Access to Finance Program

In Access to Finance (ATF) our objective is to expand and accelerate private sector access to a broad range of financial services by building strong and diversified financial markets. Our projects target the following strategic priorities:

• Strengthening banks and microfinance institutions through projects focused on improving governance and risk management.
• Broadening access to finance, particularly for small businesses and for housing. Our support will include the introduction and use of technology to extend services, such as ATMs and phone banking.
• Helping to build asset registries, credit bureaus, rating agencies, and improved payment systems, so that each country’s financial systems infrastructure will be larger, broader, and more inclusive.

We will also help strengthen each market’s ability to raise equity and debt through their capital markets or through private equity. This will entail advisory programs in capital market development and legal infrastructure so that all market players – state-owned, private sector, domestic or foreign – will have equal opportunity on a level playing field.