FINCA Awarded UPS Centennial Grant
in Support of the Village Banking Campaign

Atlanta, October 31, 2007 – In honor of its 100th birthday, UPS created a Centennial Grants Fund and awarded $1 million to three global microlending organizations including FINCA International. The funds will be used to support programs for entrepreneurs on three continents, including loans to grow small businesses.

“In this year of UPS’s Centennial, there could be no better way to celebrate founder Jim Casey’s entrepreneurial spirit than to award grants to foster opportunities for entrepreneurs around the world,” said Lisa Hamilton, president of The UPS Foundation. “UPS was founded in 1907 by then 19-year-old Casey, who borrowed $100 to start a bicycle messenger business. Today, his company is the largest package delivery firm in the world.”

The UPS Foundation's $210,000 grant to FINCA International will support its Village Banking Campaign, a call-to-action designed to harness social momentum and mobilize the people and resources needed to alleviate poverty on a global scale. The UPS grant will ensure that an estimated 1,400 micro entrepreneurs - mostly women - in the 21 countries that make up FINCA International's global network of microfinance service providers receive their first loans. With their new-found access to credit, these working women will create jobs, build assets and improve the standard of living for themselves and thousands of their children and family members. Because FINCA's loans recycle through the system at least three times each year, the UPS Foundation's grant will multiply into millions of dollars over the years to come.

According to Hamilton, creation of the Centennial Grants Fund marks the first time UPS has concentrated such a large portion of its giving on microlending.

“Throughout our history at UPS, we've found that we grow by investing not only in our business but also in the communities we serve,” she added. “Microlending organizations are our direct link to new entrepreneurs as they seek to strengthen their families’ financial well-being and contribute more robustly to their communities. We definitely recognize the value of entrepreneurship, particularly because of UPS's humble beginnings.”

UPS chose FINCA because of their proven success record as microlenders, their ability to measure the impact of their programs, and their presence in global markets. The organization is also well-recognized for the financial literacy and business training that goes along with their loans, ensuring that the businesses they fund are successful.

UPS

UPS is the world’s largest package delivery company and a global leader in supply chain services, offering an extensive range of options for synchronizing the movement of goods, information and funds. Headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., UPS serves more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. UPS's stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange (UPS) and the company can be found on the Web at UPS.com. To get UPS news direct, visit pressroom.ups.com/RSS.

FINCA International

FINCA is a leading international micro-finance organization that provides financial services to the world's lowest-income entrepreneurs, helping them to create jobs, build assets and improve their standard of living.  For more than twenty years, FINCA has been committed to breaking the cycle of poverty by providing community-based credit and savings opportunities. Currently, FINCA operates with a distinctive, integrated business model that accepts, both, donations and investment dollars, an approach that leverages available capital and promotes greater transparency, sustainability and higher standards of business practices.  This has allowed FINCA to achieve balanced financial and social performance unmatched in its industry while opening the path to socio-economic development for the lowest-income citizens of the world.  Based in Washington DC with local operations across twenty-one countries, serving 600,000 clients, FINCA's outreach is among the broadest and most comprehensive of today's microfinance networks.  For more information, please visit www.villagebanking.org.