Partner Description:

Asociación Costa Rica Grameen is a nonprofit microfinance organization (NGO), which has been in the market for 19 years, serving more than 27,000 female clients nationwide. The institution was founded in 2006 with the purpose of supporting women in vulnerable situations and promote their economic and social development.


A unique lending approach:

Asociación Costa Rica Grameen leverages Kiva financing to expand access to credit for women entrepreneurs across Costa Rica. The organization employs a solidarity group lending methodology, ensuring strong community support and repayment accountability, with all of its borrowers being women. Asociación Costa Rica Grameen is also recognized for its fully digital credit process.


Repayment Performance on Kiva

    This Lending Partner All Kiva Partners
  Start Date On Kiva Dec 17, 2025 Oct 12, 2005
Total Loans $21,225 $2,245,347,635
Amount of raised Inactive loans $0 $1,016,100
Number of raised Inactive loans 0 174
Amount of Paying Back Loans $21,225 $158,843,815
Number of Paying Back Loans 33 185,639
Amount of Ended Loans $0 $2,085,487,720
Number of Ended Loans 0 2,745,039
Delinquency Rate 0.00% 10.75%
Amount in Arrears $0 $10,703,268
Outstanding Portfolio $255 $99,564,604
Number of Loans Delinquent 0 70,655
Default Rate 0.00% 1.78%
Amount of Ended Loans Defaulted $0 $37,155,600
Number of Ended Loans Defaulted 0 97,737
Currency Exchange Loss Rate 0.00% 0.37%
Amount of Currency Exchange Loss $0 $13,858,921
Refund Rate 0.00% 0.52%
Amount of Refunded Loans $0 $11,591,015
Number of Refunded Loans 0 9,990

Loan Characteristics On Kiva

    This Lending Partner All Kiva Partners
  Loans to Women Borrowers 100.00% 78.99%
Average Loan Size $643 $409
Average Individual Loan Size $643 $605
Average Group Loan Size $0 $1,977
Average number of borrowers per group 0 8.4
Average GDP per capita (PPP) in local country $19,104 $4,375
Average Loan Size / GDP per capita (PPP) 3.37% 9.35%
Average Time to Fund a Loan 2.73 days 9.21 days
Average Dollars Raised Per Day Per Loan $235.24 $44.45
  Average Loan Term 13.06 months 11.53 months

Journaling Performance on Kiva

    This Lending Partner All Kiva Partners
  Total Journals 0 1,320,664
  Journaling Rate 0.00% 41.61%
  Average Number of Comments Per Journal 0.00 0.02
  Average Number of Recommendations Per Journal 0.00 0.51

Borrowing Cost Comparison (based on 2009 data)

    This Lending Partner Median for MFI's in Country All Kiva Partners
  Average Cost to Borrower N/A N/A 28.97% PY
  Profitability (return on assets) 5.36% N/A -1.29%
  Average Loan Size (% of per capita income) N/A N/A 0.00%

Country Fast Facts

Lending Partner Staff

Diana Mendoza
Mario Morera
Alfredo Salazar