USAID Newsletter Features FINCA Program to Improve Rural Clients’ Access to Financial Services with Prepaid Cards: "With the goal of increasing access to financial services for very poor and rural populations, FINCA International carried out a USAID-funded Financial Services Implementation Grant Program project over the past three years among its clients in Mexico. Having designed a prepaid card as a means to provide convenient, secure and quick access to loans, FINCA began piloting this "Cheque Inteligente" among its clients in May 2009. With the successful conclusion of the pilot testing, the project is now in scale-up mode, and FINCA plans to offer the card to all of its more than 115,000 clients in Mexico." Read more...

MSNBC: Natalie Portman talks about the importance of FINCA's work and her role as Ambassador of Hope, and also conveys her touching remembrance of an encounter with one of our clients during her visit to FINCA Mexico. August 18, 2009

New York Times Magazine cover features Ambassador of Hope Natalie Portman and FINCA Mexico client Martha Villasenor. The cover story of the special issue on philanthropy focuses on Portman and her years of work for FINCA. March 9, 2008

Jordan Times: Jordan's Queen Rania Al-Abdullah officially inaugurated FINCA Jordan, which made its first loans on November 18, and met with clients and staff. February 25, 2008

Sunday Times of London: FINCA's Ambassador of Hope Natalie Portman discusses her support for FINCA, her films, her friendships, and more. February 24, 2008

Los Angeles Times: In a major story entitled "Some Serious Giving," on the support of "young Hollywood" for charitable causes, FINCA's Ambassador of Hope Natalie Portman is setting the pace by visiting FINCA programs to meet with clients and staff and helping FINCA reach out to young people, with visits to universities and her iTunes compilation album, net proceeds of which benefit FINCA: "For young Hollywood, walking the walk requires getting some mud on your shoes." November 25, 2007

Glamour Magazine: "Working with FINCA," Natalie Portman say, has changed my perspective in so many ways. When a woman starts a business, she can support herself, kick out her man if he beats her and educate her kids. It's inspiring." January 2008 issue

Entertainment Weekly: "Natalie Portman Sounds Off: The star talks about using her love of music, her rockin' friends (the Shins, Beirut, Norah Jones, Devendra Banhart), and her own cred to promote poverty relief." FINCA' s Ambassador of Hope has put together Big Change: Songs for FINCA, a $7.99 album launched on October 30 and available exclusively through iTunes; net proceeds benefit FINCA. October 25, 2007.

October 2007: FINCA Ambassador of Hope Natalie Portman is visiting university campuses to inspire students with the power of microfinance and to encourage them to join the Village Banking Campaign to help families and communities lift themselves out of poverty. Read about her visits to her alma mater Harvard, Columbia,  UC Berkeley,  Stanford, Princeton, New York University, and UCLA  in the university newpapers. Her visit to Stanford was also covered by E! Entertainment Online - The Hum Blog.

Reuters: MySpace will let FINCA and other nonprofits raise money through its new MySpace Impact Channel in a service developed with PayPal, October 4, 2007.

Embassy of the US in Guatemala: US Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns visited FINCA Guatemala and met with clients who have used FINCA loans to build their small farming businesses. He praised FINCA’s partnership with USDA’s Food for Progress program, which has enabled FINCA to provide loans to nearly 60,000 rural entrepreneurs in Ecuador, Georgia, Guatemala, Uganda and Zambia. Two projects in the works will benefit clients in Nicaragua and Tanzania. September 6, 2007

Bloomberg: Natalie Portman, AIG Promote FINCA's Microcredit for Destitute, May 9, 2007 

USA Today: Natalie Portman, "a fierce voice for world's poor," May 4, 2007

Philadelphia Inquirer: "Portman, a serious force," May 4, 2007

NBC's Today: "Queen Rania of Jordan discusses microfinancing, a concept to help poor people start businesses," with co-host Meredith Viera, May 3, 2007

Financial Times Lauds Launch of Village Banking Campaign, New York, May 3, 2007

Agence France Presse: "Jordan's Queen Rania joins microcredit campaign to fight poverty," May 2, 2007

Entertainment Weekly: "Banking on Natalie Portman's Passion," the actress tells EW.com about her work for FINCA.

Salon.com: "Portman Endorses Microloans for Women," April 30, 2007

Wall Street Journal highlights FINCA’s Pioneering Microinsurance Strategic Alliance with AIG, February 12, 2007

Visit this page regularly for news articles and other media accounts of FINCA programs and the Village Banking Campaign.