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| Name | Fundacion para el Desarrollo de la Pequeña Empresa (FUNDESPE) |
| Where | In Guatemala, in poor communities of the countryside |
| Type | Non Bank Finance Company |
| Person we met | Lic. Victor Emmanuel Barrios Maldonado (Administrative manager) |
| Website | none |
| Webpage on mixmarket | |
| Amount of loans | average individual loans of 10.000 GTQ (1.000 €) for a duration of 18 months. The loans can be attributed to individual people (from 1.000 to 225.000 GTQ (from 100 to 22.500 EUR)) or to people organized in a group. In this case, the amount is limited at 5.000 GTQ (500 EUR). |
| Number of micro-entrepreneurs | about 1700 : 716 individual loans, and 260 groups of 3 to 5 people |
| Interest rates | from 18% to 30% depending on the seniority of the customer, the guarantee on the loan, the amount and the maturity of the loan. |
| Recovery rates | 97% in 2008 |
| Percentage of women customers | ND |
| Comments |
Fundespe has 3 kinds of loans: individual loans, loans to groups, and « mutual funds », loans exclusively attributed to women organized in groups. The amounts and rates allowed depend of the estimated risk of these 3 different categories of loans. Individual loans are covered by different warranties: fiduciary, mortgage. As the loan is juridical conveniently covered, the interest rate is relatively lower, and the amount can be up to 225.000 GTQ. For group loans, only the mutual warranty covers loans, and the amount is consequently limited to 5.000 GTQ. Fundespe has 5 offices in 4 different departments in Guatemala. There are 2 loan officers in each branch. These officers go by motorbike to sell loans and visit their customers who can leave in town or in the countryside. Promotion is done by mouth to ears, in the street, and with flyers. Loans are allowed for starting a business or for already running micro-businesses. Before allowing a loan, the loan officers investigate about the future customer and ask a lot of papers (business justification, ID, …). The credit application goes through a credit comity compound of 4 people and which runs once a week. Once the loan allowed, paybacks are once a month, and can be done in a bank or in the branch office. The loan officer visit his (her) customers once a month. The loan tracking is done on an Access database. This tracking is OK for the moment, but managers are looking for a new system. An external auditor comes every 3 months to control Fundespe. Fundespe refinances itself with diverse public entities, national and international (Andalusia bank), and with the equity constituted by personal participation of the managers of the foundation. Fundespe counts 32 employees. The loan officers are found on a database, are subject to investigations and need references before being enrolled. They follow a one week trainee and are managed and tutored by a superviser. Any form of microbusiness is represented. |
| In the future | Fundespe is looking for new refinancing, and hopes to be able afterwards to offer other financial products. |
MFI met in Quetzaltenango on the 24th of February 2009