Headquartered in London, HSBC is a large international banking network which includes 9,500 offices in 76 countries in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa. At year-end 2005, HSBC reported total assets of approximately $1.5 trillion.

Currently, HSBC is engaged in several microfinance pilot projects with microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Brazil, India, Mexico, the Philippines, and Russia. Projects vary from wholesale lending to project support – with the total capital designated for these projects under $62.5 million. For example, Opportunity International and HSBC are piloting the “Opportunity Card” in partnership with three Philippine MFIs. The project is aimed at helping Philippine migrant workers send money they earn abroad back to their families in the Philippines in a less expensive way. This remittance pilot project has workers send money through an HSBC website and has designated family members access the money through any Cirrus (MasterCard) enabled ATM network. If successful, this project will be expanded to other remittance channels.
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