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Yes! I want to support microfinance and empower people to work their way out of poverty.
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| Banco Popular Covelo
Executive President: Juan Jose Lagos
Active Borrowers: 18,733
Active Portfolio: $43,868,000
Average Loan Balance: $2,342
Portfolio at Risk > 30 Days: 20.93%
Savers: 29,443
Savings Balance: $10,787,000
Statistics as of May 2010
Mission: The mission of Banco Popular Covelo (Bancovelo) is to be an efficient, profitable and professional bank that offers high quality financial products and services to urban and rural markets, with a strong sense of social responsibility and a firm commitment to improving our clients’ quality of life.
History: Fundación Covelo began its work in microfinance in 1991, using a solidarity group lending model, with the objective of serving the poor in the micro- and small business sector. Over time, the organization diversified its products and services to expand its finance offerings and, with that, positioned itself as the leading microfinance institution in the Honduran market. In 2004, Fundación Covelo created Popular AAP with the vision of creating a bank specialized in microfinance and a goal of serving the working capital and home improvement needs of microentrepreneurs. At the end of 2006, the operations of Grupo Covelo were consolidated with Popular AAP to create a Honduran microfinance bank called Fundación Covelo.
ACCION’s Role: In mid-2006, ACCION began providing Fundación Covelo with technical assistance, equity investment, institutional capacity building and staff support in the positions of general manager, commercial manager and training and capacity building manager. In February 2008, ACCION supported the successful transformation of Fundación Covelo to Bancovelo, now the leading regulated microfinance organization in Honduras. To capitalize the new entity, ACCION Investments in Microfinance, SPC assembled a consortium of five international shareholders, each of whom invested $2 million to take equal 11.76 percent stakes in the new bank.
Borrower Profile: 85% of Bancovelo’s clients live in cities; 71% of those are women working in retail and industry sectors. 48% of clients are classified as “poor” with an average loan size of $550.
What’s New: In addition to ACCION Investments, Bancovelo investors include international shareholders, such as the IFC (of the World Bank), FMO (from the Netherlands), BIO (from Belgium), and Banco Centroamericano de Integración Económica (BCIE – CABEI), each of whom hold an 11.76% stake.
Where They Work: Headquarters are in Tegucigalpa with a network of 30 branches and offices in 13 departments of Honduras.
Program Growth:
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Year |
Active
Portfolio |
Amount
Loaned |
Active
Borrowers |
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2007 |
$51,700,000 |
$52,200,000 |
23,844 |
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2008 |
$52,382,000 |
$34,540,000 |
20,447 |
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2009 |
$52,272,000 |
$31,143,000 |
18,627 |
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2010 |
$43,868,000 |
$10,700,000 |
18,733 |
Contact Information:
Luis Fernando Gomez
General Manager
Edificio Covelo
Colonia Castaño Sur
Tegucigalpa. M.D.C. Honduras
Tel: (504) 221-5150
Fax: (504) 221-5202
Website: www.bancovelo.hn
|  | ACCION and its partner microfinance institutions are experimenting with applying the lessons learned from successful microenterprise lending programs to make housing finance affordable and accessible for poor households.
Elena Cubas
Client of ACCION partner Bancovelo in Honduras |  |
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