On February 5, 2009, Microlumbia, Columbia Business School's student-run microfinance fund, welcomed Chrysanthos Miliaras, director, Middle East Division, at Chemonics International, an international development consulting firm. Mr. Miliaras discussed the impact of the financial crisis on microfinance, the current state and the future of microfinance, and the new technology that could revolutionize doing business with the base of the pyramid.

Microfinance is seen as something newer than it actually is, according to Chrysanthos Miliaras who began his discussion by explaining the origin of microfinance. Microfinance dates back to 15th-century Italy, when the Monte di Pieta ("mount of pity"), or pawnbroker, was approved by the church to lend money to those in need to finance weddings, funerals, and other family matters. This same vision was carried out by A.P. Gianini, the founder of Bank of Italy (which later became Bank of America), who lent a small amount of money to the poor--including the victims of the San Francisco earthquake in 1906--when banks used to lend to the wealthy. Then, the founder of Grameen Bank, Muhammad Yunus, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 "for [Grameen Bank's] efforts to create economic and social development from below," putting microfinance in the limelight. The underlying theme of microfinance, whether by the Monte di Pieta in 15th-century Italy or Grameen Bank in 21st-century Bangladesh, is scale, which is necessary to make the business financially sustainable.