Paper

Agricultural Credit Card Innovation: the Case of Financiera Trisan

Can a credit card used for agricultural input suppliers and rural producers be replicated?

The paper investigates and analyses a program that offers credit cards to agricultural input suppliers and rural producers in Costa Rica and determines whether this program is financially viable and potentially replicable in other rural areas of Latin America. This paper:

  • Recounts the genesis of an agricultural credit card program;
  • Describes the product, the typical client, and service delivery methodology;
  • Analyzes the financial performance of this product;
  • Highlights the outstanding challenges facing the expansion and replication of the product.

Specifically it presents the case of Financiera Trisan, a finance company in Costa Rica that has pioneered a rural credit card, targeted at agricultural input suppliers and farmers. This paper analyzes the experience of Financiera Trisan in developing and expanding its credit card program. The principal findings are that

  • Credit card is a viable and profitable product;
  • That a culture of innovation is critical in the company to sustain and refine the product;
  • That infrastructural and legal obstacles present in the country require creative solutions;
  • Concerning replicability, the credit card product that Financiera Trisan has pioneered could be established into other areas of Latin America if certain conditions hold.

It concludes that rural credit cards can dramatically reduce transaction costs for clients and merchants accepting the card.

About this Publication

By Wenner, M.D. & Quiros, R.
Published