Even after 20 years of working in a café in Delaware, Gloria de Coreas had never managed to open a bank account – let alone formalise her status in the US as a legal migrant from El Salvador.

But that has changed thanks to the rapid growth of consumer banking in Central America in recent years. Proving her creditworthiness with money that she regularly sends home to support her unemployed sister, Rosa, Ms De Coreas has secured credit from Integral, a local micro-finance institution, to buy a house in San Salvador financed with her remittances.