Improved microfinance strategies in Peru have increased credit access for microentrepreneurs. To establish effective national credit reporting systems elsewhere in the region, ensured universal reporting cooperation, reliable identification, privacy and consumer protection are needed.

As the MFI industry matures, the necessity of dealing with foreign exchange risk becomes more urgent. Identifying possible solutions to foreign currency risk before they become a critical priority will give MFIs more options in the future.

US banks and credit unions are determined to have Latin American immigrants as important and permanent members of their customer base. Community groups, government, and US business interests are aligning through the remittance market to the benefit of Latin American immigrants and their families.

As entrepreneurs explore markets abroad, migrant workers driven by family values search abroad for comparative advantages. The challenge is to provide adequate financial infrastructure for families to use remittances more effectively.

Remittances in the Andes finance investment and growth, reduce poverty, complement national savings, and are a source of foreign exchange. Properly mobilized remittances can contribute to increased investment in housing, in human capital and help to finance micro and small-scale firms.

This report compressed the results of a four-month initiative to identify unmet needs and market opportunities in Colombia, El Salvador, Brazil and Mexico, and present a potential private sector solutions that can address these unmet needs profitably.

IDB Group involvement and support in the reform, modernization and deepening of financial markets in Latin America and the Caribbean targets banking intermediation, capital markets, insurance markets, pension systems, housing finance, and debt reduction.

Remittances, the portion of migrant workers' earnings sent back home to their families, have been a critical means of financial support for generations. But, for the most part, these flows have historically been -hidden in plain view-, often uncounted and even ignored. All that is now changing...