The Female Entrepreneurship Fund is a specialized investment vehicle that channels resources from institutional investors to support women entrepreneurs in the Central American Integration System (Sica) region.

With support from the World Bank, the Western Balkan economies are making significant progress in aligning their national payment systems with EU standards as part of their accession goals.

Paymentology, the leading global issuer-processor, today announces an expanded partnership with Mastercard to bolster financial inclusion across Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.

KEP Trust plans to on-lend the proceeds of the senior, unsecured loan to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).

The commitments are part of Mastercard’s engagement, as a founding member, in the Partnership for Central America.

The initiative, known as the Debt Resolution Project, is expected to create a safety net for businesses and investors, improving access to credit, especially for small and medium enterprises.

The cryptocurrency will lose its reputation as a speculative asset and prove its use as a legitimate payment system, central bank President Douglas Rodriguez said in an interview on Monday.

Small transfers of bitcoin to El Salvador jumped over four-fold in May from a year ago but still represent a small amount when compared to remittances sent in dollars.

The financing package aims to support micro, small and medium enterprises, women-owned SMEs, housing for underserved segments, and climate-smart investments, including green buildings.

The facility has been provided under IFC’s Small Loan Guarantee Program (SLGP), a programmatic approach to risk-sharing that aims to strengthen the capacity of financial institutions to finance SMEs in low-income countries.