or run a business in a sprawling urban market. Satellite branches and mobile banks give us the flexibility to provide all the services of a branch close to the people, without the expense of building a traditional bank. ATMs, point-of-sale devices and cell phone banking technologies extend our reach even further by making it possible for clients to transact business in local markets and shops—or even from their home or business.

Building Access

• An impoverished woman has no formal identification.
  Opportunity’s biometric technology allows her to open and access a savings account using only her fingerprint embedded in an ID card to give her recognition she never had.
• A baker can’t earn enough to feed her family.
  With access to banking for the first time in her life, she acquires a $140 Opportunity loan and business training that she uses to increase her sales—and her profits.
• A child is sick and needs medicine.
  His parents have set aside small sums in an Opportunity savings account, so they are able to purchase the $2 medicine for his care.
• A fruit vendor feels unsafe carrying her profits home from work.
  With an Opportunity banking kiosk near her market stall, she can safely deposit her earnings.