In a Jackson Heights shop for colorful saris and glittering bracelets, several women have gathered to meet with their banker. They laugh and chat in Bengali. Sultana, a 39-year-old woman wearing a headscarf, hands him $128 in cash. She is making her first repayment of the $3,000, six-month loan she'll use to help with her husband's candy store.

Welcome to Grameen America, Muhammad Yunus's brand-new microfinance venture. Mr. Yunus, along with his Bangladesh-originated Grameen Bank, won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for battling poverty by lending out small sums of money to the poor. The loans are mainly for income-generating activities -- from making baskets to raising chickens. Since its establishment in 1983, Grameen has given out billions of dollars in loans, helping to pull families out of poverty and inspiring similar operations all over the world.

Mr. Yunus has now brought Grameen to this borough of New York City. Since taking off in January, Grameen America has lent out a total of $145,000, with interest rates at around 15% on the declining loan balance. The money will be used for everything from taxi registrations to sewing machines. I meet Josefina from the Dominican Republic, who has borrowed money to buy women's accessories to sell.

Grameen works a little differently from your average American financial institution. The Grameen banker comes to the borrowers, either in their homes or businesses. Women borrowers take priority. There is no need for collateral, credit-history checks, legalities or complicated paperwork. Just credit, plain and simple.