BOGOTA, Colombia – Only seven weeks after the transition to the new Smart Coffee Grower ID/Card began, 224,000 Colombian coffee growers are already using their new IDs. The leadership of the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC), intense brigades in 377 coffee growing municipalities and the support of more than 700 individuals nationwide are some of the factors that have determined this initial success.
The Smart Coffee Grower ID/Card identifies coffee growers as members of the FNC and gives them access to the resources provided by its programs. This renovated version of the Coffee Grower ID enables coffee growers to use all of the financial services offered by Banco de Bogotá (Bank of Bogota). It allows coffee growers to access saving accounts, receive and make deposits, make purchases in over 230,000 establishments, use all of the country’s ATMs and access preferential tariffs.
This pioneer model is an unprecedented process in Colombia and in the world’s rural areas. Through the Smart Coffee Growers ID, Colombian coffee growers are expected to save a total of $239 million worth in financial services over the next ten years.
International recognition of the financial inclusion model of Colombia’s coffee growing sector
During her visit to Colombia in March 2014, Queen Máxima of the Netherlands acknowledged the financial inclusion model promoted by the FNC through the Smart Coffee Growers ID/Card. As Special Advisor of the United Nations’ Secretary General for Inclusive Development since 2009, Queen Máxima is an active advocate of financial inclusion as a means to achieve economic and development objectives.
The coffee sector’s model was also recognized by The Better Than Cash Alliance, which provides expertise in the transition to digital payments to achieve the goals of empowering people and growing emerging economies. The Alliance chose the Smart Coffee Grower ID/Card as a successful case study since they considered it to be a novel, replicable and pioneer model in rural banking. The case study will be published in the upcoming months.
