CARE's Strive Women Secures $1B in Credit for Women Entrepreneurs

CARE has announced that women entrepreneurs in Pakistan, Peru and Vietnam have secured $1 billion in credit through Strive Women, a MasterCard Strive initiative led by the organization. The program partners with banks, microfinance institutions and cooperatives to develop loan products that better address the financial needs of women-owned small businesses.

The initiative has helped lenders remove common barriers to borrowing, including collateral requirements, male guarantors and the need for formal credit histories. CARE said these changes have enabled more women entrepreneurs to access financing. Men have also benefited from the redesigned loan products, taking the total credit distributed through the program to $1.2 billion.

According to figures from the IFC and SME Finance Forum cited by CARE, women-owned small businesses in emerging and developing economies face a financing gap of $1.9 trillion. Traditional lending practices, including collateral-based requirements and standardized credit assessments, often make it difficult for women entrepreneurs to secure loans and expand their businesses.

Key Highlights:

• Women entrepreneurs in Pakistan, Peru and Vietnam have accessed $1 billion in credit through Strive Women
• CARE is helping lenders offer flexible loans and reduce barriers such as collateral and guarantor requirements
• The program has supported over 575,000 entrepreneurs through training, mentorship and financial services

Strive Women has been collaborating with financial institutions to eliminate some of these obstacles since 2023. CARE outlined options such as alternatives to conventional collaterals, flexible repayment terms, and digital loan and, in a few cases, reduced interest rates.

With three elements it defines, digital solutions, affordable capital and networks, Strive Women ensures small businesses are put in contact with what it believes is essential to grow and thrive. The program adopts the perspective of Women-Centered Design (WCD); financial products are tailored, and business support services are provided including digital skills training, business training, and mentorship and peer networks.

In addition, CARE carries out public communications campaigns, particularly in relevant markets, where women are made aware about financial services and the barriers women-led small businesses face on online and traditional media, CARE said.

CARE emphasized the various measures implemented by financial partners in each country. It pointed to the commercial bank VPBank's WE Leverage Package for boosting credit limits of unsecured loans and credit cards by 20% for women who don't have collateral in Vietnam.

CARE also stated that women at Thanh Hoa Microfinance Institution are able to set the loan repayment periods according to the time of business cycles and the time to disburse the loan is up to 24 hours.

In Pakistan, CARE is running a pilot scheme of incentivizing their branch teams with Mobilink Microfinance Bank, in order to stimulate women entrepreneurs to borrow from the bank. In Peru, CARE reduced the interest rate on its Emprende Mujer loan and is ready to roll out disbursement via its Wayki app.

In addition to credit delivery, CARE has directly provided skills and mentorship and built a peer network for financial health, along with financial products, such as savings and insurance, to 575,636 entrepreneurs through Strive Women.

CARE also noted that it has engaged its public communications efforts with over 5.8 million entrepreneurs in three countries. It said in Vietnam, a campaign promoting family division of labor, allowing women to have more time for their businesses, reached over 1.3 million people.

Strive Women is a four-year initiative, led by CARE, and scheduled to run until 2027. The program is sharing CARE's tools in the Strive Women Playbook, which enables financial institutions to develop a better product for women entrepreneurs, CARE said.