micro.Bo is a non-profit private institution with the aim of providing access to an original form of credit to people who suffer serious problems of an economic and social nature, mainly immigrants, workers retrenched by firms in crisis, casual workers, women with kids, unemployed.



As well as providing access to credit, micro.Bo also offers all kinds of free services related to the starting of a new activity. The aim is to assist beneficiaries to overcome their economic and social difficulties, to gain trust in themselves and to enable them to ensure better living standards for their families. The objective of micro.Bo is also to promote the culture of microcredit in Italy by organising study seminars, conferences and debates by providing training for microcredit experts.



micro.Bo provides access to small loans to individuals in need to whom banks will not lend because they are deemed “non-credit worthy”. It has adopted a group-lending approach whereby potential beneficiaries are required to form groups of three to five people. Each member of the group presents his/her own project, which is individual and independent from those of the other members. All beneficiaries must reside in the province of Bologna for the duration of their loan. The loans are provided by a local co-operative bank that has signed an agreement with micro.Bo.



In the future, the aim is to develop an “Emergency Credit” programme to help people in need of very small amounts of money for unforeseen expenses as well as a fund to combat usury.