Bancamía introduced two initiatives in the Sustainability Report of the Colombian Association of Banks and Financial Entities (Asobancaria). Both have been featured as successful initiatives within the financial system. The report entitled, “Bringing the bank closer to Colombians”, shows different actions that have been in motion under the economic, social and environmental framework.
The first of the two initiatives is the social impact measuring model (MIDE) created by the BBVA Microfinance Foundation, whose aim is to assess how much the Productive Finance model contributes to the economic and social development of clients.
Asobancaria’s report highlights that MIDE “is unique within the microfinance industry, making tangible the entity’s efforts to generate development and inclusion for people on the base of the economic pyramid.” Furthermore, it adds that this measuring system allows Bancamía to place value on the support given to clients, particularly on the understanding of their credit cycles in relation to the development of their productive activities.
Miguel Achury, Bancamía’s vice president for Planning, during the presentation
Another initiative outlined in Asobancaria’s Sustainability Report is the project entitled: Microfinance for Ecosystem-based Adaptation (MEbA) to Climate Change. This aims to increase rural populations’ resilience against climate change effects, through technical assistance and microfinance products and services.
The association notes that through this project, “clients of Bancamía can rely on credit resources to finance investments that allow for adjusting to climate change, and this in turn enables them to improve the quality of their businesses, by creating infrastructure for the continuous betterment of their productive processes.”
During the event celebrated in Bogota, Miguel Achury, Bancamía’s vice president for Planning, explained the mechanics of the MIDE initiative and also showed the main results of the assessment, among which we take note that more than 70% of the entity’s clients are vulnerable from their businesses’ point of view; 44% abandon poverty after working with Bancamía for 2 years, their monthly sales and income increase more than 19%, while their assets grow faster than 25%.
For more than 8 years, the BBVAMF has been working in Colombia through Bancamía, to bring the financial system closer to entrepreneurs. The aim is to start seeding development for those who constitute more than 90% of the country’s productive capacity. Currently, the entity’s other sustainable initiatives make this possible, an endeavor acknowledged by the sector.