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| Name | LA MERCED Ltda |
| Where | In the area around Cuenca in the south of Ecuador |
| Type | Institution with no lucrative goal (NGO) |
| Person we met | Geovanny BORJA |
| Website | www.lamerced.fin.ec |
| Amount of loans | individual loans of an average amount of 2.500 USD (1900 €) for an average duration of 18 months. |
| Number of micro-entrepreneurs | 8000 |
| Interest rates | 23% annually, which is the highest level authorized by the regulation authorities |
| Recovery rates | 95% in 2008, 92% in 2009 |
| Percentage of women customers | 50% |
| Comments |
La Merced is a savings and loans cooperative which objective is to help microentrepreneurs and every economically active people in the area of Cuenca. The microfinance only represents 20% of its activity, in the form of microloans. La Merced offers mainly individual microloans, but can also offer microloans to solidarity groups of 10 people. These microloans are only for already existing microbusinesses. Though another longer procedure allows microentrepreneurs who want to start a new activity to access to credit. The customers have to go to an office of La Merced to fill an application form, and to give a list of documents proving their identity, their solvability, and the solvability of their guarantor. Actually, every borrower have to show a guarantor. The borrower has to declare his financial situation: his assets, incomes and expenses. All these documents are analyzed by a loan officer who uses a scoring method. Within 48 hours, the file goes through a credit commission who allows, or not, the loan application. It is the loan officer who decides the length of the microloan (6 to 24 months) and the frequency of the paybacks when he analyses the file. Any form of microentreprise is represented. |
| In the future | La Merced wants to open new branches and increase the number of its customers. |
MFI met in Cuenca on the 21st of May2009