The award recognizes the project carried out by the BBVA Microfinance Foundation, a non-profit institution created by the BBVA Group, to promote financial inclusion and development.
The BBVA Microfinance Foundation currently provides services to 1.2 million people through its nine microfinance institutions in Latin America. 60% of its customers are women and 43% earn less than 8 dollars a day.
Since its creation in 2007, the Foundation has granted loans for 2,500 million euros -in aggregate terms- to vulnerable people for carrying out productive activities.
Madrid, 5 december 2012.- The Principles for Social Investment Secretariat and United Nations Global Compact has granted BBVA the Social Investment Pioneers Award in the Social Business category for its contribution to the development of the communities where it operates through the BBVA Microfinance Foundation. Shaun Cannon, CEO of the Principles for Social Investment Secretariat, presented the award to Brian Satterthwaite, BBVA’s representative in Sydney.
The panel appreciated the “impressive” scale and success achieved by the BBVA Microfinance Foundation in Latin America over the five years it has been operating, as well as its plans for growth and expansion into other markets in the region.
The BBVA Microfinance Foundation is a non-profit institution created in 2007 by the BBVA Group within the framework of its Corporate Responsibility program, which aims to promote the sustainable economic and social growth of the most underprivileged people in society, who have no access to conventional financial services, and to whom it offers products and services designed for productive activities.
The Foundation is currently present in seven Latin American countries through its nine microfinance institutions: Bancamía (Colombia); Caja Nuestra Gente y Financiera Confianza -currently in a merger process- (Peru); Fondo Esperanza y Emprende Microfinanzas (Chile); Contigo Microfinanzas (Argentina); Corporación para las Microfinanzas (Puerto Rico); Microserfin (Panama); and Banco Adopem (Dominican Republic).
Through these institutions, the Foundation serves over 1.2 million people in Latin America and has a direct impact on the lives of 4.5 million people. 60% of the customers are women, and 43% earn less than eight dollars a day. Since its creation in May 2007, the Foundation has granted loans for 2,500 million euros, in aggregate terms, and is currently the number one operator in terms of portfolio and in number of customers (in individual methodology) in Latin America.