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Yes! I want to support microfinance and empower people to work their way out of poverty.

Crediamigo (Banco do Nordeste)

Superintendant: Stelio Gama Lyra Junior
Active Borrowers: 572,804
Active Portfolio: $309,035,000
Average Loan Balance: $540
Portfolio at Risk > 30 Days: 1.81%
Savers: n/a
Savings Balance: n/a
Statistics as of May 2010

Mission: Contribute towards the development of the microbusiness sector by providing financial and business advisory services of easy access, in both a sustainability and timely fashion and thereby assuring new opportunities of employment and income.

Vision:  To be leader in the South American microlending market geared towards the production sector by helping and guiding entrepreneurs in an ethical and socially accountable manner.

History: In 1997, Banco do Nordeste approached ACCION for assistance in designing a microcredit program. The program, called Crediamigo, began in five pilot branches and quickly expanded to 51 branches in 1998. Today, it is one of the largest microlending programs in Brazil as well as in all of Latin America.

ACCION's Role: Recently, ACCION finalized the transfer of community lending methodology to Banco do Nordeste/Crediamigo with the focus of reaching the extremely and very poor microentrepreneurs in the Northeast. The new product called Crediamigo-Comunidade, has been successfully implemented and, as of March 2007, has already reached 9,225 active clients with an average loan amount of less than US $120.

Operational Model:  With the Crediamigo Program, the Banco do Nordeste acts directly in the National Program of Productive & Oriented Microcredit - PNMPO, a Federal Government policy to encourage employment and income generation among low-income microentrepreneurs.

The Banco do Nordeste has an agreement with the Instituto Nordeste Cidadania - INEC, a Civil Society Organization of Public Interest, which is responsable for operating credit and clients empowerment.

Crediamigo is self-sustainable, remunerating invested capital according to market rules and covering all operational costs. Its policy is to offer credit through differentiated initiatives, such as:

• Loan access through Solidarity Groups instead of traditional guarantees;
• Personalized customer service, with the presence of Loan Officers in the client job location;
• Fast and consecutive loans with a maximum waiting period of 07 days for resource availability.

Borrower Profile: Crediamigo is providing a critical service for the millions of poor Brazilians who support themselves through small enterprises. Before Crediamigo’s inception, the demand for microcredit was virtually unmet, as few sources of legal financing were readily available to Brazil’s estimated 10.5 million microentrepreneurs.

Where They Work: Crediamigo has branches and servive centers which attend its target group in the whole northeastern region of Brazil, including the northern part of Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo, and the cities of Brasília, Belo Horizonte e Rio de Janeiro.

Program Growth: 

*Statistics as of May 2010

Contact Information:
Crediamigo - Banco do Nordeste do Brasil S.A.
Av. Paranjana, 5.700 - Passaré
60.740-000 - Fortaleza-Ceará - Brazil
Tel.: (85) 3299-3065/3299-3048
Fax: (85) 3299-3585/3295-2105
Email: clienteconsulta@banconordeste.gov.br
Website:http://www.bnb.gov.br/