Monday, 13 February 2023 00:12

BAC boosts MSMEs in Central America in alliance with FMO

Written by Evelyn Alas

As part of its path to become a Net Positive bank and generate triple positive value for Central America, BAC is promoting the strengthening of MSMEs with financial solutions tailored to their needs, and complementary non-financial solutions (technical and comprehensive support, training, etc.).

BAC has more than 260,000 micro, small, and medium-size enterprises in its ecosystem. These MSMEs come from all sectors of the economy: commerce, services, tourism, agriculture, manufacturing, etc., and count on BAC's support and encouragement to grow their businesses, in order to generate prosperity together in Central America.

"The MiPyme Positivo recognition is part of our journey to become the bank par excellence for MSMEs. We are excited to highlight the effort, talent and passion of the entrepreneurs who are making a difference and who are an example for us. This is not an effort of BAC alone, but is the result of a strategic alliance with the FMO (Netherlands Development Organization) and the DFC (Netherlands International Development Finance Corporation). (International Development Finance Corporation of the United States) to provide them with comprehensive accompaniment with financial and non-financial solutions leveraged on innovation and digitalization", mentions Gisela Sanchez, regional director of Strategy & Corporate Relations.

In the first edition of MiPyme Positivo, held on february 9, BAC highlighted the stories of six Central American micro, small and medium-sized enterprises:

  • Panama: Distribuidora Musical S.A
  • Costa Rica: SBS Smart Building
  • Nicaragua: Casa Rivas Gurdián - De la Finca Coffee
  • El Salvador: Repsa S.A.
  • Honduras: Corporación Hernández
  • Guatemala: Hospital Centro Médico Zacapa

The company that received the highest recognition was De la Finca Coffee, led by Mayerling Gurdián Cruz, who will be able to carry out a business exchange thanks to FMO, where she will share knowledge with a company in the same business area in the country of her choice, anywhere in the region where FMO has a presence.

Among the aspects taken into account for the selection of the recognized BAC MSMEs are:

  • Exemplary and inspiring story as a way to highlight the courage and passion of Central American entrepreneurs.
  • Positive contribution to society and the environment, for example: employment generation and commitment to its employees, partnerships with civil society organizations and positive impact on the environment.
  • Technological innovation and business diversification.

BAC's approach to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises is focused on innovation, digitalization and listening to the needs of MSMEs. According to data from the entity, in 2022 new functionalities were implemented and enabled in Mobile Banking, such as local transfers and credit card payments from mobile devices, achieving that by the end of november 2022 close to 10 thousand MSME clients would use the digital platforms, making around 80,000 monetary transactions.

"At BAC we want to be the bank for MSMEs and generate prosperity and triple positive value for our region", Sánchez concludes.

 

Translated by: A.M