Mission: Finamérica, a finance company regulated by the Colombian Superintendency of Banks, strives to create jobs and improve incomes among Colombia’s poorest communities by disbursing credit to microentrepreneurs. It aims to maximize outreach while simultaneously pursuing financial sustainability.
History: Finamérica was previously called Finansol. Finansol was created in 1993 by the nonprofit foundation with which ACCION partnered to launch microcredit in Bogota in 1988. In 1996, a severe erosion of Finansol's portfolio led ACCION to spearhead a $9 million recapitalization plan. Since that time, and despite a difficult economic environment in Colombia characterized by frequent bank failures, Finansol regained its footing. Re-christened Finamérica in 1998, the institution is financially solid and growing rapidly. Finamérica's current investors include ProFund, ACCION International, Calmeadow, Fundes, the Instituto de Fomento Industrial, Repfin and the Fondo Nacional de Garantias.
ACCION's Role: ACCION and Finamérica have worked to develop a strategy around credit methodology and the product and services portfolio in order to improve Finamérica’s presence in their market niche. This collaboration has also allowed Finamérica to develop a new microsavings product and has helped the institution to improve its overall financial health.
An ACCION representative has been President of the Board of Directors at Finamérica for the past four years, contributing significantly to the leadership of the company and its successes to date.
Borrower Profile: Finamérica’s clients are both micro and small entrepreneurs who need fixed and working capital in order to expand their businesses. Most clients work in commerce and have no more than three employees.
What's New: Finamérica is working with ACCION to implement a new program aimed to cast the net of financial services out into the rural areas of Latin America. Supported in part by the IDB, the project spans five countries in South and Central America and will reach 200,000 new clients with a range of microfinance services by 2014. Finamérica is also one of three MFIs in Latin America that are piloting new ways to offer savings to the entrepreneurial poor. This project is supportd by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and leverages ACCION's expertise at the base of the pyramid.
Where They Work: Finamérica has 51 Offices in Bogotá (27), as well as Cali (7), Palmira, Buga, Cartago, Pereira, Armenia, Pasto, Túquerres, Ipiales, La Mesa, La Calera, Chía, Cajicá, Funza, Facatativá, Cartagena, Tunja y Moniquirá.
