A. M. 
OPTIMA enters a new historic stage by becoming a Savings and Loan Society. It is now a financial institution supervised by the Superintendencia del Sistema Financiero (SSF), reconfirming its commitment to be a solid and reliable partner for its clients.
With more than 15 years of experience in the financial sector, ÓPTIMA has positioned itself as a leading institution focused on micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in El Salvador, offering innovative and accessible solutions. This strategic path strengthens its capacity to offer products designed to meet the needs of families, individuals and entrepreneurs, fostering soundness, growth and trust.
The transformation to SAC introduces a renewed business model that combines a technological approach, a personalized experience and a customer-focused value proposition under a relational service model. With 16 agencies throughout the country, including another new agency in the eastern part of the country, and a team of more than 350 collaborators, Sociedad de Ahorro y Crédito Óptima, S.A. aims to be closer to its clients, understanding and serving their needs efficiently.
The transition also included the unveiling of a new corporate identity that reflects its institutional values of integrity, creativity, resilience, boldness and commitment. Its new logo, modern and avant-garde, symbolizes the relationships of trust and progress that the institution fosters on a daily basis. The links represent the union and strength that Optima generates with its clients in a solid and close relationship that provides long-term benefits. In addition, the agencies have been renovated to provide better service in a modern, safe and accessible environment.
With a year-on-year growth of more than 20% in 2024, Optima processed more than 100 thousand loan applications, with assets of close to US$100 million and more than 20 thousand active clients, 93% of whom belong to the informal sector of the Salvadoran economy. ÓPTIMA is projected as a benchmark in the financial sector. Eighty-eight percent of its loans are for productive sectors: housing and companies. In addition, its participation as an issuer of securities for $35 million in the El Salvador Stock Exchange, which include the securitization of remittances, positions it as a solid and reliable financial institution. Since 2017 OPTIMA has obtained credit risk ratings by the international firms Pacific Credit Rating and SCR Moody’s, both A+ in its securitizations, A- in its stock market role and BBB+ as an institution, equivalent to traditional bank ratings.
OPTIMA has been characterized for innovating with financial products and services that provide excellent service in terms of advice, financial support, agility and technological tools. Among the products that OPTIMA has launched in the market in recent years are Pisto Listo, Credipyme, Factoring for the financing of accounts receivable, Lidera Mujer, Autoplus, Optimoto, Mejora de Vivienda, as well as its Digital Banking OPTO, an innovative platform that works with artificial intelligence to provide financial services remotely, instantaneously and in real time to its customers.
Over the years, OPTIMA has earned the recognition and trust of more than 30 investment funds, multilateral development banks and international banks, which have provided funding for intermediation of the institution’s loan portfolio.
The quality of OPTIMA’s portfolio has been one of its main strengths. Since its founding, the financial institution has implemented a rigorous lending methodology based on detailed evaluations, technology, financial analysis, data analytics and other non-traditional information to validate repayment capacity and morale. This has allowed OPTIMA to grow allowed OPTIMA to grow with a portfolio of good quality loans with PaR30 delinquency indicators of less than 3%. OPTIMA projects itself as an engine of progress for our country, with ambitious goals for 2025, among which are: to increase its assets by 30%, serve 5,000 new clients, capture $20 million in deposits from the public through savings accounts and fixed-term certificates of deposit, and open new branches to be even closer to its clients.
Optima has also maintained social impact certifications through which it ensures that it is a responsible financier with its clients, collaborators and contributes to the environment.
One of Optima’s main objectives has been to contribute to the patrimonial formation of its clients through financial support. “The success stories of our clients is what motivates us every day to serve them more efficiently, to reinvent ourselves to anticipate the changing needs of the market and to give the best of us; it is what moves us to be better”, said Gustavo Siman – Founder and President. “Today we celebrate a transcendental step in our history. As Sociedad de Ahorro y Crédito Óptima, S.A., we reaffirm our commitment to be a solid, close and reliable partner for each of our clients. Now, more than ever, we are confident that our mission of “empowering lives by simplifying money” will allow us to build together a future full of opportunities for many more clients”, said Gustavo Siman.
Optima thanks its customers, employees and strategic partners for being part of this transformation process. Juan Pablo Meza – Optima’s General Manager, affirms with these words: “Together, we will continue building a history of success and progress, with the firm conviction of making a difference in the lives of those who trust us. Because we faithfully believe that this is the opportunity to grow together”.
