So this is going to be a huge success. I don't know
whether we'll manage to have more microfinance
customers by 2012. In any event, though, this is a
long-term project that is aimed at the base of the
pyramid, which comprises four billion people, in
contrast to traditional banking, which targets the
top 900 million. There are many more customers,
though obviously they don't have the same economic
worth. Evidently, though, what microfinance can
do for our society is extraordinary. It's not enough
just to provide education or medicine; that's a
consequence of poverty. It's very important to
provide resources to start up new businesses; that's
the whole aim of microfinance. I think BBVA has
positioned itself very well; time will tell. Quite
honestly, I think this is one of the biggest things this
firm has ever done.
G.H.: Around this specific question of microfinance
an almost ideological debate is taking place between
those who uphold principles that are more associated
with philanthropy and who denounce the existence
of high interest rates –the Nobel Peace Prize winner
Muhammad Yunus finds himself in this camp–, and
those who sustain that the greater the profits, the
more will be the capital coming in to this business
and that, therefore, what will make the interest rates
fall is competition. How do you perceive this debate,
Mr González?
F.G.: I think both positions are positive. They're both
fighting usury, albeit there are differences between
them. Although some entities are working with very
high interest rates, really those rates are lower than
any of the other alternatives the users of that entity
might turn to. So this is good news. Obviously, we
want to align ourselves as much as possible with
Yunus, but we also want to make sure the business
is sustainable. I mean, the BBVA foundation is a notfor-profit
organisation, but in order to extend its work
to millions of people, you have to have sustainability.
And in order to be sustainable, you have to charge the
right interest rates so that the people asking for the
loans can get ahead, and the societies in which the
foundation is operating can continue to function. The
money has to stay in the entities so that it can flow
back into the market naturally.
G.H.: In the USA there is a saying, Walk the Talk,
to the effect that one should test out in action what
one preaches. I am pleased to see that at BBVA your
efforts are indeed channelled in a search for that
strategic harmony where targets of corporate
responsibility are in line with those of the core
business, that is to say, the main business of the bank,
which is obviously to make money through the
provision of financial services. It has been a pleasure
to have this talk with you. Many thanks.
F.G.: Many thanks to you
DIALOGUE WITH THE CHAIRMAN
Corporate Responsibility Report 2008
7
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