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Banco Real, a major Brazilian bank owned by ABN AMRO, created a joint venture with the American non-profit microlending organisation ACCION.

This joint venture, Real Microcrédito, is 80% owned by Banco Real and 20%
by ACCION. It provides credit to small entrepreneurs, such as shopkeepers and owners of hair salons, in poor areas of Brazil’s main cities. Real Microcrédito started out in Sao Paolo in July 2002, by sending its micro credit representatives into the poor areas to visit informal sector entrepreneurs directly. Later on, small branch offices were established near – and subsequently in – existing Banco Real branches.