The financial inclusion It is essential for a business to grow and have the opportunity to access necessary tools such as the credit. For the millions of Peruvian microentrepreneurs, this means a huge improvement in their quality of life and a series of opportunities for their families. That is why it is so important to promote it, especially in a country like Peru, where only 4 out of 10 people have access to the financial system, according to a study published by Ipsos in October 2022.
Along these lines, IPAE Acción Empresarial and the Frieda and Manuel Delgado Parker Association, with the support of USAID, RPP and FSG consultancy, included three financial organizations that apply shared value on the List of Companies that Transform Peru 2022: through strategies that meet social needs and, at the same time, generate a return for the company.
“Woman Credit” de Mibanco is one of these initiatives. It is a financial solution designed for all female entrepreneurs and micro-entrepreneurs who struggle to get ahead every day, eliminating gender gaps. Since its creation, 190,000 loans have been disbursed for more than 116,000 Peruvian micro-entrepreneurs, of which 48,000 accessed a financial product for the first time.
The initiative was designed to offer real financing opportunities to women entrepreneurs through a simple and accessible process, motivating them to carry out their dreams and take on the challenge of growing their ventures hand in hand with Mibanco. In addition, this is Mibanco’s flagship product within its sustainability strategy, seeking to generate opportunities for more and more women in the country.
LOOK: Application is implemented in eight regions of the country that promotes financial inclusion
For its part, BBVA was included in the List of Companies that Transform Peru thanks to its initiative “Finance as playing”. This aims to promote literacy, education and financial inclusion. The project is aimed at entrepreneurs, SMEs and independent people, by offering digital financial products aimed at the specific needs of users.
In a joint effort, the BBVA Foundation and the fintech Alfi focused on sharing content through a virtual platform and an application, in which each user can interact in a playful way to comply with the evaluations of the different modules. This initiative has a particularly positive impact since, according to Alfi’s own figures, more than 70% of the Peruvian population has limited knowledge of basic financial concepts, which impedes the growth of financial inclusion and makes it difficult to take full advantage of of the opportunities generated by banking.
Finally, the work of Agente Cash was recognized thanks to its technology management model, which aims to solve the lack of access to financial services in rural communities. Through a network of agents made up of entrepreneurs (bodegas, drugstores, etc.), Cash Agent provides the online collection service even in places without internet access.
Before this solution, the rural population had to travel to the city even to pay the electricity bill, which increased the cost of the service by up to 5 times. Since this service was implemented, more than 5 million families located in rural areas have been served, benefiting them with savings of more than 100 million soles. In addition, the entrepreneurs that make up the network of agents are permanently trained in the use of technology. It should be noted that this initiative has been recognized in the category “Growing to Transform”as proof that Shared Value can be led by companies of any size.
For more information on #EmpresasQueTransforman, go to the initiative’s website.
