BancoSol's roots date back to 1986, when ACCION and Bolivian business leaders established a nonprofit microlending entity called PRODEM. By 1988, PRODEM had grown so large that it was outstripping the capacity of the local banking system to supply it with lending capital. In 1992, PRODEM joined with ACCION International, Calmeadow Foundation, Bolivian banks and other investors to establish BancoSol, the first private commercial bank in the world dedicated exclusively to microenterprise. 

In 1997, it became the first MFI in history to issue dividends to shareholders. With first loans as low as $50, BancoSol effectively reaches the poorest of the economically active population. Half of its active clients are women and work as market vendors, seamstresses, bakers, candy makers and others.