Financiera Trisan: An Agricultural Credit Card Innovator

This paper discusses a program to extend credit cards to agricultural input suppliers and rural producers in Costa Rica, and determines whether this program is financially viable and can be replicated in other areas of Latin America.

The authors observe that the agricultural credit card grew out of a confluence of factors, namely:

• A company tradition of product innovation;
• Changes in capital control laws in the country;
• The desire to lower administrative costs and compliance with a ruling by the Superintendent of Banking.

The discussion in the paper focuses on:

• Types of credit card products that were introduced - Agrimax and Maxicuenta;
• Service delivery mechanisms that operate at 3 levels:
  • Marketing of the product;
  • Evaluation and approval of the client, issuing the credit card and billing;
  • Collection processing.
• Client profiles;
• Performance analysis including:
  • Outreach and growth indicators;
  • Different aspects of financial analysis.
• Challenges facing the expansion of the product:
  • Marketing challenges;
  • Legal, institutional and technical constraints;
  • Competition.

The paper also lists its findings regarding the product replicability, lessons learnt, and institutional needs.

The paper concludes that the credit card has been well-accepted by the target population demonstrating the viability of a new financial service that helps to better manage risk and liquidity. The product is profitable and the firm is entirely self-sufficient.