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The personal microcredit increases
Social and solidarity sector - 28 June 2012
In 2011, with 9,941 loans paid out, the personal microcredit shows a 26% increase with regard to 2010. This progress testifies of a real success of this tool of banking fight against social exclusion, with strong social utility.
Though still modest, these results are indicative of an essential dimension of personal microcredit: it consists of a supported loan, i.e. a tailor-made financing offer that considers each borrower’s constraints and specific needs. This social and financial support can therefore not be trivialized or industrialized.
Measuring the impact of personal microcredit
Caisse des Dépôts has launched a study in order to better measure the impacts of personal microcredit on professional or social integration, living conditions, the budget situation and even the banking inclusion of the loan beneficiaries. The results are expected at the end of 2012 and will help to determine the new strategic orientations that will have to be adopted in order to optimise the system’s development.
A Tour de France for personal microcredit
Since the start of 2012, Caisse des Dépôts has initiated a series of regional conferences involving all of the stakeholders across a given territory, namely financial institutions, support structures and regional authorities that are involved or wish to be.
Three events of this type have already been held, in Picardy, Burgundy and Brittany. Others will be organised in the near future in Haute-Normandie (Upper Normandy, on 26 June), Champagne-Ardenne, Languedoc-Roussillon and West Indies-Guyana.
The meetings are an occasion to promote best practices, to identify roadblocks and to pool resources.
The system
In 2005, the State created the Social Cohesion Fund (French acronym: FCS), that guarantees up to 50% of personal microcredits. From the start, the management of this fund, that is also active in the field of professional microcredit, has been entrusted to Caisse des Dépôts. The contribution of Caisse des Dépôts to the development of personal microcredit in France aligns perfectly within the framework of its general interest missions.
Caisse des Dépôts has established contractual links with 25 financial partners that study the requests and grant the loans (banks, municipal loan offices, specialised financial institutions and accredited associations). Each application is first examined by a reviewer who may then direct the applicant towards other financing possibilities (subsidies, legal aid), or help with the preparation of the file submitted to the credit institution.
Through its regional management bodies, Caisse des Dépôts ensures the territorial coverage of the offer by encouraging banks and the associations in charge of support to work together. These regional departments are listed on a dedicated Internet site, for each French department: www.france-microcredit.org.
