The BBVA Microfinance Foundation (FMBBVA), a group to which Financiera Confianza belongs, has launched a pilot project to expand Internet access in remote areas of Latin America. The initial phase of the project encompasses six satellite connectivity points in rural areas of Colombia and Peru.
In Peru, the pilot executed by Financiera Confianza consists of the implementation of correspondent agents, called Agentes Confianza Satelitales, in rural populated centers of Ucayali and Pasco.
In each of them an average of 110 transactions per month is already registered, between operations related to collection of fees, deposits and cash withdrawals. In addition, each Agent Confianza Satelital operates thanks to an Internet antenna that is 100% financed by Financiera Confianza for 18 months.
“This allows us to bring financial products and services to the areas and provide free high-speed internet to our customers. But it also allows the entrepreneur who operates the agent, to sell unlimited internet, for amounts as low as 50 cents, to those who are not our clients; this way we guarantee the availability of the service for everyone in the long term”Explained Luis Germán Linares, general manager of Financiera Confianza.
During the event ‘Connected by the digital opportunity’, chaired by Queen Letizia in Madrid, Spain, the president of BBVA, Carlos Torres Vila, assured that The new project enhances the work of the FMBBVA to accompany 2.7 million vulnerable entrepreneurs in Peru, Colombia, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Chile.
“Banks have a responsibility to society, we must generate a positive impact on people’s lives. That is why we work for the inclusive development of all, without leaving anyone behind ”, highlighted Torres Vila.
BBVA: quality Internet for everyone
Since it was launched in May of this year, the pilot has made it easier to serve more than 1,400 vulnerable entrepreneurs in remote areas of Peru with loans for US $ 1.9 million and allows training in personal finance, business management, leadership and public health of up to 155 women monthly.
“This initiative already benefits more than 2,000 people throughout the region and is allowing the care we provide to our clients to be better and more convenient for them, and also to have access to the information they need and quality training in the same conditions as in more populated areas ”, remarked Javier M. Flores, general director of the FMBBVA.
During her opening speech, Doña Letizia insisted on the need to connect everyone since the digital divide “is a fine line between being left out or not from access to many services, such as knowledge or education.”
In addition, he pointed out that closing this inequality is “an issue that has to do with human rights, as recognized by the United Nations, and that is projected in the actions promoted by the BBVA Microfinance Foundation.”
Internet: a harsh reality in Latin America
In Latin America, 244 million people do not access internet services, according to the Inter-American Development Bank and Microsoft. Situation that is aggravated in rural areas where only 37% of the population has connectivity options, compared to 71% of the urban population.
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