Powering America’s fastest-growing microfinance institution
Grameen America, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering low-income women entrepreneurs with microloans and financial education, moved to the cloud with Mambu to cut loan processing time by 50% and boost financial sustainability
- caseload benchmark growth
- faster loan transactions
- women entrepreneurs served
Grameen America
About the customer
Grameen America is a nonprofit founded in Queens, New York, in 2008. It builds on Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus’s groundbreaking idea: everyone can lift themselves out of poverty through entrepreneurship. The organisation provides microloans, credit-building support, and financial education to low-income women entrepreneurs who are often excluded from traditional banking systems.
Operating in 29 cities across the United States, Grameen America has invested over $4.2 billion in more than 220,000 women.
Their mission focuses on helping members grow small businesses, achieve financial independence, and uplift their families and communities.
The challenge
Legacy systems holding growth back
Before 2013, Grameen America relied on legacy software, which lacked scalability and efficiency. Loan processing involved manual cash transactions, resulting in frequent errors, inefficiencies, and security risks. Meetings often prioritised administrative tasks over meaningful discussions. To meet growing demand and ensure long-term sustainability, the organisation realised a cloud-native approach is required. Some of the main objectives were to:
- Digitise and streamline lending processes
- Improve customer experience and operational efficiency
- Enhance data accuracy and fraud detection
The solution
From pilot to scalable, seamless rollout
Grameen America chose Mambu's cloud platform for its flexibility, scalability, and ability to support its unique microfinance model. To ensure a smooth transition, the organisation ran two pilot programs in 2013 and 2016, validating Mambu’s capabilities before a full national rollout. Over nine months, staff underwent extensive training, with designated Mambu champions in each branch to drive adoption while maintaining key legacy features for familiarity.
The result
Faster loans, greater sustainability
The move to the cloud not only improved Grameen America’s loan processing and overall borrower experience but it also enhanced internal and external auditing capabilities. Enhanced data accuracy resulted in better data analytics and Grameen America is now able to conduct surprise audits and to detect fraud early on based on data irregularities.
- The organisation’s loan transaction time was reduced by 50%
- The caseload benchmark grew by 25%
- 100% digital disbursements and repayments
- The overall organisation has become more than 60% financially sustainable
“Mambu shares our commitment to constant innovation, leveraging technology to empower individuals, while streamlining and improving operating efficiency and effectiveness. Mambu’s platform has enabled Grameen America to transform our member experience and provide powerful digital solutions to further accelerate our organisation’s growth and impact for women entrepreneurs nationwide.”
- Andrea Jung, President and CEO, Grameen America
Download the full case study
From cash-based to cloud-powered. Discover how Grameen America cut loan processing time in half and grew financial sustainability.
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