Over 110 million people are displaced due to violence, persecution, and climate change, and access to financial services is often the key to rebuilding lives. Refugees and displaced populations face systemic barriers to financial inclusion, with traditional financial institutions often perceiving them as high-risk clients. But what if refugees are not only creditworthy but also vital contributors to economic stability?

Over the past several years, innovative financial solutions have begun challenging this perception, proving that refugees can be a powerful force for local economic development. By overcoming biases and demonstrating the business case for refugee lending, organizations have shown that financial inclusion not only benefits refugees, but also host communities and broader economies.

It is a widespread misconception that refugees are too risky to serve. Historically, refugees have been viewed as liabilities due to their lack of credit history, residency uncertainty, and perceived flight risk. Yet, research and pilot programs consistently show that refugees can, and do, repay loans at rates comparable to nonrefugee populations.

For example, a 2016 Kiva.org pilot initiative provided risk-tolerant, crowdfunding-based loans to refugees, with a 96.39% repayment rate. This pilot demonstrated that refugees are viable candidates for financial services and set the stage for scaling such efforts with institutional support to meet the these demands in refugee populations.

Building on early successes, institutional capital has proven effective in scaling refugee lending globally. By........

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