The paper analyzes the microfinance sector in Chile: its origins, evolution and actual condition. The results showthat microfinance is a relatively new activity in the country whichinvolves both, Profit and Non Profit Organitations, all of them supported by the public sector. The microfinance activity is mainly characterized for the delivery of microcredits for microenterpreuners, in a context where it does not exist a specific regulation for the sector. In adittion, it is possible to see that there arenot many studies that showthe impacts that microfinance programs have on microenterpreuners.