Focus on Women
FINCA focuses on women clients because they are the least able to access credit, and because women with children are typically the poorest segment of the poor. Of the 1.3 billion people living in the most severe poverty worldwide, women account for 70 percent. In the developing world, a woman's chances of receiving credit are markedly lower than a man's, and yet, in an increasing number of families, the woman provides a substantial portion—or all—of the family's income.

Moreover, as FINCA founder John Hatch said, "It has been proven time after time that increasing the incomes of poor mothers results in an almost immediate improvement in the diet of their children. The greatest benefit is that, when a woman's income grows, the first thing she does is to send her children to school. And when a child is educated, he or she has better opportunities to live outside of poverty."

 Type of Client Businesses
Many FINCA clients worldwide favor commerce—businesses such as operating small convenience stores, fruit stands, selling cosmetics, food, and other goods—perhaps because of the rapid turnover of capital. Others are involved in production: preparing food for sale or catering, sewing and tailoring, and making crafts. A smaller percentage of clients run service-based businesses such as hair salons and bicycle repair shops. Because many of the world’s poorest people live in rural, agricultural-dependent communities, FINCA also reaches out to small-holder farmers, clients who re-sell such farmers’ crops, those raising livestock, and others engaged in agricultural production and marketing.