In the community of Santa Cruz, Etla, a group of 20 women request “solidarity” loans to start their businesses or make them grow. The group requests a single loan of about 400,000 pesos that is divided among everyone, depending on their needs.
Some people ask for from 7,000 to more than 20,000 pesos, according to the payment capacity and needs of the person requesting it. They all agree to make weekly payments at a Compartamos Banco branch, at Yastás correspondents, or by asking one of their colleagues within the group to make the deposit for them, in exchange for 70 pesos.
“I am starting a business and my dream is to make it grow, register my brand and have a store or distribute it. My credit will be to buy inputs and raw materials,” says Idalia, a woman who has a mezcal business and who requested a loan to grow your business.
The solidarity loans given by Compartamos Banco They amounted to 4,836 million pesos until last June and one of the advantages is that they are unsecured (a loan that is offered without putting an asset in exchange for recovering the money in case of default). In exchange, the group agrees to pay weekly and if someone falls behind: everyone pays that debt.
Before granting a loan, Compartamos Banco workers go to these communities far from the city and review the applications of the people in the group. After reviewing your INE and proof of address, the agents go to the city to corroborate the data and days later they return to the community to notify if the credit was approved and for what amount.
The basis of this agreement is that those who are in the group are people who know each other, so the financing they receive cannot be used for illicit activities. The women who participate know each other and are committed. Both the bank staff, who visit the groups, and the community itself make visits to the businesses to ensure that the business exists.
The bank’s promoters do not carry cash, they only bring a payment order or receipt that clients redeem at Yastás correspondents and bank branches.
The placement of credit in this region is relevant if one takes into account that in the southern part of the country, which includes states such as Guerrero, Oaxaca, Chiapas, Tabasco Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo, 60% of the population has at least one financial product, the lowest percentage in the country.