He 63% of microentrepreneurs in Colombia said they have financial instabilitysaid that they earn most of their income during 9 of the 12 months of the year, and at times of lower income, only 56% cover basic expenses.
The results are part of the 2023 Social Performance Report (IDS) prepared by the BBVA Microfinance Foundation (FMBBVA), to which Bancamía belongs, and in which 1,158 surveys were applied throughout the country.
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The report highlights a financial health investigation in which one of the relevant findings was that For 75% of the clients surveyed, their micro-enterprise is the main source of income, with a marked instability in the generation of resourcesthat is, they are not obtained in volume or regular periodicity, which makes financial planning difficult.
On the other hand, within the IDS, the FMBBVA and Bancamía conducted a study of digital poverty among their micro-entrepreneur clients, which refers to the gap between those who have access and skills to use information and communication technologies (ICT) and those who do not, and it was found that a 58% of Colombian entrepreneurs present some degree of digital poverty and 33% live in extreme digital poverty, meaning they do not have equipment and/or any type of internet access.
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40% of respondents do not access the network directly and 18% of customers who do connect need help to do so.
All this, marked by situations of limited access, socioeconomic, generational, knowledge and geographic location gaps (differences between urban and rural areas).
Regarding the figures in the report, Bancamía, an entity that is part of the group, says that it has a range of financial products and services to support the growth of microenterprises in productive areas, resource management to generate income, investment and surpluses that contribute to improving their financial health and living conditions.
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Javier Flores, general director of FMBBVA, says that “A fact that conveys the dimension of the effort and perseverance of these entrepreneurs that we serve is that 61% of those who were initially in poverty have managed to escape this condition after five years with our entities.”.
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The report highlights that, By the end of 2023, clients’ businesses in Colombia grew, on average, 10% in sales and 15% in surplus.
Financial education is key to the development of microentrepreneurs, and in 2023 Bancamía trained 316,127 people and through more than 200 offices in 100%, workshops were held with 33,000 attendees.
The results of the digital poverty survey led FMBBVA and Bancamía to strengthen the technological ecosystem.
The bank grew 19% in digital clients compared to 2022, which allowed it to advance in issues that boost entrepreneurs’ access to credit, with strategies such as the Virtual Visit, allowing more than 1,000 advisors to learn about the productive conditions of clients, through a video call, reducing the time it takes to process a loan.
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The importance is also highlighted to strengthen the culture of protection through access to microinsurance, with a portfolio that includes health, climate, damage, life and funeral policies, many with a gender focus. The report states that 87% of Bancamía’s credit clients have taken out at least one voluntary insurance policy from those marketed by allied insurers, with health insurance being the most commonly purchased.
By the end of 2023, Bancamía and FMBBVA served more than 331,000 microentrepreneurs in Colombia, 56% of them women, 43% rural and 36% with primary education at most, dedicated to various activities.
Holman Rodriguez Martinez
BRIEFCASE
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