Banco Bem

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= one of the Community Development Banks in Brazil, next to Banco Palmas


Description

"Since Banco Palmas was founded, other CDB initiatives have flourished in Brazil. Banco Bem (literally the “Good Bank”) was one of the first CDBs to apply Banco Palmas’ principles and methodologies. Located in the outskirts of the city of Vitória (State of Espirito Santo), Banco Bem grew out of the partnership between a local association and a group of seamstresses. The association between organizations of both popular and solidarity economy gave birth to Banco Bem in 2006. Originally, formal and informal leaders came together to prepare and approve Banco Bem credit policy, defining the purpose of the loans, their amounts, interest rates and payment terms. These meetings were organized within a community forum, named “Forum Greater Good”. Banco Bem also created the social currency "Bem", using the same mechanism that worked at Banco Palmas. Like Banco Palmas, Banco Bem acts as a development platform for the neighbourhood, offering financial services such as credit for production, consumption and housing, as well as correspondent banking, guidance and monitoring to set up and manage individual and collective enterprises. Nowadays, the bank estimates that over 15,000 people benefit from its financial services, in a territory of 31,000 inhabitants." (http://www.unrisd.org/unrisd/website/newsview.nsf/(httpNews)/492A681B2A2F6D9CC1257BE900409F00?OpenDocument)