Banco do Povo - Crédito Solidário

Supporting micro entrepreneurship via solidarity group loans

Brazil

Banco do Povo - Crédito Solidário (BPCS) is a Brazilian NGO and a recognized Civil Society Organization of Public Interest (OSCIP). It was set up in Santo André, a municipality of São Paulo in 1997 to support regional poverty reduction policies. Today, BPCS provides financial services to micro- and small entrepreneurs in the southeast metropolitan region of São Paulo, known as Greater ABC Paulista, a conglomerate of seven cities: Santo André, São Bernardo do Campo, São Caetano do Sul, Diadema, Mauá, Ribeirão Pires and Rio Grande da Serra.

Since 2007, BPCS primarily disburses solidarity group loans via a network of agencies which are strategically located, for example near public transport hubs, to facilitate interaction with and assistance to clients.

BPCS has been recognized as one of Brazil’s leading social impact lenders by external agencies. Its OSCIP status and participation in the Programa Nacional de Microcredito Produtivo Orientado (National Program for Targeted Productive Microcredit) ensure good client practices.

Banco do Povo - Crédito Solidário has been an Oikocredit partner since 2015.