International Monetary FundWorld Bank2014-01-302014-01-302013-05https://hdl.handle.net/10986/16739The development of a far reaching correspondent banking network is one of the key factors behind Brazil's success story in financial inclusion. Between 2005 and 2011, the number of correspondents approximately doubled to more than 160,000. The Central Bank encouraged financial institutions to reach out to more distant consumers and to communities where they had not previously been active, including lower income areas, through partnerships with a variety of retail establishments including some with public ties such as the post office network and lottery agencies. Regulators have gradually reduced restrictions on correspondent banking, such as individual approval processes, in response to early successes with this program. The legal framework also facilitated healthy expansion by putting the onus on regulated institutions to train and monitor their correspondents. This Technical Note (TN) does not include an analysis of the causes underlying Brazil's continued high credit cost but many of the issues discussed here may be contributing factors. These include the lack of savings and related dependence on credit which may reduce price elasticity in credit markets; information asymmetries which add to the cost of credit evaluation and increase risk for lenders; and competition issues (as with mobile payments and the so-called no-surcharge-rule on payment methods). The Aide Memoire for the FSAP mission provides further discussion of these important issues.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS INDICATORSACCESS POINTSACCESS TO ACCOUNTSACCESS TO BANKACCESS TO BANK ACCOUNTSACCESS TO CAPITALACCESS TO CREDITACCESS TO FINANCEACCESS TO INFORMATIONADULT EDUCATIONAGRICULTURAL CREDITALTERNATIVE SOURCES OF FINANCINGAPPROVAL PROCESSESATM NETWORKATM NETWORKSAUTO LOANSAVAILABILITY OF CREDITBANK ACCOUNTBANK ACCOUNTSBANK BRANCHESBANK LOANBANK SERVICESBANKING NETWORKBANKRUPTCIESBANKSBENEFICIARIESBORROWERBUSINESS DEVELOPMENTCAPITAL MARKETSCENTRAL BANKCHAMBER OF COMMERCECHAMBERS OF COMMERCECOMMERCIAL BANKCOMMERCIAL BANKSCOMMERCIAL CREDITCOMMUNITY BANKCONSUMER CONFIDENCECONSUMER PROTECTIONCONSUMER PROTECTIONSCOOPERATIVE BANKSCOOPERATIVESCOOPSCOST OF CREDITCREDIT ACCESSCREDIT ANALYSISCREDIT BUREAUCREDIT BUREAUSCREDIT CARDCREDIT CARD ACCESSCREDIT CARDSCREDIT COOPERATIVESCREDIT DECISIONCREDIT HISTORIESCREDIT HISTORYCREDIT INFORMATIONCREDIT INFORMATION SYSTEMCREDIT MARKETSCREDIT PRODUCTSCREDIT PROGRAMSCREDIT REGISTRIESCREDIT REGISTRYCREDIT REPORTINGCREDIT REPORTING SYSTEMCREDIT REPORTSCREDIT RISKCREDIT SCORESCREDIT SCORINGCREDIT SCORING MODELSCREDIT SOURCESCREDITSCUSTOMER BASEDATED CHECKSDEBIT CARDDEBTDEBT PAYMENTSDEFAULT RISKDEPOSITDEPOSIT ACCOUNTSDEPOSITSDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDEVELOPING COUNTRYDISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTSDISCOUNT RATEDISPUTE RESOLUTIONDIVERSIFICATIONECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTELECTRONIC PAYMENTELECTRONIC PAYMENT SYSTEMSELECTRONIC PAYMENTSEMERGING ECONOMIESEMERGING MARKETSEMPOWERMENTFARMERSFINANCIAL ACCESSFINANCIAL EDUCATIONFINANCIAL FRAUDSFINANCIAL INNOVATIONFINANCIAL INSTITUTIONFINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSFINANCIAL MARKETFINANCIAL MARKETSFINANCIAL PRODUCTSFINANCIAL PROVIDERSFINANCIAL REGULATORSFINANCIAL SECTOR ASSESSMENTFINANCIAL SERVICESFINANCIAL SERVICES PROVIDERSFINANCIAL SHOCKFINANCIAL STABILITYFINANCIAL SYSTEMFINANCIAL SYSTEMSFISCAL REFORMSFORMAL CREDITFORMAL FINANCEFORMAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONFORMAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSFORMAL FINANCIAL MARKETSFORMAL SAVINGSGENDERGENDER EQUITYGENDER GAPHIGH INTEREST RATESHOUSEHOLDSHOUSING FINANCEINCOME LEVELINCOME LEVELSINDEBTEDNESSINFORMATION ASYMMETRIESINFORMATION INFRASTRUCTUREINSTALLMENTINSTRUMENTINSURANCE MARKETINSURANCE PRODUCTSINTEREST RATEINTEREST RATESINTEREST RATES ON LOANSINVESTMENT CAPITALINVESTMENT VEHICLELEGAL FRAMEWORKLENDERLENDERSLEVEL OF DEBTLEVELS OF CREDITLINE OF CREDITLIVING STANDARDLOANLOAN AMOUNTSLOAN PORTFOLIOLOAN PRODUCTSLOAN PROGRAMLOAN SIZELOANS FROM FAMILYLOW COST LOANSMARKET DISTORTIONSMARKET REGULATORSMAXIMUM LOAN AMOUNTMERCHANTMERCHANTSMFIMFISMICRO ENTERPRISESMICROCREDITMICROFINANCEMICROFINANCE INSTITUTIONMICROFINANCE INSTITUTIONSMICROFINANCE LOANSMICROINSURANCEMONETARY FUNDNET WORTHNEW BUSINESSOUTREACHOUTREACH EFFORTSOUTSTANDING LOANPAYMENT SERVICESPENSIONPENSION SYSTEMPENSIONSPERSONAL FINANCEPERSONAL SAVINGSPOINT OF SALEPOST OFFICEPOST OFFICE NETWORKPOSTAL BANKPRIVATE CREDITPRIVATE CREDIT BUREAUSPRIVATE LENDERSPUBLIC BANKPUBLIC BANKSPUBLIC CREDITPUBLIC FUNDSPUBLIC POLICYPUBLIC REGISTRYRECESSIONREGULATORY BARRIERSREGULATORY FRAMEWORKREPAYMENTSRESERVERESERVE REQUIREMENTSRISK MANAGEMENTRURAL CREDITSAVINGSSAVINGS ACCOUNTSAVINGS ACCOUNTSSAVINGS INSTRUMENTSSAVINGS PRODUCTSSAVINGS RATESAVINGS RATESSECURITIESSMALL BORROWERSSMALL BUSINESSSMALL BUSINESSESSMALL ENTERPRISESSMALL LOANSSOCIAL DEVELOPMENTSOCIAL SECURITYSOCIAL WELFARESOURCE OF CREDITSOURCES OF INCOMESTOCK MARKETTAXTRANSPARENCYUNEMPLOYMENTUNSECURED CREDITWorld Bank10.1596/16739