Bankable people are those deemed eligible to obtain financial services that can lead to income generation, repayment of loans, savings, and the building of assets.

Microcredit is a small amount of money loaned to a client by a bank or other institution. Microcredit can be offered, often without collateral, to an individual or through group lending.
 

Group lending, also known as solidarity lending, is a mechanism that allows a number of individuals to provide collateral or guarantee a loan through a group repayment pledge. The incentive to repay is based on peer pressure; if one person in the group defaults, the other group members make up the payment amount.

Individual lending, in contrast, focuses on one client and does not require other people to provide collateral or guarantee a loan.

Microentrepreneurs are people who own small-scale businesses that are known as microenterprises. These businesses usually employ less than 5 people and can be based out of the home. They can provide the sole source of family income or supplement other forms of income. Typical microentrepreneur activities include retail kiosks, sewing workshops, carpentry shops and market stalls.    

Microfinance refers to loans, savings, insurance, transfer services and other financial products targeted at low-income clients.    

Microinsurance is a system by which people, businesses and other organizations make payments to share risk. Access to insurance enables entrepreneurs to concentrate more on growing their businesses while mitigating other risks affecting property, health or the ability to work.    

Microsavings are deposit services that allow people to store small amounts of money for future use, often without minimum balance requirements. Savings accounts allow households to save small amounts of money to meet unexpected expenses and plan for future investments such as education and old age.    

Unbanked describes people who have no access to financial services (services that include savings, credit, money transfer, insurance, or pensions) through any type of financial sector organization such as banks, non-bank financial institutions, financial cooperatives and credit unions, finance companies, and NGOs. Implicit in this definition is that financial services are usually available only to those individuals termed “economically active” or “bankable”.