Financiera

WPS3834

Access to Financial Services in Colombia
The “Unbanked” in Bogotá
Tova Maria Solo and Astrid Manroth*

World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 3834, February 2006
The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even ifthe presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the view of the World Bank, its Executive Directors, or the countries they represent. Policy Research Working Papers are available onlineat http://econ.worldbank.org.

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*

Tova Maria Solo is a Senior Urban Specialist in the Urban and Water Group of the Latin America and the Caribbean Region and. Astrid Manroth was a Young Professional in the Finance Group of the Latin America and the Caribbean region of the World Bank at the time this report was written. Questions and comments on this report should be addressed toTsolo@worldbank.org

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors of this report are Tova Maria Solo and Astrid Manroth. However the work is largely based on background work carried out by a team of consultants in Colombia: under the direction of Roberto Steiner and Alberto Carrasquilla from CEDE, Carlos Medina managed the principal survey and Beatriz Ariza the survey analysis, with support from the Ministry ofFinance, in particular the Technical ViceMinistry and Director of Banking, Mauricio Rocilla and the Superintendency of Banks, under the direction of Patricia Correa. The authors also benefited from the inputs of World Bank advisors Marianne Fay, Anjali Kumar,, and Fernando Montes-Negret, and fellow collaborators and reviewers: Rodrigo Chavez, Mariluz Cortes, Michael J. Goldberg, Juan Carlos Mendoza,Marialisa Motta, John Daniel Pollner, Susana M. Sanchez, John Henry Stein, Augusto de la Torre and Anna Wellenstein. The authors acknowledge, in addition, the invaluable comments and support from Alberto Aspe (Harris Bank), Yolanda Brown (Pacific Bank), James Carr (Fannie Mae Foundation), John Caskey, (Swarthmore College), Amanda Fernandez (Annie Casey Foundation), Michele Kahane (Ford Foundation),Luis Nino (Banco Azteca) Michael Stegman (Center for Community Capitalism at the University of North Carolina), Carlos Ximenes (Unibanco-Brazil). The authors are grateful to Patricia Cardenas, Juan Carlos Pinzon and Carolina Baron of the Association of Colombian Banks, Asobancaria, for arranging invaluable meetings with banking sector officials and for providing their own insights. We would alsolike to thank Federico Ochoa, Roberto Vergara Ortiz of BanColombia, Patric Tissot and Eulalia Arboleda of Caja Social and others for their insightful and invaluable comments from the perspective of a banker. Editorial support was provided by Cristina Velazco-Weiss

ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS
ACIM ATM CADES CAV CCO CD CDAT CDT CEDE COP CRA DANE ECH EGM FDIC FFIEC FRB GDP IOEs IVA LAC NCUA NPLOCC OECD OTS US UVR Association of Media Investigation Automated Teller Machine Special District Attention Centers (Centros de Atención del Distrito Especial) Savings and Loans Associations (Cajas de Ahorro y Vivienda) Check Cashing Outlet Certificate of Deposit Saving Term Deposit (Certificado de Depósito de Ahorro a Término) Term Deposit (Certificado de Depósito a Término) Center for EconomicDevelopment Studies (Centro de Estudios sobre Desarrollo Económico) Colombian Pesos Community Reinvestment Act National Administrative Statistics Department (Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística) Household Survey (Encuesta Continua de Hogares) General Media Survey (Encuesta General de Medios) Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council...