As credit extended to small businesses by conventional banks remains tight in the wake of the global financial crisis, nonprofit microlenders are seeing a jump in demand for their services among Americans, writes The New York Times.

Microfinance, which involves lending small sums to beginning entrepreneurs, has gained popularity as a means to nurture the economic health of developing countries. Kiva.org, an international microlender, has recently started a pilot program to lend to business owners in the United States, while the Grameen Bank, the microlending pioneer with headquarters in Bangladesh, has also broadened its scope to include U.S. work.

The movement has gotten some fuel from last year’s economic-stimulus bill, which included $54-million granted to the Small Business Administration earmarked for microlenders. In 2010 loan applications at the nation’s 362 microfinance lenders have more than doubled those filed the previous year. “Everyone is knocking on our doors, even those with good credit,” said Galen Gondolfi, of Justine Petersen, a microfinance group in St. Louis.

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