About
Accion (registered as Accion International, EIN 13-2535763) is a global nonprofit on a mission to create a fair and inclusive economy. For more than six decades it has worked to bring high-quality, affordable financial services to people left out of the formal financial system — low-income entrepreneurs, smallholder farmers, and women — helping pioneer modern microfinance and, more recently, digital financial inclusion.
Mission
Accion develops and scales responsible digital financial solutions for underserved populations around the world. It focuses on giving people access to credit to manage and grow their businesses, insurance to protect against climate disasters, and other high-quality, affordable financial services.
What they do
- Accion Ventures — invests in early-stage fintech companies, with 76 startups funded across more than 30 countries
- Accion Advisory — provides strategic advisory services to financial providers on digital transformation
- Center for Financial Inclusion — Accion's research and thought-leadership arm on financial inclusion
History
Accion was founded in 1961 by Joe Blatchford, then a UC Berkeley law student. In the 1970s it helped launch modern microfinance in Latin America with small business loans in Brazil. In 1992 it co-founded BancoSol in Bolivia, the world's first private commercial bank for the poor. In 2007 it facilitated the IPO of Compartamos Banco, the world's first IPO of an inclusive financial service provider, and in 2012 it launched Accion Ventures to invest in fintech for the underserved. The organization has held tax-exempt status in the United States since 1965.
Scale and impact
According to figures published on its website, Accion has reached more than 500 million people since its founding and has helped build 299 financial service providers across 77 countries. As of 2025, 43.3 million people were actively using solutions offered by its partners.
Financials
Per IRS filings compiled by ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, Accion International reported revenue of $23.8 million and expenses of $33.1 million for fiscal year 2024, with net assets of $303.8 million. For fiscal year 2023 it reported revenue of $34 million, expenses of $31.2 million, and net assets of $366 million.
