GBA member Itaú signed a commitment with the Clinton Global Initiative during CGI Latin America to support 1,500 women-led small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by developing tailored financial products and services to directly meet the needs of women entrepreneurs. Over a two-year period, Itaú will recruit 1,500 female entrepreneurs in partnership with Goldman Sachs’s 10,000 Women program and other businesses. Itaú will work closely with the selected clients to develop products and services, by and for women entrepreneurs that cater directly to their needs, such as advisory services, financial education, a greater focus on relationship banking and savings and credit products. Itaú will also develop and implement an innovative decision-making matrix for risk assessment of women-led SMEs, incorporating psychometric analysis into the existing scoring model. The two-year process will be monitored and evaluated rigorously, and lessons learned will be used to adapt the model for future replication in Brazil.
Itaú’s Women Entrepreneurs program, a partnership between Itaú, IFC-The World Bank and IDB, has as a main objective to understand the female universe and support women entrepreneur in their journey to transform Brazil. With 50% of Itaú’s client base of 40 million being comprised by women and half of SMEs served by the bank having at least one woman in their ownership share, Itaú sees this program as a strong business proposition.
Itaú is Brazil´s largest non-state bank in market value and one of the planet’s most valued brands, Itaú has 96,000 employees, 40 million clients and operations in more than 20 countries throughout the Americas, Asia, Middle East and Europe. Itaú’s vision is to be the leading bank in sustainable performance and customer satisfaction. Itaú’s vision is to inspire the transformation of Brazilian society through the support of causes including education, culture, sports and urban mobility.