Financiera El Comercio

Gross Loan Portfolio USD, 2010: 101.8 million

Number of active borrowers 2010: 80,172

Average loan balance per borrower USD, 2010: 1,270.1

Deposits USD, 2010: 77.6 million

Assets USD, 2010: 124.6 million

Number of depositors 2010: 26,303

Mission:

Somos una organización que trabaja mediante la innovación y eficiencia, para que todas las personas y empresas, especialmente las de menores ingresos, accedan a más y mejores servicios financieros, contribuyendo a la reducción de la pobreza en el Paraguay, ofreciendo una sostenida rentabilidad ... Read more

Address:

Avda. Aviadores del Chaco 1.669 casi Dr. López Moreira, Edificio AYMAC-Entrepiso

Asunción

Capital

Paraguay

Phone:

+595 21 618 8000

Fax:

595-21-443-997

Email:

info [at] elcomercio [dot] com [dot] py

Website:

www.elcomercio.com.py

Main Funding Sources:

Préstamos

Capital accionario

Ahorros

Donaciones

Products and Services:

Préstamos

Servicios financieros

Ahorro voluntario

Seguros

Servicio de transferencia de fondos

Services Provided:

Educación

Salud

Looking for (Investment Types):

Préstamos en moneda local

Donaciones para crear capacidad

% Operations Comprised by MF:

91 - 100

Date established:

Jan 1 1976

FYE:

31-Dec

Current Legal Status:

NBFI

Regulated:

yes

Social Performance Profile


+ Mission specifics
+ Target markets (ranked by importance)
Clients living in rural areas	1
microempresarios	2
Women	3
Clients living in urban areas	4
+ Development goals (ranked by importance)
Increased access to financial services	1
Poverty reduction	2
Gender equality and women's empowerment	3
Growth of existing businesses	4
Housing	5
+ Poverty targets
Poor clients
Low income clients
+ Governance
Has trained members of its board on social performance management
Has a formal board committee that monitors social performance
+ Range of products and services
+ Financial products and services offered
+ Credit products offered
Microcredit loans for microenterprises
Microcredit for household needs/consumption
SME loans
Loans for agriculture
Loans for education
Housing loans
Préstamos a mujeres a través de Banca Comunal, préstamos para la producción, mejora y ampliación de vivienda, créditos especiales para pequeños ganaderos, para las mejoras de hoteles "Mi Hotel", etc.
+ Savings products offered
Voluntary savings accounts
Fixed term deposits
Ahorro a Plazo Fijo (Certificado de Depósito de Ahorro).
+ Compulsory insurance products required
Compulsory credit life insurance
+ Voluntary insurance products offered
Voluntary agricultural insurance
Seguro de vida para giros, seguro multiriesgo comercio, seguro para automoviles
+ Other financial products and services offered
Debit/credit card
Remittances services
Cobro de servicios públicos y privados, Cambios de divisas.
+ Non-financial services offered
+ Enterprise services offered
Pago de traslado de ganado, pago de salarios, cobro de impuestos, etc.
+ Education services offered
Financial literacy education
Child and youth education
+ Health services offered
Seguridad alimentaria a mujeres
+ Women's empowerment services offered
Leadership training for women
+ Products and services targeting the poor
Products and services specifically designed to target the poor:	Banca Comunal y créditos a los pequeños y microagricultores.
+ Social responsibility to clients
+ Client protection principles in use
The loan approval process requires evaluation of borrower repayment capacity and loan affordability. Loan approval does not rely solely on guarantees (whether peer guarantees, co-signers or collateral) as a substitute for good capacity analysis.
Internal audits check household debt exposure, lending practices that violate procedures including unauthorized re-financing, multiple borrowers or co-signers per household, and other practices that could increase indebtedness.
Productivity targets and incentive systems value portfolio quality at least as highly as other factors, such as disbursement or customer growth. Growth is rewarded only if portfolio quality is high.
Prices, terms and conditions of all financial products are fully disclosed to the customer prior to sale, including interest charges, insurance premiums, minimum balances, all fees, penalties, linked products, third party fees, and whether these can change over time.
Staff is trained to communicate effectively with all customers, ensuring that they understand the product, the terms of the contract, their rights and obligations. Communications techniques address literacy limitations (e.g. reading contracts out loud, materials in local languages).
Acceptable and unacceptable debt collection practices are clearly spelled out in a code of ethics, book of staff rules or debt collection manual.
The organization's corporate culture values and rewards high standards of ethical behavior and customer service.
A mechanism to handle customer complaints is in place, has dedicated staff resources, and is actively used. (Suggestion boxes alone are generally not considered adequate.)
Customers know how their information will be used. Staff explains how data will be used and seeks permission for use.
+ Cost of services to clients
+ Social responsibility to staff
+ Human resources
Benefits (medical insurance, pension contribution)
Protection at work (safety, anti-harassment)
Equality (anti-discrimination, equal pay for men and women with equivalent skill levels)
Cobertura de seguro médico, premio por culminación de carreras, pago refrigerio,cobertura de parte del costo de uniformes.
+ Basis of staff incentives related to social performance
Ability to attract new clients from target market
Outreach to remote/rural communities
Outreach to women
Client retention/drop-out rate
Portfolio quality
+ Social responsibility to the environment
This institution raises clients' awareness about environmental impacts
This institution includes specific clauses in its loan contracts to mitigate specific environmental risks
This institution identifies enterprises with environmental risk
+ Poverty measurement tools in use