Our members continue to innovate new ways to serve their customers and communities and champion the female economy through their work. Here are some of the latest ways our members are doing this around the world:
Non-Financial Services
Stanbic Bank Zambia has been featuring a diverse set of speakers covering topics related to finance and the implications of COVID-19 on social media. The series is aimed at driving usage of digital products and customers are rewarded through Stanbic Pointz which can be converted into airtime.
As a result of the pandemic, Banregio has transferred all workshops of its financial education program Clara Banregio to its digital platform. The bank currently has two fully registered courses totalling 160 people, 67% of whom are women.
Support for SMEs
Stanbic Bank Zambia has been supporting their customers through the pandemic with moratoriums on interest payments on case by case basis and helping with “rescue plans” for how they can access funding and evolve their businesses.
Santander was named Best Bank in the World for SMEs in the 2020 edition of Euromoney’s “Excellence in Leadership” awards. Through its Santander Woman program, Santander Argentina has supported a number of women-owned businesses during the pandemic, by helping with loans to more than 17,000 SMEs and other companies, including hospitals, sanatoriums and clinics.
By August, Banregio reached a portfolio of 59 million pesos (US$2.6 million), with 1,673 client applications–33% of which were women entrepreneurs–since launching its Impulso fixed annual-term credit program for SME’s, in alliance with a Mexican development bank (NAFIN).
IDB Invest, a member of Alliance partner IDB Group, provided a $100 million loan to Banco BAC Credomatic to increase access to financing for SMEs in Guatemala and support the recovery of businesses affected by COVID-19. The loan and corresponding partnership with IDB has three core objectives: to identify steps to enable digital transformation for SMEs across Guatemala, to develop tools to support SMEs’ digital transformation, and to segment the bank’s SME portfolio by gender. The expansion of BAC Credomatic’s SME portfolio digital transformation will in turn help these businesses improve operations and reduce costs. IDB Invest will also be supporting in the development and delivery of solutions that meet the needs of women-led SMEs in Guatemala.
BAC Credomatic El Salvador received a $60 million loan from IDB Invest to provide financing to women SMEs through BAC El Salvador’s Mujer Acelera program. The ultimate goal of the loan is to advance BAC Credomatic’s work to close the gender gap by providing women SMEs access to financial and non-financial products and services such as workshops, training, and refresher courses in business management and digital innovation. IDB Invest will provide technical assistance to BAC Credomatic to further strengthen its digital solutions, conduct market research on SMEs, and design and implement a women-SME focused market value proposition. The loan includes funds from the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) and includes an innovative incentive system that provides additional funding for the achievement or going beyond targets in funding women SMEs.