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On a recent trip to the Kennedy Space Center I had the opportunity to converse with many interesting people, including many Europeans. Of course, the predominant topic of discussion was the lamentable final launch of the Atlantis shuttle, especially in the absence of another suitable vehicle to take its place. However, [...]

Since launching Refinancia in Bogota in 2005, Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Mendiwelson has taken an unusual approach to recouping the personal loans his debt-collection business buys from banks: amicable negotiations, rather than harassing phone calls or visits. “We provide a dignified product to someone who has been mistreated by the financial sector,” explains the 39-year-old Harvard Business School graduate, who used a $4 million loan from friends and family to get started. “Someone who falls into default is not a bad person.”

To determine what got individuals into financial trouble, Refinancia often starts with face-to-face meetings. If the outstanding debt is due to an unexpected medical bill, divorce, or another personal problem, Refinancia will refinance the loan and negotiate a time frame for starting payments in installments. “Here in Colombia and around the world, the people who are in debt with the banks become targeted with a black dot and they’re treated very badly, even unrespectfully,” says Gaia de Dominicis, a managing director in Bogota of Endeavor, a nonprofit that supports entrepreneurs in developing nations, including Mendiwelson. “Once you’re closed to the bank, you’re closed to everybody. You can’t have access to any type of credit, anywhere.”

Refinancia acquires loans at less than 10 percent of face value, packages them, and promises returns of 15 percent to 35 percent to investors that buy them, according to Mendiwelson. Roughly half of the individual loans are for about $500, twice the monthly salary of a Colombian who earns minimum wage.

About 85 percent of Refinancia’s revenue comes from Colombia, where the market for nonperforming loans is shrinking amid a strong economy; the government expects growth of as much as 6 percent this year. At the end of April, the ratio of loan defaults to the overall number of consumer loans was 3.5 percent, compared to 5 percent in April 2010, according to research firm Oxford Analytica. “It’s one of the markets in Latin America where the banking sector outlook is most positive,” Oxford analyst Neil Pyper says.

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