Microfinance bank coming to Charlotte

A branch of nonprofit microfinance bank Grameen America will be coming to Charlotte, according to the city's weekly council update.

The branch will give loans of up to $1,500 to help unemployed or underemployed people below the poverty line start a business.

The city council two years ago approved $230,000 to help get the branch going. Grameen was tasked with coming up with another $2.3 million. Wells Fargo and the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation were among donors, the Observer reported last year.

The bank is a part of the Bangladesh-based nonprofit started by Muhammad Yunus that won a Nobel Prize in 2006. Charlotte will be the fifth city in the U.S. to have a branch. Branches already exist in New York City, Omaha, Neb., Indianapolis and Oakland, Calif.

Grameen America is still looking for a location in Charlotte.