In Quetzaltenango City, promoting rural financial inclusion in Guatemala

From left: Juan Fernando Díaz, Héctor Tuy, Brenda Velásquez, Jaime Vargas, Glenda de Paiz, Jerry Marcus, Odalis Hernández and Arno Loewenthal.

NCBA CLUSA introduced its U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Rural Financial Inclusion (RFI) project and Challenge Fund at a recent event in Quetzaltenango City in Guatemala's western highlands.

The event saw the participation of cooperatives, federations of cooperatives, financial institutions such as microfinance organizations, banks, and other development projects.

The RFI project-part of the U.S. Government's global hunger and food security initiative, Feed the Future-aims to enhance access to and use of financial services in rural communities-particularly within the agricultural sector. As the project's implementer, NCBA CLUSA is active in eight departments of Guatemala, addressing the unique needs of underserved rural consumers and market segments in a way that builds trust in formal financial services and promotes financial literacy.

A strategic tool of RFI, the project's Challenge Fund is designed to foster financial inclusion-especially among women, youth, indigenous people and rural micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Guatemala. It incentivizes banks, financial institutions, microfinance organizations, savings and credit cooperatives, fintechs and agri-techs to promote savings, credit, insurance and digital payment methods, as well as the digitization and saving of family remittances in rural areas. The project will reduce barriers for remittance senders and receivers to access and use financial services to create economic opportunities for themselves and their families. The Challenge Fund'sincentives will benefit rural MSMEs, women, youth and indigenous communities in the departments of Huehuetenango, San Marcos, Quiché, Totonicapán, Quetzaltenango, and Alta and Baja Verapaz.

This effort not only aims to expand access to financial products, but also to stimulate the growth of rural economies by creating a strong supply chain that meets the needs of the diverse financial institutions partnering with RFI.

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