Credit and Savings Unions – UNICAS, Peru

UNICAS are a savings and credit initiative developed in the 1990s in Honduras and introduced in Peru in 2005 by the Development Finance Corporation (COFIDE) within the framework of the Inclusive Rural Business Development Program (PRIDER). The program's main objective is to promote financial inclusion by laying the groundwork for the development of various economic activities in the country's most remote areas, in addition to contributing to poverty reduction. Through PRIDER, COFIDE, with the support of UNDP, promotes the development of UNICAS in Peru. These groups are made up of groups of 10 to 30 people united voluntarily and with the common interest of improving their living conditions and economic development. UNICAS members generate a common fund intended to serve as savings and credit among participants to finance their productive activities. The members themselves decide which group members to lend to and under what conditions the loan is granted.