Sixty-five years ago, Accion began with a simple idea: people living on the margins of the global economy can improve their lives when they have access to the resources they need. That belief in the power of ‘helping people help themselves’ has guided our work from the start, and it continues to shape how we advance financial inclusion today.

Founded in 1961, Accion’s early work focused on community development projects in Latin America. By the early 1970s, our team recognized a significant unmet need among the communities we served: access to capital. The welders, cobblers, and market vendors that powered economies in emerging markets lacked a safe place to save, credit to grow their businesses, and insurance to protect their families and livelihoods. But when Accion began offering small loans to microentrepreneurs in Recife, Brazil, repayment rates shattered the myth that providing financial services to low-income people was too risky.

Those early insights helped lay the groundwork for Accion’s mission, and a wider inclusive finance sector that today is helping to uplift underserved communities across the globe. Over our history, Accion has helped build 299 financial service providers serving low-income clients in 77 countries, reaching over 500 million people.

Our impact stands on a legacy of innovation

In the 1980s and 90s, Accion supported the creation of independent, locally-led microfinance institutions. We pioneered the transformation of nonprofit lenders into regulated financial institutions, opening the door to the capital markets, sustainability, and scale. The success of institutions like BancoSol in Bolivia, MiBanco in Peru, and Compartamos in Mexico demonstrated that serving low-income clients could be both impactful and financially viable, fundamentally shifting how the financial sector viewed underserved consumers.

As the field grew, so did the questions it faced. How could financial services reach people more efficiently? How could quality, consumer protection, and dignity keep pace with scale? And how could innovation be harnessed responsibly, rather than leaving vulnerable clients behind?

At each inflection point, Accion has worked to push the field forward by ensuring innovation meets the unique needs of low-income people.

Over the past fifteen years, Accion has focused on harnessing digital technology to reach people who remain left out and poorly served by the financial system. As mobile phones, data, and digital platforms reshape economies around the world, we’ve recognized the potential to dramatically lower costs, expand access, and design financial services that answer real world problems. But technology alone can’t deliver inclusion. It takes capital, expertise serving low-income people, strong governance, and a focus on impact.

Testing new models, scaling what works

That conviction led to the launch of Accion Ventures in 2012, now a leading early-stage investor focused on inclusive fintech. By backing more than 80 startups globally and supporting them as they scale, Accion Ventures helps bring new models to market — harnessing innovations in infrastructure, AI, embedded finance, and more — that connect underserved groups with responsible credit, payments, savings, insurance, and financial management tools. These companies don’t just serve customers; they demonstrate what’s possible.

At the same time, we know that when existing institutions evolve, they can better serve low-income and underserved communities. Through growth capital and strategic support, Accion Digital Transformation is working with financial institutions to modernize their operations, strengthen governance, and build responsible digital models that can reach millions more customers sustainably.

Accion Advisory plays a critical role in turning bold ideas into scalable solutions. By using philanthropic support to test, learn, and de‑risk new models, our teams work alongside financial institutions, fintechs, and ecosystem partners to pilot responsible innovations, often in markets and segments where commercial capital alone is unlikely to go first. When approaches prove effective, we help partners strengthen them, attract additional investment, and replicate what works across geographies.

We also conduct rigorous research to build needed evidence on global problems and their solutions. For more than fifteen years, the Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI) has served as a vital research and convening hub, challenging assumptions and elevating what works. From consumer protection to digital public infrastructure, CFI’s research helps ensure that innovation in financial services leads to better outcomes for those at risk of being marginalized, not only faster growth or higher adoption.

The power of partnership

Partnership has always been central to Accion’s approach, and today that spirit is reflected in our strategic alliance with the Global Finance & Technology Network (GFTN). By combining Accion’s experience in inclusive finance with GFTN’s deep engagement across Asia and the global fintech ecosystem, we aim to accelerate responsible innovation across regions, bringing regulators, investors, and practitioners into closer dialogue around what inclusive digital finance can and should be.

Looking ahead, the need for our work has never been more urgent. While access to financial services has expanded dramatically over the past decade, 1.6 billion people remain excluded or poorly served by the formal financial system. Small business owners and smallholder farmers face volatile incomes, extreme weather, and limited safety nets. Women entrepreneurs continue to encounter systemic barriers.

The next chapter of financial inclusion must go beyond access alone. It must deliver services that are affordable, trusted, and responsible It must strengthen the people and businesses that rely on them and better prepare them to face shocks. And it must be built with intention, accountability, and people’s real needs at the center.

As we mark Accion’s 65th anniversary, we’re looking forward to reconnecting and celebrating with our partners who have made this progress possible. On May 20, 2026, we will gather with our global network of supporters in New York City to celebrate this milestone and, more importantly, look ahead at the impact we’ll create together in the years ahead.

The challenges before us are complex, but our history offers reason for hope and optimism. For 65 years, Accion has helped build a fair and inclusive economy for those who have been left out. With your support, we’re turning our vision into opportunity for millions of underserved people globally.