On the occasion of International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, Banco ADOPEM noted that thanks to the financial services and products it provides for underprivileged entrepreneurs, after their second year with the bank 24% of its customers are able to rise out of poverty, and 10% improve their standard of living in at least one other non-economic area –such as their social and human dimension– through access to healthcare, housing or education.
ADOPEM is a bank that supports the economic, social and human development of its customers, and stays at their side in these three dimensions throughout the evolution of their productive businesses.
Customers under the poverty line have average sales of 751 USD a month (9,015 USD a year). It has been observed that as they obtain greater income from their sales, microenterprises become a source of new employment for their communities. In total the bank’s customers provide employment to almost 40,000 workers, and have a direct impact on 160,000 people in the Dominican Republic.
Over time, Banco ADOPEM’s customers’ businesses become a source of employment in their communities. On average, 10% of the businesses have created new jobs two years after their first disbursement.
On the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, ADOPEM highlights its commitment through Productive Finance –the specialty of the bank and the BBVA Microfinance Foundation group– as an effective tool to promote the customer’s sustainable development through the surpluses generated by their business, and its impact on their lives.
Up to September 2015, Banco ADOPEM had made 155,177 loan disbursements. In 2014 they served a total of 52,574 new customers, of whom 95% were poor or vulnerable and had average incomes of 4.8 dollars a day. 64% were women.
The bank said that its specialty was to use its methodology to promote the development and growth of its customers by identifying productive activities, basically through individual analyses, analysis of the economic feasibility of the project, knowledge of the customer, a model of service defined according to the customers’ profile, with products and services tailored to their needs, in addition to training and advice. This takes place within a long-term relationship, and is designed to ensure the sustainable generation of surpluses for its customers, thus creating a positive impact on their development.
ADOPEM runs educational workshops that allow customers to identify and/or reinforce their skills so they can develop their enterprises and successfully and effectively manage their finances. Financial literacy is an important part of the process of delivering productive loans by the bank to its customers, and is framed within its training actions.