MetLife Foundation | 'Fair Finance' Finding Alternatives to Subprime

Fair Finance 
United Kingdom

People sometimes assume that financial exclusion is strictly a developing world issue. But even in advanced economies, important disparities exist, often along racial or socioeconomic class lines, between who is and is not included in the financial mainstream. Fair Finance is a key MetLife Foundation partner in the United Kingdom, providing personal and business loans to low-income individuals who have been excluded from mainstream finance and left with few options other than borrowing from subprime lenders. Fair Finance’s clientele are self-employed, part-time, and low-wage workers; recent immigrants; single mothers; and people of color. Along with more affordable credit, Fair Finance also provides counseling and mediation for tenants facing eviction. Although growing fast, Fair Finance is still meeting only a fraction of the local need, and wants to increase the number of individuals served from 10,000 to 100,000 over five years. MetLife Foundation’s funding is supporting initiatives to strengthen Fair Finance’s operational infrastructure to manage this growth.

Learn more about Metlife Foundation's strategic global partnerships in their 2015 Annual Report