For Ofelia López, the loan from Pro Mujer Digital was an answer to her prayers. Or more like a dream come true, literally. “One night, I dreamed that someone came to my home and gave me jars of milk,” she shared. “They told me, ‘These are yours, but you must share them.’ The next morning, I was making memelitas when someone knocked on my door and told me about Pro Mujer. And you know, I thought they were lying.”
According to data published by Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), in 2021, only 46% of women in Mexico had access to formal credit. In Southern Mexico, the data is even starker. Although 68% of the rural population has accessed at least one financial service, only 37% of these services correspond to access to formal credit, and only 36% of these were granted to women. Since 2017, Chiapas has been the state with the lowest levels of financial inclusion, coming in last across 9 of the 14 criteria measured by the Financial Inclusion Index published by Citibanamex in 2023.
That’s why we created Pro Mujer Digital, the first multichannel digital financial services platform in Mexico for women entrepreneurs, employees, and small business owners. The platform provides women with immediate access to credit, even if they don’t have a credit history, and access to digital skilling and professional development resources that support their financial independence.
Since 2022, Pro Mujer Digital has connected women with financial services thanks to our alternative scoring algorithm that was developed with women’s specific realities in mind, our mentoring and training opportunities, flexible payment plans, and low interest rates, and more.
After its successful launch in 2022, 2023 was a breakthrough year for Pro Mujer Digital. We provided more women with access to credit, allowing them to access the formal financial system for the first time. Of the women who used the Pro Mujer Digital platform, 2,346 (59%) were offered a first-time loan. Additionally, 1,651 users were Indigenous women, and 896 identified as Afro-descendants, a sign of our commitment to an intersectional approach and reaching more underserved women.
The World Bank says financial inclusion is “a key enabler to reduce extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity.” At Pro Mujer, we believe that technology has the power to address these challenges and increase financial inclusion in Latin America for women who, like Ofelia, just need the support that’s right for them to make their dreams come true.
For Ofelia, a community leader, artisan, and entrepreneur, Pro Mujer Digital provided—and continues to provide—an unparalleled opportunity to grow her memela business. But, above all, to support the women she feels so close to.
“I host meetings with other women so that we can move forward together. I don’t just want to benefit myself. I want this to benefit them,” she said. “I’m not getting paid for this. I like supporting them because I know what living in poverty is like. I know the needs of each community. And since I’m a woman, I know how women live, especially those with children.”
