Acceso Crediticio
BIO has granted USD 5 M in emergency financing to Acceso Crediticio, a Peruvian microfinance institution.
Amount
€ 4,260,758.00
Type of investment
Debt
Development impacts
- Local economic growth
- Private sector consolidation/innovation
Beneficiary locations
Investment field
Financial Institutions
Activity
ACR is a Peruvian EDPYME (“Entidad de Desarrollo de la Pequeña y Mediana Empresa”) specialized in providing loans to base of the pyramid entrepreneurs working in the transportation industry to finance the acquisition of vehicles.
ACR is a niche player, specialized in financing NGV (natural gas) and LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) powered vehicles to micro entrepreneurs working as independent taxi drivers, as an alternative to impulse the use of cleaner energies.
Lima is one of the most polluted cities in Latin America, and 70% of the pollution is caused by quality of the fuels. The use of natural gas reduces at least by half the pollution caused by vehicles and ACR is contributing to this end by financing only vehicles powered with natural gas, which is a local resource.
ACR´s business model is unique and targets mainly informal micro entrepreneurs/taxi drivers’ working in the poorest urban areas of Lima. ACR serves a market segment neglected by the traditional financial institutions that consider ACR´s market niche risky and informal; consequently it plays a key role in providing financial access to non bancarized clients (which represents 50% of its clients).
Emergency financing
Acceso has requested the subordinated debt in order to strengthen their capital and be able to supply the rising demand for consumer and vehicle loans perceived in the market.
Development impacts
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Local economic growth
The primary goal of this project is to provide access to credit to micro entrepreneurs working in the transportation sector. ACR is an EDPYME specialized in this market niche offering financing for the acquisition of vehicles, which are their livelihoods (taxi drivers, motorcycle messengers).
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Private sector consolidation/innovation
In this dimension ACR also scores well, considering that it proposes innovative products and services not offered by other institutions. ACR is the sole financial institution in Peru specialized in credit for taxi drivers and leader in this market niche. ACR permits the expansion of financial services to clients that are marginalized by the traditional financial system.
E&S Impact
Accesso Crediticio agreed with BIO to finalise the fulfilment of the recommendations identified by the social audit of September 2020, including the implementation of the last pending points related to the Client Protection Principles.
In parallel, Accesso Crediticio will establish a detailed retrenchment policy to be included in the HR manual to be compliant with IFC PS2.
Current situation
Accesso Crediticio put in place a custom Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS) that allows checking clients’ compliance with necessary licenses, controlling measures for road safety and promoting the use of natural gas vehicles. In parallel, they established practices to protect their clients according to the Clients Protection Principles and to provide an adequate work environment to their employees.
The Covid-19 pandemic had a strong impact on the whole Peruvian economy and on Acceso Crediticio specifically. Despite all the efforts made, they were obliged to downsize their workforce.
Risk Category: C
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