Giving loans to the poor The Grameen Bank is an organisation started in Bangladesh that makes small loans (known as micro-credit) to poor people, without asking for collateral. The system is based on the idea that the poor have skills that are under-used. The bank also accepts deposits, provides other services, and runs several development-oriented businesses including telephone and energy companies. In 1974, Muhammad Yunus, whoe founded the bank, gave a small loan of $27 to a group of families so that they could make small items for sale,le without extremely high interest rates.e Yunus believed that giving this micro-ts credit to a wide population could reduce poverty In the rural areas ofd - Bangladesh.