Page 74 - SAMENA Trends - December 2023
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ARTICLE  SAMENA TRENDS


                                                       ARTICLE





        Borderless Innovation and Sustainability to Pave the

        Way for the Most Vulnerable Entrepreneurs





                                                               Innovation and sustainability in today's world are at the top of the
                                                               agenda in all regions of the world. In the Middle East, for example,
                                                               these  issues  are particularly relevant  because, according  to the
                                                               United Nations, the region has the highest youth unemployment
                                                               rate in the world and many countries in the region are considered to
                                                               be among the most water-stressed in the world. Aware that climate
                                                               change  and  water  scarcity  are  closely  related  to unemployment
                                                               and migration patterns, the model and its consequences are easily
                                                               extrapolated to other regions such as Latin America where, as in
                                                               other parts of the world, there has been little widespread innovation
                                                               in the water and sanitation technology sector.

                                                               In view of this panorama, the BBVA Microfinance Foundation has
                                                               made a series of innovations available to the 3 million entrepreneurs
                                                               it  supports  in  Latin  America,  such as  insurance  that  assess
                                                               compensation  in  the  event  of  natural  disasters  from a  satellite,
                                                               facial and voice identification and a mobile banking service in chat
                                                               format.  These  technologies  allow  BBVAMF's  financial  and  non-
                                                               financial solutions to support the progress of the entrepreneurs to
                                                               be taken to any corner of the five countries in which it is present,
                                                               while at the same time reducing the digital divide.

                                                               "For  the  BBVA  Microfinance  Foundation  (BBVAMF),  innovation
                                                               is  a  lever  for economic,  social  and  digital inclusion. Technology
                                                               helps us to serve more vulnerable entrepreneurs and facilitate their
                                                               day-to-day management," explains Gabriela Eguidazu, director of
                                                               Innovation and Inclusive Growth at BBVAMF.

                                                               Today, the entrepreneurs served by the Foundation can choose how
        Gabriela Eguidazu Villota                              they want to operate with their institution, in person or virtually, from
        Innovation for Inclusive Growth Director               onboarding - which can be 100% digital thanks to facial and voice
        FBBVA                                                  biometrics - to carrying out any transaction or signing digitally.

                                                               This  path  began  years  ago, when  the  Foundation  began  to
                                                               digitalise the tools used by advisors (employees of the BBVAMF'
                                                               microfinance  institutions)  to  assist  entrepreneurs. The  first  step
                                                               was to create an app, which also works offline, so that they could
                                                               carry out all operations from their tablets and thus avoid the need
                                                               for entrepreneurs to travel to the bank branch.

                                                               This app has become the essential working tool for advisors. So
                                                               much  so  that  today  more  than  90%  of  loans  are  granted  using
                                                               the  advisor's  app. Moreover, thanks  to its  geolocation  capacity,
                                                               advisors can locate entrepreneurs who live in remote and difficult-
                                                               to-access areas.



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