Jeronimo Ramos, a director at Banco Real in São Paulo, sounds like a man with a mission. “You have to operate inside local communities. You have to know your customer’s story at first hand. Because by giving people credit, you are creating well-being. About 70 per cent of people that get credit are lifted out of poverty as a result.”
Yet as Mr Ramos insists, Banco Real is not in the business of delivering social services. “We are not a philanthropic organisation,” he says. “You don’t just give people credit because they need it. They have to be able to pay. We’re here to make a profit.”
