The World Woman Bank has been in the financial market for 10 years but has a 42 -year experience carrying credit products to low and medium segments and especially women, but also lends men.
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José Vicente Velasco, president of the bank, spoke with Portfolio about the entity’s perspectives in the short and medium term.
In the world bank woman how much is the participation of men?
The name is telling the woman, but it is not about discriminating against anyone, but men have been given credit. Of course, 57% are women and 43% are men. The origin of what was first a microcreditia was in Popayán, after the 1983 earthquake with the Foundation, and for 10 years we became a bank to offer more products and reach more parts and grew extending to the Coffee Axis, Cundinamarca, Atlantic Coast, Meta and Casanare. We are missing Antioquia, Norte de Santander, Santander, Arauca, Guainía and Chocó.
How many offices do they have?
There are 187 in 22 departments and we have customers in 690 municipalities. There are offices that serve several municipalities and that gives us flexibility. We have a small office model that fits the conditions in remote areas.
What are the main products?
The CDTs are important with almost $ 2 billion and that anchored much of the credit portfolio. We have 711,000 clients, the portfolio adds $ 2.7 billion of which $ 2.1 billion is microcredite and another part is commercial and consumption.
How is the credit situation that has been with real negative figures?
We have had two difficult years in credit. The standard of the defeated portfolio was 4% and we have reached more than 7% and we have already reduced 6.46% in March.
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And how are they going this year?
It has allowed us to improve, with greater utility because we have been scraping and deterioration slowed down and allowed us to have fewer provisions.
How do you think 2025 will end?
We project a profit of $ 38,000 million, similar to last year.
But this year he has had problems of all kinds …
Everything that is happening internationally and political volatility worries us. If they eliminate or change the methodology of the usury rate they can change the panorama.
In this there are two considerations. Which affects the competitiveness for credit and the profile of consumer and commercial clients. Everyone can offer different conditions according to the client. Having a usury with greater margin facilitates competition. Before the five kinds of microcredit were created we already had different rates. Now the market was reached and limited and can reach financial extinction because an entity can stop attending to these segments. The important thing is that there are no restrictions for all credits to move.
What is the bank’s credit market like?
The average consumer credit ticket to March was $ 3.36 million. The average microcredit ticket to March was $ 5.25 million. Commercial and consumption credit is complement when microcredit no longer applies. The consumption is for employees.
How are they preparing for Open Finance and Bre-B
We make the pilot ‘Two for three’, agile credit from the application of the 100%cell phone. We are riding the companies and in May we will link customers and autonomously to customers with employees and suppliers to make them dispersion of resources. And for bre-b we are preparing to fulfill the deadlines. Last year we managed to be certified as neutral carbon and the financial education program achieved maximum qualification of the financial superintendence.
Holman Rodríguez
