Microfinanzas BBVA Foundation

As part of its strategy for cooperating more closely with Argentina, the BBVA Microfinance Foundation has reached an agreement on the purchase of the microfinance division of the Grameen Mendoza Foundation, founded by the social entrepreneur Mónica Pescarmona.

Servicios Microfinancieros S.A. launches with 1,100 customers and a presence in two regions, Mendoza and Mar de Plata.

Buenos Aires, May 4, 2010. Manuel Méndez del Río Piovich, chairperson of the BBVA Microfinance Foundation and the social entrepreneur Mónica Pescarmona, chairperson and founder of Grameen Mendoza, today presented the new institution "Servicios Microfinancieros S.A", created following an agreement reached between the two institutions for the purchase of the Grameen Foundation’s portfolio of beneficiaries, as part of the BBVA Microfinance Foundation’s plan for deployment in Argentina.

The operation involves an investment of around $800,000 ($1.3m in total, including liabilities and price) and means the BBVA Microfinance Foundation will have a majority shareholding in the new institution, where the profits generated are reinvested in its development and in strengthening its equity.

The new institution has a customer base made up of 1,100 entrepreneurs with limited resources, a loan portfolio of $650,000 and 21 employees, being present in two regions, Mendoza and Mar de Plata.

Servicios Microfinancieros S.A. has the remit to become the country's foremost microfinance institution, a leader in innovation and access to customized financial products and services for people with limited means. "Our mission is to drive financial inclusion and help those people who are currently excluded from the traditional financial system to gain access to the microfinance products and services that will enable them to raise both their own and their families’ standard of living, thereby contributing to the progress of their communities and the generation of wealth within them", affirms Manuel Méndez del Río.

"Accordingly, the BBVA Microfinance Foundation is the best option as, in addition to the capital and resources required for the new institution’s sustainable growth, the Foundation provides new and efficient operating platforms that will fuel its growth and expansion and so cater for more people with more and better products", stressed Mónica Pescarmona.

"For me, being able to convey the lending division to the BBVA Microfinance Foundation is a case of mission accomplished. Ten years ago I launched a strategy for the creation of a microfinance institution in Argentina according to the precepts of a social enterprise, with all the challenges that implied, for disseminating the benefits of microloans in Argentina and for developing the value of this institution through a team of highly-committed people and professionals who would make all this possible. This value has been recognized by the BBVA Microfinance Foundation. Over the course of these past years we have cooperated by making large contributions to the sector’s development, according to specific regulations laid down by our Central Bank, with the aim being to put Argentina on the world’s microfinance map, even managing to convince commercial banks to lend money to NGOs and microloan companies, but there is no doubt that the BBVA Microfinance Foundation is the best opening for the full development of microfinances", states Mónica Pescarmona.

The BBVA Microfinance Foundation is consolidating its operations in Latin America, being present in Peru, Colombia, Puerto Rico and Chile; its microfinance institutions attend to over 525,000 customers through a network of 232 branch offices, 2,900 employees and a portfolio amounting to $500m.

Following the sale of its microfinance division, the Grameen Foundation, headed by the renowned social entrepreneur Mónica Pescarmona, author of the book "Una experiencia argentina en microcréditos" (An Argentinean experience in microloans) and sister to the businessman Enrique Pescarmona (IMPSA), announced that the Foundation she heads will now focus on programs and plans in the fields of education, health and commerce under the Grameen Mendoza banner.

About Grameen Mendoza

Grameen Mendoza is a civil society organization whose principles are based on social entrepreneurship. Through microloans and training schemes it has reached out to hundreds of people with few financial and social resources, providing them with a powerful tool to restore their dignity through their own labor and endeavor. During its six years’ existence, the Grameen Mendoza Foundation has lent over $25m to more than 15,000 people, with a 96% repayment rate on the loans, delivering a positive change in their quality of life to at least 15,000 households and impacting indirectly on around 21,600 people.