The network phenomenon isn’t just happening online, but also in villages that barely have Internet connections. But what’s most interesting, online banking also exists in offline areas, though it’s quite different to what we in the cities know as internet banking, online banking or even having ATMs. Take, for example, the Grameen Bank (or Bank of the Poor) in Bangladesh, which began in a remote rural zone in 1976, lending a handful of takas per family (to the woman of the house) without any guarantee requirements, depending solely on the pressure that groups inside its network used to recover any money lent, and then reinvest it in new loans or projects, with a greater common good in mind.
This project has grown to such an extent that it has generated sister companies, in areas like mobile phone systems, the textile industry, fishing, communications, it’s also involved in social security and education programs, among others things, which are also listed on the stock exchange. For some time now, they’ve been worth over a trillion dollars and the founder, Muhammad Yunus was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his contribution to the economy through micro credits. The Grameen Bank has branches throughout the world.
http://www.grameen-info.org/
