Grameen Bank Project was born in the village of Jobra, Bangladesh, in 1976. In 1983 it was transformed into a formal bank. Borrowers of Grameen Bank at present own 94 per cent of the total equity of the bank. Remaining 6 percent is owned by the government. It has 6.6 million borrowers, 97 percent of whom are women. It works exclusively for them. Grameen Bank does not require any collateral against its micro-loans. Although each borrower must belong to a five-member group, the group is not required to give any guarantee for a loan to its member. Repayment responsibility solely rests on the individual borrower. Grameen Bank has 2 226 branches and it works in 71 371 villages, with a staff of 18 795.