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Yes! I want to support microfinance and empower people to work their way out of poverty.
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Columbia Microcrédito
President: Lic. Santiago J. Ardissone
Number of Active Clients: 2,058
Active Portfolio: $1,422,000
Amount Loaned: $588,000
Average Loan Balance: $691
Portfolio at Risk: 28.98%
Statistics as of June 2009
Mission: Columbia Microcrédito was launched in late 2006 as a partnership between ACCION International and Argentina’s Banco Columbia. This partnering established Argentina’s first commercial microfinance institution. This new alliance is dedicated to delivering microloans through Banco Columbia’s national branch network and has with the goal of reaching 20,000 clients within four years. History: Banco Columbia, a mid-sized Argentine bank with approximately 300,000 credit clients, has a history of serving low-income individuals as well as processing a high volume of relatively small loans. As such, it is well prepared to enter the microfinance industry with ACCION’s counsel.
To date, few institutions have offered financial services to Argentina’s impoverished classes. Recently, however, macroeconomic and regulatory environments have become increasingly favorable for the development of microfinance. The Argentine government has revised legislation that had precluded commercial banks and finance companies from entering this market. The government also relaxed the prohibitive provisioning requirements for small loans that prevented the development of sustainable microfinance. It is within this context that Banco Columbia is committed to the delivery of financial services to the country’s entrepreneurial poor.
ACCION’s Role: ACCION is providing technical assistance to Columbia Microcrédito in terms of product development (credit and other financial services), the implementation of credit methodology, and the implementation of a new version of ACCION’s handhold system ("Sistema Movil Microfinanzas" – SMM) to increase productivity and efficiency in credit delivery. ACCION Investments, a subsidiary of ACCION International with $19.5 million in committed capital, provided a long-term loan of $1.1 million to finance the opening of Columbia Microcrédito.
Program Growth:
|
Year |
Active
Portfolio |
Amount
Disbursed |
Active
Clients |
Average
Loan
Balance |
|
2006 |
$1,477,000 |
$1,716,000 |
2,011 |
$734 |
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2007 |
$2,488,177 |
$3,050,596 |
3,073 |
$692 |
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2008 |
$3,238,000 |
$3,981,000 |
3,572 |
$906 |
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2009 |
$1,717,000 |
$2,105,000 |
2,137 |
$803 |
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2010* |
$1,422,000 |
$588,000 |
2,058 |
$691 |
* Statistics as of May 2010
Contact Information:
Tte. Gral. J.D. Perón
360 3er. Piso
C1038AAH
Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA
Tel: 011-54-11-4349 0300
|  | “I started with nothing – only my family, my hands and a desire to work”.
Jorge Corsino
Client of ACCION partner Emprender in Argentina |  |
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