Often presented in bad light, this paper assesses the state of the art and recent trends for personal microcredit in Europe. Acknowledging the importance of credit beyond business purposes and recognising that there are segments of society that, rather than aspiring to be entrepreneurs, struggle to meet other basic needs and are searching for tools to better manage the instability of their daily lives. One of the main projects on personal microcredit carried out at the European level is also featured, highlighting the potential social and economic utility of this product.