The General Manager of Financiera Confianza, Martín Naranjo Landerer, stated that 51% of the entity’s customers are female entrepreneurs. Mr. Landerer also said that women share a sense of responsibility with regard to paying their productive loans because they prioritize stability and their families’ future.
The General Manager of Financiera Confianza, Martín Naranjo Landerer, stated that 51% of the entity’s customers are female entrepreneurs. Mr. Landerer also said that women share a sense of responsibility with regard to paying their productive loans because they prioritize stability and their families’ future.
“Here [in Peru] and in other countries, women are better payers. This is not typical only of our culture. It can be seen all over the globe: one of the most important traits of the female world is that women regard productive loans as a long-term investment that will benefit their families; and their families are always their number 1 priority. For this reason, they are clear about their compliance priorities”, added the former Director of Banking and Insurance.
Financiera Confianza, an entity of the BBVA Microfinance Foundation, is a leading company in Peru’s microfinance sector and the only company that is present in all regions of the country. Its mission is to create development opportunities for low-income families by increasing their income and quality of life through Productive Finance (the entity’s specialty and methodology).
Naranja Landerer started by expressing his sincere and warm best wishes on Women’s Day to all Peruvian women, especially women entrepreneurs. He went on to stress that, given his organization’s mission, its target population is at the bottom of the pyramid. In other words, it is mostly comprised of vulnerable or poor people.
“When you want to help the groups at the bottom of the pyramid and deal with poverty issues, you realize that in Peru, and other economies, poverty has a rural female face, and that’s where you will find Financiera Confianza. The fact that most of our customers are women is a natural consequence of our activity’s core concerns”, he said.
In 2014 Financiera Confianza helped 207,019 existing loan customers, 87% of whom were vulnerable individuals. 51% of these were women, 39% were young people (less that 35 years old), and 23% came from rural areas.
In 2014 Confianza helped more than 40,000 entrepreneurs enter the financial system
In terms of new customers in 2014, Financiera Confianza provided its services to 87,570 entrepreneurs across the country: 92% of them came from poor or financially vulnerable situations; 52% were women; and 53% were young people (less than 35 years old).
Additionally, 40.8% were able to access the financial system thanks to Financiera Confianza. In other words, more than 40,000 male and female entrepreneurs were awarded loans for the first time. In addition to loans, savings and insurance, Financiera Confianza provided financial education to 38,852 customers in 2014.
With regard to customer progress, after three years with Confianza, their sales have increased by 23% annually, their assets have risen by 43% and their surplus is increasing by 23% on average every year. Also, in their second year with the organization, 23% of its customers leave monetary poverty.
Financiera Confianza served around half a million customers last year, and has the widest rural network in the country. Confianza is also the leading microfinance organization in terms of loans to the agricultural sector.
Its methodology and specialty, Productive Finance, has also allowed Confianza to build a high quality portfolio with the lowest default rate in the Peruvian microfinance system. This methodology involves a responsible credit assessment, and the condition that its customers’ business must generate surplus and, as such, ensure their sustainable financial and social development.
Women-oriented programs: Palabra de Mujer and Ahorro para Todos
In line with its mission, Financiera Confianza has created the program Palabra de Mujer for low-income female entrepreneurs in rural and urban areas. As part of a support group, they can access loans and training. Help is provided by forming mutual support groups of eight to 25 women with consecutive cyclical loans and training in personal development and business management.
In 2014, 48,000 women joined this program, which adds up to 132,000 female beneficiaries over the last three years. 17.1% of Palabra de Mujer customers who stayed with Financiera Confianza for at least two years (21,357) left poverty.
Financiera Confianza is also the first private institution in Peru that spearheads and promotes a savings program in a rural area such as Abancay, where its Ahorro para Todos program has now been under way for twelve months with good results, especially in terms of benefits for the women.
Ahorro para Todos promotes savings as the beginning of an entrepreneurship, and provides financial education to low-income people. As of February 2015, this program has 923 customers, 90% of whom are women. For a similar number of customers, this is also their first experience with the financial system.
Financiera Confianza implements the Ahorro para Todos program with funding from FOMIN, CAF, CitFoundation, AusAid and the organization itself.