Banco Lafise takes the award for the region’s best bank for small and medium-sized enterprises this year because of the adaptation of its 2021 growth model to an SME-centric approach – in line with its home market’s biggest needs.
Lafise is one of the leading banks in Nicaragua and targeting the SME segment has paid off handsomely, with its SME loan portfolio having grown by 36.2%.
Overall, the bank’s loan portfolio only grew by 6.7% in 2021, which illustrates the outsized role that SMEs had in Lafise’s performance last year.
The bank has a particular focus on the country’s agricultural sector, which is the biggest employer in the country. Overall, it increased its client base by 10,000 – a growth rate of 25%.
The bank rolled out new services that target SMEs: MiWeb enables SMEs to sell their products online without the need for digital investment, while PYME integrates digital revenues into a financial platform that allows SMEs to process all types of payments and manage internal costs and financial processes purely online.