Last updated March 25, 2013

Partner Description:

Fondo Esperanza (FE) is a socially-oriented microfinance institution that provides financial services to micro-entrepreneurs in Chile. The institution serves the poorest sectors of the Chilean economy, and is currently one of the largest MFIs in the country, providing solidarity micro-loans to financially vulnerable populations. Its main objective is to alleviate poverty in Chile by incubating small businesses and providing a holistic range of microfinance services through communal banking.

Currently, Fondo Esperanza has 47 offices throughout the country, 66,000 clients (87% of them women), and a repayment rate of 99%.

FE provides loan plans and entrepreneurship classes to help borrowers achieve success. Loan amounts start at US$100 and gradually increase from one loan cycle to the next. Loan installments are paid off on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.

Fondo Esperanza started its Entrepreneurship School with the goal of providing its clients with better, more varied educational tools. This school is one of the fundamental pillars of support enabling low-income clients to grow their small businesses. Through a well-established Adult Educational Plan, entrepreneurs have access to weekly or bi-weekly classes. The promotion of social networks also creates and strengthens connections between entrepreneurs, communal banks and the local community.

Fondo Esperanza’s unique lending approach:

Fondo Esperanza funds economic activities through its communal banking methodology. Communal banks are groups of 18 to 25 people who live in the same area and join together in order to collectively receive small loans. Group members provide one another with a solidarity guarantee of repayment, meaning that if one member does not repay their loan, the rest of the group will. Each group member runs an independent business. Communal Banks are based on five fundamental principles: solidarity, responsibility, trust, honesty and respect.

Each communal bank serves as a weekly or bi-weekly meeting space for members to track repayments, monitor the evolution of group members’ businesses, and receive entrepreneurial education lessons.

Groups engage in a variety of different activities intended to strengthen each participant’s skills and nurture the networks that connect entrepreneurs important community contacts. These meetings are coordinated by Communal Bank Advisors (ABC, “Asesores de Bancos Comunales”) on Fondo Esperanza’s staff.

The video below is in Spanish, but is highly recommended for those who want to learn more about Fondo Esperanza: