Visa, a US-based financial services company, recently announced its commitment to further “digital and financial inclusion” in Central America as a response to the US government’s Call to Action for Northern Central America. Visa plans to invest USD 270 million to expand digital financial infrastructure in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. The investment targets “agrobusiness, digital disbursement of government subsidies and remittances” with the goal of enabling 6.5 million individuals as well as 1 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to participate in the formal financial system. Visa also plans to expand its financial education programs in the region.
Also as part of the Call to Action, the Colombia-based bank Davivienda had committed in May 2021 to: (1) reaching 1 million unbanked individuals by expanding its Daviplata digital financial services platform; and (2) issuing USD 500 million in loans “to support low-income housing, small and medium-sized businesses, renewable energy projects, and women entrepreneurs.” As of June 2022, Davivienda reports having reached 20 percent of each of these targets.
Established in 1972, Davivienda reports total assets of COP 157 trillion (USD 39 billion) as of March 2022. The bank serves 17 million customers via online services, 680 branches and 2,700 bank machines in Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama and the US. The parent organization of Davivienda, Grupo Bolívar, is a Colombia-based entity active in the financial, insurance and construction sectors in the same six countries.
Visa partners with financial institutions to provide consumers with credit, debit and prepaid cards that can be used at merchants in 200 countries. Visa also offers payment and consulting services for commercial clients. As of July 2021, the firm reported total assets of USD 82 billion.
By Ben Greissman, Research Associate
Sources and Additional Resources
Visa press release
https://usa.visa.com/visa-everywhere/blog/bdp/2022/06/06/investing-in-northern-1654538997631.html
Partnership for Central America press release on Davivienda
https://www.centampartnership.org/initiatives-blog/davivienda
Call to Action description
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/05/27/fact-sheet-vice-president-harris-launches-a-call-to-action-to-the-private-sector-to-deepen-investment-in-the-northern-triangle/
Visa homepage
https://www.visa.com
Davivienda homepage
https://www.davivienda.com
Davivienda financial report 2021
https://ir.davivienda.com
Grupo Bolivar homepage
https://www.grupobolivar.com.co
Daviplata homepage
https://www.daviplata.com
Bloomberg article on the Call to Action
https://www.bloomberglinea.com/english/10-companies-to-invest-19b-in-el-salvador-guatemala-and-honduras
Previous MicroCapital article on Davivienda
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-idb-invest-dfc-findev-canada-loan-390m-to-davivienda-of-colombia-for-smes-environmental-sustainability-women/
Previous MicroCapital article on Visa
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-visa-everywhere-initiative-accepting-applications-for-500k-fintech-innovation-competition/
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