Bandhan, the microfinance institution (MFI) that has become a full-fledged bank

To bond with the poor "In a recent interview to a television channel, Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, the founder of Bandhan, the microfinance institution (MFI) that has become a full-fledged bank, said that the day he quit his low-paying job in a non-governmental organisation (NGO) to start it, his wife cried all night. With an aging mother-in-law and a two-year-old child to care for, Ghosh’s wife could not really be blamed for her apprehension. The next morning his brother-in-law called to dissuade him from his “insane” plan. But Ghosh was not to be dissuaded. Fourteen years later, on August 23, Bandhan Bank, the newest bank in the country and the first to be inaugurated in eastern India in 72 years, commenced operations with 501 branches, 2,022 service centres, 50 automated teller machines (ATMs) and 19,500 permanent employees spread across 24 States. It has 1.43 crore accounts and a loan book of around Rs.10,500 crore. The last bank to start operations in eastern India was UCO Bank, which was established in 1943."
Interview with the CEO Chandra Sekhar Ghosh

P.S. I had a bit of exposure to this sort of thing. I tried to do it from Australia through a friend in India who could only work part ime. It worked well in the beginning on a scale simiar to that in the beginning for Shri Ghosh, and is still limping along. It seems that hard work and full time committment are needed.