Current situation
Latin America, together with Asia, has been one of the frontrunner regions in the creation of what is referred to as the microfinance industry, understanding this to be the generation of an offer in financial services targeting the microenterprise sector.
The development of this industry has been highly influenced by the operations of multilateral cooperation agencies and, to a lesser extent, by bilateral ones, with certain second-tier banks also having a significant input.
Differences can be detected between the situations in each country, with those with a fairly consolidated industry co-existing alongside others where it is in its infancy. This situation is directly proportional to the presence of a favourable business environment.
The level of banking penetration in the region is low compared to the industrialised nations, although higher than that observed in the other regions considered in this outlook. On average, the percentage of the population with access to financial services stands at approximately 35%. Chile stands out from the pack with a penetration, or bancarisation, of 60% of the adult population; and at the other end of the scale, Bolivia records a figure that barely reaches 9%.
