BDEPR expects US$10mn in microcredits this yr.

Puerto Rico's Banco de Desarrollo Economico (BDEPR) expects to up its microcredit portfolio to US$10mn by the end of this year backed by a Visa credit card for small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the bank's president Francisco Rodriguez Castro told BNamericas. According to Rodriguez, the bank has issued microcredit loans totaling US$5mn to SMEs so far this year through the Visa Business Card, which constitutes a convenient credit facility due to a favorable approval process and the rapid receipt of monies. BDEPR entered its agricultural program with Visa in the third quarter of this year following on from the bank's corporate program started February 26 this year, Rodriquez said, adding that BDEPR is currently analyzing the standardization of its total lending portfolio to incorporate the Visa card. "The bank is currently evaluating alternatives to increase its products with Visa and to continue improving its processes," he added. Visa is working in the microcredit market in Puerto Rico and Costa Rica while in Brazil the company is operating in conjunction with Banco de Desarrollo Economico to offer credit to small-sized companies and farmers through credit card, Visa Empresarial. Visa is also working on a project with Costa Rica's state-run telecoms monopoly ICE to develop a corporate program to replace the telecom company's current dependence on money transactions.