Adie strives to improve and adapt its credit methodologies and approaches to the needs of its clients and potential micro-entrepreneurs. One of the communities Adie has tried, since the beginning of its activities, to work and develop a solid relationship with is the traveller community, the biggest minority in Europe. This community has substantial challenges to overcome when it comes to entrepreneurship, among which the lack of opportunities to access to formal credit. Community members usually have small income generating activities, which do not provide stable or sufficient revenue to access the traditional banking system. Moreover, although settling down has recently started to be more common within this population, the general trend is to be mobile: community members don’t have fixed residency, nor established ties with the local communities. This means that it is very difficult for them to find guarantors outside of their communities. Adie identified an approach to target the needs of this population thanks to experience in the field and constant contact with this type of client.

The good practice implemented by Adie allows the traveller population to receive credits to develop their microenterprises and to register informal activities, without providing formal/financial guarantees to the institution. Adie has designed a tailored approach towards this population that ranges from specific follow-up and support to an adapted methodology in lending practices.