Executive Summary

Banco Triangulo S/A, or Tribanco, is a financial institution established by Sistema Integrado Martins (SIM), a group that assists more than 465,000 micro, small and medium retail shops throughout Brazil.

Tribanco was created to meet the need for financial services of these small entrepreneurs who, due to poverty, face difficulties in obtaining credit lines to develop their businesses. Regular credit rating models usually classify individuals into classes C, D and E for “low grade“, and even if they have a source of fixed income. As a result, retailers fitting into these classes do not have sufficient resources to perform regular inventory purchases and make improvements in their stores. Consequently, they rarely succeed against the market competition imposed by major retailers.

To overcome this barrier, Tribanco developed an alternative credit rating model, based on the owner’s input, and able to provide credit to its customer base - over 60% of Tribanco retail clients have a monthly turnover of less than BRL 200,000.00. In addition, these entrepreneurs had little access to knowledge in management: Tribanco offers its clients training courses in marketing as well as in store and financial management.

Besides, another critical component of Tribanco’s inclusive business model is located on the consumer side. Indeed, more than 39% of the retailers’ consumers have a monthly income lower than BRL 130.00  and 58% have a monthly income between BRL 150.00 and BRL 650.00. Tribanco offers private label credit cards to those consumers, bringing financial inclusion to the project’s surrounding communities.

The main strategic part of the Tribanco business model is the relationship with its clients. Tribanco’s employees are efficiently trained for the retail sector, helping them understand the clients’ businesses and provide appropriate solutions to their demands. In addition to this, the bank’s structure is not organized by branches: all managers operate remotely, going directly to the customers’ location.

Currently, Tribanco operates in all Brazilian states, counting on approximately 300 managers based in 80 cities, and has physical offices in 40 cities. The 80 cities are called focal points, around which each manager operates within a 300km radius. 

Tribanco directly serves more than 33,000 clients, with business in 60% of Brazil’s municipalities. Mostly in the countryside and in the outskirts of large cities, they predominantly work with food retail business, in supermarkets and grocery stores. As for the consumers, buying at around 9,000 sales points across the country, they can use more than 675,000 active credit cards. In 2013, Tribanco reached BRL 1,285,853,733.00 in profits.

Read the full company case study (pdf).