IFC Invests in Giros y Finanzas to support micro lending and remittances effectiveness in Colombia

In Washington, D.C.: 
Adriana Gomez 
Phone: (202) 458 5204 
E-mail: agomez@ifc.org 




Washington, D.C./ Cali, Colombia, October 15, 2009─IFC, a member of the World 
Bank Group, purchased bonds issued by Giros y Finanzas S.A  in Colombia with a 
value of11,500 million Colombian pesos (US$6 million equivalent)  to help the 
company expand affordable housing and working capital loans to low income 
borrowers. This is the first time that IFC purchases bonds issued by a company 
in Colombia. One big advantage when compared with a regular loan is that the 
bonds allow the company to give affordable interest rates to its clients.  

Giros y Finanzas is a local remittance distributor that provides financing to 
the most underprivileged segment within Colombian society, reaching out more 
than 350,000 clients across the country. Through its services, it helps clients 
establish small businesses and improve their living standards. Many of GyF 
clients are women who depend on remittances from family members living abroad.  

“With this new financing instrument, IFC will help Giros y Finanzas to continue 
reaching out to the most remote areas and a population who do not have access 
to other sources of financing. We have the capacity and the network to deliver 
financial services to this market segment. IFC is the right partner to achieve 
our objectives,” said Hector Fabio Rodriguez, CFO of Giros y Finanzas.

Roberto Albisetti, IFC country manager for the Andean Region, said, “This 
operation is consistent with IFC’s global remittances strategy that aims to 
support sound institutions to develop financial products linked to remittances 
and support access to housing, education, business funding, and insurance 
services. Our investment in GyF represents one of IFC’s first endeavors to help 
leverage remittances to increase access to finance for small businesses and 
home owners”. 

The volume of remittances in Colombia has been increasing steadily. According 
to Colombia’s Central Bank, the country received more than US$4.84 billion in 
remittances during 2008, a one year growth of 7.8%. 

IFC’s strategy in Colombia focuses on supporting sectors that are essential to 
social and economic development, including infrastructure, health, education, 
and public-private partnerships to build ports, roads, and airports. IFC 
assists leading Colombian companies modernize and expand their businesses 
internationally.  IFC also promotes access to finance for micro, small and 
medium enterprises and works on improving the investment climate by simplifying 
regulations and royalty management. As of June 2009, IFC’s committed portfolio 
in the country was over $1 billion, its third largest in the Latin America and 
the Caribbean region. 

About IFC 
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, creates opportunity for people to escape 
poverty and improve their lives. We foster sustainable economic growth in 
developing countries by supporting private sector development, mobilizing 
private capital, and providing advisory and risk mitigation services to 
businesses and governments. Our new investments totaled $15 billion in fiscal 
2009, helping channel capital into developing countries during the financial 
crisis. For more information, visit www.ifc.org. 

About Giros y Finanzas 
Giros y Finanzas (GyF) is a Colombian financial institution based in Cali, 
Colombia. Established in 1996, GyF is focused on the remittance business. The 
company offers its clients: distribution of national and international 
remittances as agents of Western Union; foreign exchange operations; deposits; 
maintaining a trading desk (investing excess cash to give liquidity to the 
institution); and lending. In the latter, the company grants car loans, 
leasing, factoring, and other type of consumer loans to money remittance 
beneficiaries.