Microcredit

Microcredit is the provision of small, collateral-free loans to the entrepreneurial poor for self-employment. Microcredit loans are crucial in breaking the cycle of poverty for those entrepreneurs who lack the collateral or relationships to obtain a loan from other financial institutions.
 
Many of Opportunity International China’s clients go through a series of loans as their businesses grow, with each loan usually larger than the last. This enables clients to not only start their businesses, but grow them effectively, allowing clients to employ others in their family or community.

Group Loans

One of OI China's methods of distributing microcredit a group lending method called Trust Banks. Trust Banks are groups of 3-20 clients who come together to co-guarantee each others' loans. Each Trust Bank chooses its own members who are drawn from the local community.

Individual Loans

As OI China makes a real effort to tailor its lending programs to local conditions and requirements, the organization has found that in some cities, individual loans are a more effective option for a local community than the group lending methodology. Typically individual loans are significantly larger amounts than loans disbursed in the Trust Bank program.