Carlos Torres Vila witnesses BBVA Microfinance Foundation’s digital strategy in situ

Applications like Bancamía Digital or Banca Móvil, make the lives of the 900,000 entrepreneurs served by the Foundation in Colombia easier

12 July 2018
Fundación Microfinanzas BBVA
Bancamía

Carlos Torres Vila, BBVA’s CEO has met various entrepreneurs served by the BBVA Microfinance Foundation (BBVAMF), located at the outskirts of Bogotá. During his visit, he had the chance to know more about the digital transformation of the Foundation in Colombia, where its credit officers employ tablets that allow them to bring technology closer to their clients -most of whom live in difficult access areas- to give them a better service and close the digital gap.

“We are seeing how the BBVA Microfinance Foundation’s entrepreneurs are getting familiarized with a one of a kind digital model in the sector, one that makes loan and savings management easier”, confirmed Carlos Torres Vila. He added that, “the advice provided by their credit officers gives them the confidence they need to incorporate the said model in their everyday lives.”

We are seeing how the BBVA Microfinance Foundation’s entrepreneurs are getting familiarized with a one of a kind digital model in the sector, one that makes loan and savings management easier”

This was attested by Celina Delgado, who, together with her husband Luis Álvaro Guevara, manages two businesses which allows her to provide for her household and pay for her youngest daughter’s education, which was something she wasn’t able to enjoy.

Celina knows that she doesn’t need to leave her livelihoods unattended, may it be her sales catalog business or her husband’s bakery, to go to a Bancamía office, the Foundation’s MFI in Colombia. “It’s easier now, because instead of spending time and money to commute, I can invest that money in my family and my business”, she shares. Despite the bad connectivity where she lives, her credit officer types in the data in Bancamía Digital app and once connected, information gets synchronized with the central database. More than 1,300 officers work with this technology, and they already process 95% of loan operations with it.

Celina, an entrepreneur served by the Foundation, with her credit officer

Nor far from Celina’s, Dary Guerrero not only manages her business with the help of her credit officer everytime the latter visits. She also administers her finances from her phone, with the Banca Móvil app, which currently has more than 100,000 users and on average, registers almost 8,000 transactions per month.

This entrepreneur sells almost 400 arepas a day, peddling them in her cart (when she started, she barely sold 100 arepas). “I left my former job because I couldn’t take care of my kids; now I have more time and with Bancamía’s support, we are moving forward. We now offer home delivery service using the motorbike we just bought”, Dary, a BBVAMF entrepreneur, tells BBVA’s CEO during his visit.

I left my former job because I couldn’t take care of my kids; now I have more time and with Bancamía’s support, we are moving forward”

Thanks to apps like Bancamía Digital or Banca Móvil, 900,000 entrepreneurs served by the Foundation in Colombia, like Celina or Dary, now have easier lives. They receive a faster and more efficient attention and they can now access technology to help them manage their finances without losing time or money, resources that they could not afford to squander.

After learning about their stories, BBVA’s CEO remarked that Celina and Dary are “extraordinary examples of tenacity, effort and commitment, and how, with a small help, one could progress and produce an impact on the society.”