Ficohsa, led by Camilo Atala, reaffirmed yesterday its commitment to double its SME loan portfolio to US$910 million within five years, prioritizing the growth of women-led businesses through preferential lending, insurance, and financial education. Since joining the Partnership for Central America (PCA) in July 2023, Ficohsa has increased its SME loan portfolio in Honduras by $60 million, supporting 8,500 new ventures.
The importance of financial inclusion for the long-term development of Central America was highlighted at Monday’s semi-annual PCA Call to Action with U.S. Vice President Harris. During the event, Ficohsa’s efforts in this area were presented, highlighting its commitment to expand financial inclusion and promote economic development, especially among women-led SMEs.
Ficohsa has reaffirmed its pledge to invest $50 million in digital services in order to expand financial inclusion and ensure that a larger portion of remittances are directed towards local assets, savings, and businesses.
Ficohsa aims to integrate an additional 200,000 vulnerable individuals into the financial system within the next five years. Since becoming a part of the PCA in July 2023, the financial services company has already onboarded 60,000 individuals onto its mobile payments service, TENGO, resulting in $8 million worth of digital transactions.
In collaboration with Glasswing International, an NGO focused on empowering young people and communities to address poverty, violence, and migration, Ficohsa has provided bank accounts to 3,500 young individuals. The bank’s goal is to increase this number to over 7,000 young Hondurans over the course of the next five years.
Ficohsa’s commitment to financial inclusion and sustainable development is reflected in its focus on providing long-term, low-cost support to SMEs, enabling them to expand, innovate, and become more competitive. Ficohsa also supports Centroamérica Adelante’s goals of strengthening governance, fighting corruption, and improving security. Ficohsa’s 2022 Sustainability Report highlights the bank’s progress in terms of financial inclusion, ethical banking, and investments in environmental sustainability.
