By: Eric Burdullis, KF12, ASDIR I was impressed. When I first stepped into ASDIR´s office, I was confronted with half a dozen banners listing the details of all the services they offer. The first banner was for Seguros Columna: an insurance agency that ASDIR pays for to offer life insurance to its clients (essentially, if a client dies, ASDIR cancels the loan: a great service for the family of someone in poverty). A second and third advertised a service to send and receive remittances through Western Union and Sigue. A fourth advertised saving services through G & T Continental (microfinance institutions can´t accept savings legally here in Guatemala). The fifth advertised payment by check as well as bill pay for water and electricity, and the sixth advertised prepaid cell phones. All this on top of a wide variety of loan products from small Q1000 loans to women with only the idea of a business within village banks to Q70,000 loans to medium sized businesses; from loans being used to improve housing to emergency loans for personal consumption.
[Published in NonProfitBlogs - Read the original article]