Promerica Costa Rica

Expected Development Impact

Strengthen local SMEs and value chain: 100% of FinDev Canada’s loan proceeds will be used by Promerica CR to on-lend to local SMEs, supporting the local economy and employment.
Financial products for SMEs: SMEs in Costa Rica often face higher interest rates than larger corporations and shorter tenors, which stunts their potential for growth. Promerica CR supports its SME clients with interest rates that are in line with those offered to larger corporations, and that are significantly lower than the offerings of financial institutions in many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, where interest rates for SME loans can go up to 20% (OECD, 2020).
Non-financial services for SMEs: Promerica CR offers an assortment of digital services, reducing the need for in-person banking and promoting financial inclusion, considering men and women have similar access to internet in Costa Rica (80% of men and 82% of women), and that 90% of the country’s population is now using a mobile phone with internet (OECD, 2020). The Bank is part of Costa Rica’s National Financial Education Strategy and offers financial education to its customers.

100% of FinDev Canada’s loan proceeds will be used by Promerica CR to on-lend to local SMEs, supporting the local economy and employment.

Support WSMEs through financial and non-financial services: Promerica CR is in the process of improving the customer journey for women, developing products and services to better serve WSMEs, and designing a program of non-financial services (such as computer services, legal support and accounting) with a gender focus. Promerica CR commits to on-lending 30% of FinDev Canada’s loan to WSMEs.
Supporting quality employment for women: Promerica CR promotes gender equality among its workforce, where women account for 51% of employees. The Bank is a signatory of the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles (“WEPs”) since 2020, and has developed a Gender Equality Policy, which demonstrates Promerica CR’s commitment towards women’s economic empowerment and gender equality. Promerica CR has developed a Gender Action Plan that outlines concrete goals, baseline indicators, activities towards improvement, target dates and accountable parties. For example, to support women’s career development, Promerica CR is implementing capacity building programs and creating the mentoring program Career Watch for women working at the Bank.

Climate change mitigation: Promerica CR offers its SME clients ‘green’ loans, for products such as renewable energy, which contributes to the reduction of both the carbon footprint of SMEs and the expenses related to energy, due to generally high electricity costs in Costa Rica. Promerica CR commits to earmarking at least 30% of FinDev Canada’s loan towards ‘green’ credit for SMEs.
Climate change adaptation: Promerica CR is also in the process of calculating its Scope 3 financed greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions using the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF) Standard and is developing tools to measure the physical risks faced by its clients due to climate change, to eventually offer financial and non-financial products and services with the aim to reduce clients’ vulnerability to climate change.
Sustainable practices within operations: In 2018, the Bank aligned with the Programa Pais para Carbono Neutral 2.0, created by the Ministry of Environment and Energy of the Government of Costa Rica and obtained the certification for Carbon Neutrality in 2018 and 2019. The Bank measures and reports its Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions, and is taking measures to reduce its GHG emissions, including with the installation of solar panels in seven of its 19 physical locations.