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.
Led by president Roberto Zamora, Lafise integrated its SME push within its own digitalization strategy, which enabled the new business to be processed and managed with greater efficiency.
The bank’s digitalization programme started in 2017 and, propelled by the greater digital adoption rates caused by the Covid pandemic, has led to a revolution in the bank’s onboarding. It expects growth rates of 275% through this digital channel this year and to increase the balance of all global accounts by more than 400%.
Combined, Lafise’s push into the growing and high-margin SME segment, along with its effective use of digital products to boost revenues and cut costs, has been highly effective. Already the strategy has led to an improvement in the bank’s return on equity to 10.9% in 2021, from 8.2% in 2020, and net income rose by 31% – well above the bank’s growth target.
With the momentum gained, the prospects for a strong year ahead also look good.
