Strengthening the empowerment of women requires encouraging cooperation and the creation of support networks. In this line, Financiera Confianza, the Peruvian institution of the BBVA Microfinance Foundation (FMBBVA), offers the group loan Palabra de Mujer, which in the words of Ana Cecilia Akamine, general manager of Financiera Confianza ‘is more than a loan, it is a product inspired by the spirit of solidarity. The clients create a group and the trust between them is the guarantee that they will comply with the payment deadlines and that each one is the solidary backing of the others’.

As part of its commitment to innovation, Financiera Confianza has developed its Group Banking App, which digitalises the service processes for Palabra de Mujer groups, bringing innovative financial solutions to the doorstep of their businesses and homes. This project has been recognised with the Gold award in the ‘Digital Transformation’ category at the Financial Innovators of the Americas 2025 Awards given by Fintech Americas.

‘We have received this award with joy and pride. We are very happy to be recognised as an entity that is committed to digital transformation and that works hard to promote responsible and sustainable financial inclusion,’ says Akamine.

Financiera Confianza currently serves nearly four hundred thousand women, of whom more than one hundred and fifty-eight thousand have a loan, representing 59% of its portfolio. This commitment to women's growth is reflected in its comprehensive approach that combines access to finance with training. ‘Women need access to these tools to progress and become entrepreneurs. We are committed to helping them grow. Betting on them is betting on a better country,’ concludes Akamine.

In Colombia, the wage gap, higher female unemployment and less access to credit remain major challenges. In this context, the BBVAMF's Colombian institution, Bancamía, serves more than 900,000 women. One hundred and fifteen thousand of them have a loan, which represents 56%.

Of these women, 84% are vulnerable, 37% live in rural areas and 35% have primary education or less. ‘Entrepreneurship is one of the most important livelihood options for women in Colombia, but there are still gaps in terms of access to financing and disbursed amounts. These inequalities make it difficult for them to escape poverty,’ explains Viviana Araque, executive president of Bancamía.

For this reason, Bancamía is moving forward with a service model that aims to ensure that women microentrepreneurs evolve as agents of social transformation: prepared, productive and autonomous. The institution offers loans for their businesses and savings adapted to their income and microinsurance for serious illnesses, such as cancer, as well as financial education programmes in which they also learn about leadership, digitalisation and management of their microenterprises. Thanks to this holistic approach, they evolve and become agents of social transformation in their communities. ‘When we offer financial and non-financial products, we also provide opportunities, economic autonomy, confidence and progress to continue closing the gaps in the productive development of women,’ says Araque.

In addition to Peru and Colombia, BBVAMF is present in the Dominican Republic, where, through Banco Adopem, it serves more than three hundred and twenty-one thousand women, in Chile with Fondo Esperanza, more than one hundred and seven thousand, and in Panama with Microserfin, more than eight thousand.

With its commitment to the inclusion and empowerment of women, BBVAMF is committed to the progress of the more than one million seven hundred thousand women served by its institutions in the region.